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Vanessa Reyes
Paul Lopez/ Pat Holder
Period 4/5
Sept. 22, 2010
Together We Fight
How did the Black Arts Movement embody and further the ideals of the counterculture movement?
The sixties were a volatile period in U.S. history. Many young American citizens were
drafted into the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, along with the Women’s
Rights movement. The new ideals being put forth during this time is regarded as the Counterculture
Movement. The Counterculture movement was a time where student activists united with the public
to rise against injusticed in the community. The Black Power Movement of the 1960’s was an
ongoing fight that stood up for all things concerning equality for Black people, Black Nationalism
and Black Separation. The Black Panther Party, an organization standing up for black rights and
“black protection,” were active in the community. They organized protests, spoke to the public, and
gathered crowds of people for rallies against political figures of that time.
This movement was first started in October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California by Bobby
Seale and Huey P. Newton. All across California and soon to all over the U.S, African Americans
were standing up for rights they were entitled to as an American. The Black Power Movement didn’t
just impact the counterculture movement of that time with their ideals, but it would also affect many
later generations.
There were many people involved in the Black Power Movement. Stokely Carmichael,
co-leader and eventually chairman of the SNCC (Student Non-Violence Coordinating
Committee) in Alabama Lowndes County, used the term “Black Power” in his speeches to show
black people their human rights and abilities to change their own circumstances.
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It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to a
sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead
their own organizations (Stokely Carmichael 1966).
Stokely Carmichael conducted many speeches while participating in the SNCC such as
his speech Black Power given in Berkley, California and Black Nationalism in America which
was given in Chicago. In 1967, Carmichael stepped down as chairman of the SNCC. When he
left the SNCC in the later sixties he united with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters
and conducted speeches alongside them. When Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, in 1968,
Stokely Carmichael gathered members of the SNCC through the streets of Washington D.C in
honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The crowd grew and soon got out of control, and became a
radical riot, with passionate protesters breaking windows, setting buildings on fire, and with
widespread looting. This was later known as the Washington D.C. Riots of 1968.
There were hundreds of thousands of people involved, both, black and white men and
women. Although women are not widely known for the violence aspect of the Black Power
Movement, many were definitely peacfully, intellectually involved. Angela Davis was a woman
of many talents. In the 1960’s being a young black girl was hard in itself, but Angela knew
education was first. In college she was studying in New York and soon became interested in
socialism and communism. To further her education she decided to study abroad in Cuba,
Germany, and France. While in France, Angela saw a newspaper talking about the civil rights
movement back in America. She knew then that this wasn’t going away. She soon went back to
the U.S. and almost instantly became involved. She enrolled herself in UCSD and also devoted
herself to “fighting the struggle” (Angela Davis Biography). She joined the SNCC and The
Black Panther Party, and the Black Student Union at UCSD. Her speeches included Black Power
and peace for the people, she was also an advocate for anti-Vietnam, and was also involved in
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the Labor movement. Her main claim in her speech The Liberation of Our People is Americans
cannot have peace in Vietnam, without having peace in America and visa versa.
One group of people feels that the movement, the antiwar movement ought to be a
single issue movement, the cessation of the war in Vietnam. They do not want to
relate it to the other kinds and forms of repression that are taking place here in this
country. There’s another group of people who say that we have to make those
connections. We have to talk about what’s happening in Vietnam as being a
symptom of something that happening all over the world, of something that’s
happening in this country. And in order for the antiwar movement to be effective,
it has to link up with the struggle for black and brown liberation in this country
with the struggle of exploited whit workers. (The Liberation of Our People 1969)
Angela Davis was an educated woman, speaking her rights in man’s world. Although,
being a woman, the justice system did not treat her accordingly. She was thrown in jail many
times, attended countless court hearings on her behalf and even appeared on the FBI’s Most
Wanted List for being an active, dedicated member of not only the Black Panthers but also in
support of Black Rights. While being harassed by the police force, the school system, and people
that opposed her views, she strove for equality. She fought for her rights not only as a woman,
not only for an African America, but for an individual as well.
Huey P. Newton, co-leader of the Black Panther Party was involved in a shooting with
the Oakland Police Department, where one officer was seriously injured and another officer,
John Frey, was killed. Newton was arrested and put in jail. During the four years Newton spent
in prison and attended court hearings, the Black Panther Party and SNCC (with Stokely
Carmichael) teamed up to set their leader Huey P. Newton free. Rallies were held outside of the
court house and speeches were given to the crowds of people who came to support this
campaign. “Brother Huey must be set free or else the sky is the limit.” (James Forman, 1967)
James Forman was a public speaker of that time, trying to free Newton saying that anything is
fair game if you do not let him go. However, after almost four years of struggling to free Huey
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the courts decided to drop his charges, seeing how the shooting and death of Officer Frey was an
accident.
On April 2, 1969, 21 Panthers, of the Black Panther Party, were arrested and charged
with conspiracy to blow up a New York Botanical Garden, several department stores, and to kill
New York police officers. New York Officers had suspicion that the Black panthers of New
York were plotting to do these appalling acts of violence when really the police framed them.
Sundiata Acoli, a Black Panther Revolutionary, states in his book New Afrikan Liberation
Fighter,
… I was arrested to stand trial in the Panther 21 case. Twenty-one of us were
accused of conspiring to carry out a ridiculous plot to blow up a number of New
York department stores and the New York Botanical Gardens.
Yes they were known for their violent protests, but to blow up national buildings was not
on the Black Panther’s agenda. Acoli also stated in his “A Brief History of the Black Panther
Party—Its Place in the black Liberation Movement,” “…Police Departments in each city made
military raids on BPP offices or homes… murdering some Panthers and arresting others.” The
Panther 21 trial lasted eight months and the legal process took two years, although the jury
released many of the defendants, Sundiata Acoli had to spend two years in jail. He was released
and his charges were dropped.
The Black power movement brought out the good in people, uniting the black
community, however it did bring out a lot of violence. People often link fighting and aggression
with the Black Power movement, but violence, to the black activist community was just a tool, to
be used when needed.
Why do white people in this country associate Black power with violence?
Because it is there own inability to deal with Blackness. If we had said Negro
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power nobody would get scared. Everyone would support it, if we said power for
colored people everyone would be for that. But it is the word black; it is the word
black that bothers people in this country. And it is their problem, not mine. Not
mine (Black Power 1966).
Many other protests took place in this 11-12 year window; many Black activists stood up
for their rights, fought for equality, and died supporting this cause. Today people all over study
this history in addition to “the White Man’s history”. Black Americans have just as many rights
as White Americans, and other minorities have gained the rights as well. The Black Panthers,
Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and all of the activists of that time, are viewed as violent
radicals, but also as heroes. A slogan activists involved with the Free Huey campaign, came up
with, “You can jail the revolutionary, but you can’t jail the revolution.” (Free Huey rally, 1967)
The Black Power Movement in partnership with its hundreds of advocates definitely altered the
Civil Rights movement, demanded people’s attention, and definitely changed the world for many
Americans that live here today.
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Work Cited
Davis, Angela. “The Liberation of Our People.” 1969. Black Panther Rally. Defremery Park
Oakland, California.October 2010.
The Gale Group. "Black Power Movement Legal Definition of Black Power Movement. Black
Power Movement Synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary." Legal Dictionary.
2008. Web. Sept. 2010. <http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Black Power
Movement>.
Kelly, Jim. “Panther Supporters Plan Seale Rally.” Northwestern NEWS 10 Apr. 1970: 3. Print
Lewis, Chris H. "The Civil Rights Movement and the Rise of the Black Power Movement."
University of Colorado at Boulder. Nov. 2002. Web. Sept. 2010.
<http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/power.htm/
McIver, Robert H. "Black Nationalism." Information and Entertainment Center. 2000. Web.
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Midnight/Dawn. “ANGELA DAVIS BIOGRAPHY.” Jaye Purple Wolf Dot Com. 2009. Web. 08
Oct. 2010. <http://www.jayepurplewolf.com/PASSION/ANGELADAVIS/index.html>.
Newton, Huey P. Revolutionary Suicide. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973. Print.
Pasley, Victoria. "The Black Power Movement in Trinidad." Http://www.accessmylibrary.com/.
01 Nov. 2001. Web. Sept. 2010. <http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G190442441/black-power-movement-trinidad.html>.
Rhodes, Jane. Framing the Black Panthers: the Spectacular Rise of a Black Power Icon.
New York: New, 2007. Print.
Salaam, Kalamu Ya. "The Black Arts Movement (BAM)." The #1 Site for African American
Literature - Books, Novels, Authors, Movies, Resources, Discussion and More African
Diaspora. 1997. Web. Sept. 2010. <http://aalbc.com/authors/blackartsmovement.htm>.
Shlanger, Bruce. “2000 Protest Panther Trial.” Northwestern NEWS 17. Apr, 1970: 13. Print.
Trueman, Chris. "Civil Rights Quotes." History Learning Site. 2000. Web. Sept. 2010.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/civil rights quotes.htm>.