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Black Power

The Black Power Movement (1965–1975) and the Civil Rights Movement (1955–1965) form different phases of the overarching African American struggle called the Black Freedom Movement. Black Power, as the latter phase of the Black Freedom Movement, emerged in the wake of the decline of the Civil Rights phase. Its beginning was marked by the 1965 Watts Revolt and extended to the mid-1970s, with 1975 often set as its end year. This entry describes the movement and its impact.

Origins of Expression

Although the term Black Power was not used widely in a movement context until 1966, it had roots in the ongoing Black Nationalist sentiment and organizational thrusts among African Americans, most exemplified by Marcus Garvey. The father of modern Black Nationalism constantly called for organization for the acquisition of power for Black people. In the 1950s, Richard Wright used the term Black Power in the title of one of his books, and Paul Robeson had used it in his writings.

When the Black Power Movement emerged in the 1960s, the teachings of the Nation of Islam and its national spokesman, Malcolm X, played key roles in shaping its conception and development. Robert Williams, a self-defense activist and major Black Power activist, had also used the term in his writings from exile and, along with Malcolm X, had contributed to Black Power advocates' stress on armed self-defense. The revolutionary leaders Frantz Fanon (Martinique and Algeria) and Sekou Toure (Guinea) stressed cultural revolution and culture as an indispensable aspect of the liberation struggle; they also had a tremendous impact on the idea and pursuit of Black Power by its advocates.

The direct call for Black Power came in 1966 from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), during one of its marches for civil rights. One of its members, Willie Ricks (Mukasa), made the call for “Black Power,” and Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), its chair, took up the call and turned it into a national battle cry. In fact, the SNCC and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) were transformed from civil rights organizations and became leading advocates of Black Power.

Popularization of Black Power

In a baccalaureate speech in May 1966 at Howard University, Representative Adam Clayton Powell advanced a concept he would later seek to institutionalize in the form of Black Power conferences. He stated in his address that “human rights are God-given. Civil rights are man-made…. Our life must be purposed to implement human rights. … To demand these God-given rights is to seek Black power—the power to build Black institutions of splendid achievement.”

In August, Representative Powell, then chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, called a group of leaders and activists to Washington to plan a series of Black Power conferences. The purpose of these conferences was to discuss critical issues facing Black people nationally and internationally, develop an activist agenda to address these issues, and build structures and processes to carry out the agenda. Out of the initial planning meeting, a coordinating committee called the Continuations Committee was formed, with Nathan Wright, director of urban affairs of the Episcopal Diocese (Newark), as chair; Maulana Karenga, chair of the Organization Us (Los Angeles), as vice-chair; and other members Omar Ahmed (Bronx, New York), Isaiah Robison (New York), and Chuck Stone (Washington, D.C.).

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