How can we define the Black Power
Movement?
How many
images can you
remember?
How can we define the Black Power
Movement?
LO: To be able to define the Black Power Movement
by using a range of sources
How many
images can you
remember?
How can we define the Black Power
Movement?
Questions to answer in full sentences!
1. Why were some Black People
disillusioned by the 1960s?
2. What was the alternative to NVDA?
3. Which groups were leading NVDA?
How many
4. Which groups were leading an
images can you
alternative approach?
remember?
How can we define the Black Power Movement?
In the 1960s, non-violent protests, and the publicity surrounding them, increased. One of the
ways that non-violent direct action was supposed to work was to put pressure on
segregationists to change by getting them to show themselves in a bad light in the media.
The idea was to shame them into obeying anti-segregation laws. In fact, the pressure
produced an increasingly violent reaction. This, in turn, pressured the federal government to
act.
During the 1960s, a growing number of black people began to agree with the black Muslims,
who argued that integration was too slow in coming and, when it came, did not produce
equality. They said black people were discriminated against in integrated schools and
workplaces, so they were better off living separately.
The events of 1961 began a change in the attitude of civil rights campaigners. The violence
against freedom riders, including the firebombing at Anniston, was shocking. The lack of
federal support for civil rights also discouraged civil rights campaigners. It seemed that the
government only acted when they were forced to do so by violence and the publicity that
came with it.
More and more people began to believe that peaceful protest was not getting anywhere fast
enough. Some of them began to support more radical action, including the 'back to Africa'
movement, especially as African countries gained independence in the 1960s.
Other civil rights campaigners, including Martin Luther King, continued to protest by nonviolent direct action
How can we define the Black Power Movement?
Malcolm X became the voice of many angry black people who felt non-violent
direct action had failed. He had had a troubled childhood and joined the
Nation of Islam while in prison. The Nation of Islam was a black group that
shared many Muslim beliefs. They also believed that attempts at integration
had failed and that black people would be better off living separately (even
returning to Africa) rather than in an integrated society where they always
had the worst living and working conditions. Many black Muslims replaced
their surnames (often that of the slave owner who had owned their
ancestors) with the letter X, to represent their lost African name. Malcolm X
was a member of the Nation of Islam until 1964, when he left following many
angry disagreements with its leader.
Malcolm X spoke out against non-violent action and criticised leaders such as
Martin Luther King. He had different priorities. Martin Luther King wanted to
work with white politicians and convince them to work for civil rights; Malcolm
X did not. He saw white politicians as the enemy, and his speeches made that
very clear. While Martin Luther King focused on voter registration and
desegregation in the South, Malcolm X focused on the inequalities faced by
black people everywhere, North and South. While he assured people he was
not urging violent revolt, he did urge meeting violence with violence.
Malcolm X (Film) 2001 Directed by
Spike Lee
Note down:
• Impression of Malcolm X
• How he approaches Civil Rights (what he says
/ does)
• Links to Black Power Movement
How can we define the Black Power Movement?
1. Write a sentence to explain how you could you use Source E and the
caption information to show:
•unity between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
•lack of unity between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
2. Design a banner that gets across the message in Source D in a short
phrase.
3. Copy out two sentences from Source H, Source G or both that you
would use if you wanted to show that Malcolm X was encouraging black
people to violence.
How can we define the Black Power Movement?
The first volunteers left on 20 June. CORE workers Michael Schwerner
and James Chaney drove a group to the town of Meridian. The next
morning, they heard a nearby black church, chosen as a Freedom
School, had been burned down. Schwerner, Chaney and another worker,
Andrew Goodman, went to investigate and were arrested. The deputy
sheriff released them in the middle of the night, knowing a mob was
waiting. Their bodies were found on 4 August. They had all been shot in
the head. Chaney had been beaten first - many of his bones were
shattered.
At least six civil rights workers were killed in Mississippi during the
summer. There were 80 beatings, 35 shooting 'incidents' and over 1000
arrests. Over 60 black homes, businesses and churches were bombed.
About 17,000 black people tried to register to vote that summer; only
about 1600 succeeded. But the campaign did help to focus attention on
black voting rights.
How can we define the Black Power Movement?
The Voting Rights Act meant more black people registered to vote. But,
especially in the South, it was hard for them to find a party to vote for that
down
reasons
why YOU
THINK
supported Note
civil rights
rather
than opposing
it. In 1965,
StokelyaCarmichael
‘Black
Power’
movement
and other SNCC
workers
in Lowndes
County,emerged
Alabama, set up a political
party, the Lowndes County Freedom Organisation, which focused on black
rights. The–Find
party symbol
was that
a blackoffer
pantherreasons
and the party slogan was 'Vote
sources
for the panther, then go home'. The aim was to get black people to actually
go out and vote, rather than just staying at home. Many people did, although
-Find
thatelected.
link Malcolm X to the
not enough
to get sources
a party member
Black Power Movement
Black people still faced discrimination and violence and felt, often rightly, they
could not trust Black
the government
protect them - much of the
power or the police
BlacktoPower
violence against
civil rights
campaigners
came from
the police. In June 1966,
emerged
because
of emerged
for other
James Meredith
(the firstXblack studentreasons
at the University of Mississippi in
Malcolm
1962) led a March Against Fear through Mississippi. He was shot on the
second day of the march. Martin Luther King took over the march, joined by
Stokely Carmichael of SNCC. King's speeches stressed the need to continue
non-violent action, but the more militant speeches of Stokely Carmichael,
urging people
to demand
'Black Power',
increasing
support.
-How
significant
was gained
Malcolm
X’s role
in
the Black Power Movement?
Note down reasons why YOU THINK a
‘Black Power’ movement emerged
–Find sources that offer reasons
-Find sources that link Malcolm X to the
Black Power Movement
Black power
Black Power
emerged because of emerged for other
Malcolm X
reasons
-How significant was Malcolm X’s role in
the Black Power Movement?
A
Black Muslims staging a counterdemonstration at an NAACP rally in Harlem
B
William Gadsden, who was crossing the road rather than
protesting, being set on by one of 'Bull' Connor's police
dogs, 3 May 1963. Marches were often held at noon, when
people were out over lunchtime. Think about why the
photographer took the photo.
C
A bookstore in Harlem,
New York, photographed
in 1964. Black people
could register for the
Back to Africa
movement here. Think
about what its owners
might mean by 'proper
propaganda'.
D
A speech made by Malcolm X on 3 April 1964 in
It's time for you and me to be more politically mature, to realise
what the ballot [vote] is for. If we don't get to cast a ballot, then
we're going to have to cast a bullet. It's either a ballot or the
bullet. In the South, you don't get a ballot. In the North, they do
it a different way. When Negroes begin to get too much political
say in an area, the white man changes the district lines. I haven't
seen a Negro change any lines, they don't let him get near the line.
No, the white man changes the situation. And usually it's the white
man who grins at you most, pats you on the back and is supposed to
be your friend. He may be friendly, but he is not your friend. What
I'm trying to tell you is this: you and I are not facing a
segregationist conspiracy, we're facing a government conspiracy.
The government that you go abroad to fight and die for is the
government that is conspiring to deprive you of your voting rights,
your economic opportunities, decent housing, a decent education. It
is not just your employers; it is the government of America that is
responsible for the oppression and exploitation of black people in
this country.
F
E
From Look Out Whitey! Black
Power's Gonna Get Your
Momma!
A book about Black Power
written in 1968.
More than anyone else,
Malcolm X was responsible for
the growing awareness and
militancy among black people.
His clear words cut the chains
on black minds like a giant
blowtorch. He didn't want to
wake America's conscience
about black rights. He knew
America had no conscience.
The only meeting between Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King, in Washington, on 26
March 1964.
G
Malcolm Little, the son of an African American Baptist preacher, Earl Little, was born in Omaha,
Nebraska, on 19th May, 1925. Malcolm's mother, Louise Little, was born in the West Indies. Her
mother was black but her father was a white man.
Little moved to Boston to live with his sister. He worked as a waiter in Harlem and after becoming
addicted to cocaine, turned to crime. In 1946 he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to ten
years imprisonment. While in prison he was converted to the Black Muslim faith.
After his release from prison in 1952 he moved to Chicago where he met Elijah Muhammad, leader
of the Nation of Islam sect. He changed his name to X, a custom among Muhammad's followers
who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders.
Malcolm soon became a leading figure in the Nation of Islam. He went on several speaking
tours and helped establish several new mosques. He was eventually assigned to be minister
of the mosque in New York's Harlem area. Founder and editor of Muhammad Speaks,
Malcolm rejected integration and racial equality and instead advocated black power.
Malcolm was suspended from the movement by Elijah Muhammad after he made a series of
extremist speeches. This included his comments that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was a
"case of chickens coming home to roost".
In March 1964 Malcolm left the Nation of Islam and established his own religious organization, the
Organization of Afro-American Unity. After a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm rejected his former
separatist beliefs and advocated world brotherhood. Malcolm now blamed racism on Western
culture and urged African Americans to join with sympathetic whites to bring to an end.
Malcolm X was shot dead at a party meeting in Harlem on 21st February, 1965. Three Black
Muslims were later convicted of the murder. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, based on interviews
he had given to the journalist, Alex Haley, was published in 1965.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmalcolmX.htm
H
From a speech made by Malcolm X on 31 December 1964 to a group
of black students from Mississippi who had come to New York to
visit various civil rights groups.
How do you think I feel — I belong a generation ahead of
you - to have to tell you 'we sat around like a block of
wood while the whole world fought for human rights, so
now you still have that same fight'? We did nothing.
Don't you make the same mistake. You'll get your
freedom by letting your enemy know you'll do anything to
get it. Don't you run around trying to make friends with
somebody who's depriving you of your rights. They're not
your friends, no, they are your enemies. Treat them like
that and fight them and you'll get your freedom.
I
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/civilrights/section6.rhtml
Despite his premature death, Malcolm X’s emphasis on self-sufficiency
and armed defense was a clarion call for others dissatisfied with “love and
nonviolence.” For example, the leader of the SNCC, Stokely Carmichael,
began to incorporate black nationalism into his own philosophy in the mid1960s and eventually convinced fellow organizers to expel white members
in 1966.
The following year, Carmichael and several other disgruntled SNCC
leaders broke away from the SNCC and co-authored the book Black
Power to promote Malcolm X’s message. Carmichael went a step further
than Malcolm X and began campaigning to split the United States into
separate countries—one for blacks, one for whites. The term black
power, coined in Carmichael’s book, came to be synonymous with
militancy, self-reliance, independence, and nationalism within the ranks of
the civil rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Black Panthers
In October 1966, in Oakland, California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale set up
the Black Panther Party. The group had a ten-point plan, but the one that the
media paid most attention to was the monitoring of police brutality and carrying
guns for self-defence (which was legal in California, as long as guns were not
concealed). The Panthers had a uniform: black jackets and trousers, blue shirts
and a black beret. Many black people came to see them as a more effective
community police than the state police force. They also organised community
projects, such as free breakfasts and healthcare in poor black areas. Not
surprisingly, the government saw them as a threat, especially as the movement
spread. By 1968, there were Black Panther groups in 25 American cities.
J
A Black Panther badge from the 1960s. The phrase
'Power to the People‘ was picked up and used by many
K
A simplified, shortened version of the Black Panthers‘ ten-point | plan of 1966,
based on a full version on the Black Panthers‘ website. Point 1 was suggesting
a form of separation, but with government funding.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
We want freedom. We want the power to run our black and oppressed
communities.
We want full employment for our people.
We want an end to the capitalist exploitation of our black and oppressed
communities.
We want decent housing, fit for human beings.
We want a decent education for our people, that teaches us our true
history and our role in the present-day society.
We want completely free healthcare for all black and oppressed people.
We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people,
other people of colour, and all oppressed people inside the US.
We want an immediate end to all wars of aggression.
We want freedom for all black and oppressed people now held in US
federal, state, county, city and military prisons and jails. We want trials by
a jury of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws
of this country.
We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace and
people's community control of modern technology.
L
From a 1990 interview with Artie Schart, a SNCC worker who was on the March
Against Fear.
Stokely gave this really fierce speech, in which he said we couldn't count on
support from the white man and that blacks had to do it on their own. He said
blacks were being sent to Vietnam and killed when they couldn't even vote.
They had no rights in their own communities and were going to have to gather
the courage to do it on their own. Many people saw this as a cry for
separation - but many black leaders, even if they supported the idea of Black
Power, still wanted integration. They saw it as the only way to get justice all
through the USA.
In groups, discuss the ways in which the aims of the civil rights movement
were different from those of the Black Panthers. Decide on three points of
similarity and three points of difference in their aims.
M
O
From a book about the civil
rights movement written in 1990.
The explosion of black
consciousness in Lowndes
County, Alabama, had a
national, and international,
impact. The image of the black
panther — the snarling black
cat ready and able to defend
itself- spread through
Alabama and was adopted by
the Black Panther Party in
California. By the end of the
1960s the image was being
used in most major US cities
and even in Europe.
A Black Panther poster from 1970.
P
From a 1990 interview with David Dawley, a white Civil Rights
campaigner in the 1960s
Willie Ricks from the SNCC asked people what they
wanted; they answered, 'Freedom Now'. He urged them not
to demand 'Freedom Now' but 'Black Power'. And he kept
on and on until everyone was roaring 'Black Power'. It was
chilling. Suddenly, I felt threatened. It seemed a message
to well-meaning Northern boys like me, 'Go home, white
boy, we don't need you'. Later, around the tents, there was
hostility. To many people I wasn't David anymore. I was a
'honkey'. We left the march a couple of days later. When
we came, we had felt wanted. When we left, we didn't feel
wanted. There was a sense that this was the time for black
people to lead the strategy and whites should not be
involved. We accepted that.
After looking at all the sources what do you
think Black Power is?
Black Power is…
So what is Black Power? How has it been
defined?
• Black Power is a political slogan and a name for
various associated ideologies. It is used in the
movement among people of Black African descent
throughout the world, though primarily by African
Americans in the United States. The movement was
prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
emphasising racial pride and the creation of black
political and cultural institutions to nurture and
promote black collective interests and advance black
values. "Black Power" expresses a range of political
goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the
establishment of separate social institutions and a
self-sufficient economy.
Copy and complete this table using your timelines, your
book and your own knowledge
Organisations, events
and people involved in
civil rights
Reasons why Black
Power Emerged
Voting rights
Evidence of Malcolm
X’s influence