Black Power Movement

The Black Power movement consisted of various political movements based on black autonomy, self-sufficiency, and nationalism. The term black power was first used by Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., in the 1950s. Growing out of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the Black Power movement aimed to achieve full racial equality. While these two movements share much in common, there exist many differences.

Furthermore, since the Black Power movement included black separatist factions that emphasized self-defense, which was frequently associated with violence, it was stereotyped as a militant movement in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. In reality, however, it was a complex movement with differing ideologies and impacts upon American society and culture.

Despite the achievements of the civil rights movement, most notably showcased by the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, many African Americans continued to believe that racial discrimination persisted and the idea of self-determination was ignored in the movement. They claimed there was a need for more emphasis on black autonomy. The base of the Black Power movement exists in this sentiment of the mid-1960s. Many large cities were beginning to have black majorities. Malcolm X argued that even though he shared the concerns of the civil rights movement, African Americans should pursue their equal rights by any means necessary. He considered integration a surrender to white supremacy.

Transcript

• You have been reported using the words ‘black nationalism’. Do you really mean a separate Negro state in the United States?
• No, we don't mean a separate Negro state, but we do feel that in areas where our people live, our political philosophy of black nationalism with us only means that we should control the politics and the politicians in the community where we live. And economic philosophy of black nationalism only means that we should control the businesses and create employment opportunities for ourselves. And the social philosophy of black nationalism only means that we should do something to uplift the standards and the level of our own society and put it on par with others.
• How many followers do you have?
• We don't know. We feel that most black people in America who are dissatisfied are in strong sympathy with getting some action right now. And the only ‘right now’ program, the only ‘right now’ group in America is the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
• Tsk, tsk, tsk…

This call for immediate action and solidarity resonated with other leaders and activists. In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale established the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The assassination of Malcolm X, urban uprisings in the mid-1960s, and continuing social instability set the stage for the Black Power movement to start. Leading the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Stokely Carmichael used the expression “Black power” to attain racial solidarity and to shift SNCC's focus on African American–centered social change. By the end of the decade, the Black Power movement had spread both domestically and internationally.

The Black Power movement encouraged African Americans to embrace their heritage by adopting hairstyles that highlighted their natural hair texture, such as cornrows. The braids regained popularity in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s.

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