The Black Power Movement
The Black Power Movement began in the 1966 following the accumlation of police brutality towards black demonstrators within the Civil Rights Movement. This led to many black people's transition into the Black Power Movement which had been most noticeably endorsed and kicked off by Stokely Carmichael and his Black Power Speech. The movement encouraged black empowerment, black economic development, and black political power. It also opened more doors for black cultural tv shows and books to be introduced into the U.S. industry.
In an public statement Stokely Carmichael said, “King had gotten a lot right, but in betting on nonviolence, he only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent has to have a conscience. The United States has no conscience." - NPR, Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement
Stokely Carmichael (Chairman of the SNCC) shows his personal transition to the Black Power Movement prior to his past nonviolence advocacy with MLK.
Stokely Carmichael(right) and MLK(left)
Stokely Carmichael's Black power Speech caused discussions through the country as it gained popularity, there were two opinions on the idea of Black Power, a black opinion and white opinion.
“This is the significance of black power as a slogan. For once, black people are going to use the words they want to use-not just the words whites want to hear. And they will do this no matter how often the press tries to stop the use of the slogan by equating it with racism or separatism.” - Stokely Carmichael, Black Power(1966)
Part of Stokely Carmichael's Black Power Speech
The white opinion already have a preconceived idea and opinion of the ideology-turned-movement while the black opinion was able to quickly grasp the concept, making many transition into the movement.
“In 1966, he used the phrase "black power" at a rally in Mississippi. It caught the nation's attention, but it meant different things to different people. Many whites who heard the phrase were uneasy, Joseph says. "They assumed that black power meant being anti-white and really sort of violent, foreboding." Black listeners, on the other hand, heard a call "for cultural political and economic self-determination," “ - NPR, Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement)
Stokely Carmichael & others holding up the black power hand sign
In a documentary, one of the founding members of the BPP, Ericka Huggins recalled that “It was 1966. I graduated from high school and Black Power movement was in the air.” - Ericka Huggins, All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50
Young black teens holding up the black power sign in mid 1960s