The Catalysts
As non-violence tactics of the Civil Rights Movement began to appear as less viable option for the black community black power, more militant tactics, the Black Panther Party and like organizations became the dominant presence in the black community in the latter half of the 1960’s.
Bloody Sunday
Photo Before Police Move in On Demonstrators
Demonstrators Being Beat By Police
In the March from Selma to Montgomery, violence from Alabama state troopers turned the march into "Bloody Sunday".
"One minute and five seconds after a two-minute warning was announced, the troops advanced, wielding clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas. John Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture, was one of fifty-eight people treated for injuries at the local hospital." - The National Archives, Confrontations for Justice
The fact that 58 demonstrators got assaulted with hospital-grade injuries from police showed how black people could have easily have had different wants from the Civil Rights Movement.
In a testimony from John Lewis, former chairman of the SNCC who lead the demonstration you can see his experience at Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was one of the first widespread covered police brutality case that enraged black people across the country in the 1960s. As a result, many black people refused to continue to support the nonviolence movement that led to their own being subjected to violence from police.
The Watts Riots & Assassination of Malcom X
"on August 11, 1965, a heated encounter between a white California Highway Patrol officer and an African American motorist whom he had pulled over for suspicion of driving while intoxicated sparked an angry response from onlookers. It ignited six days of rage—including violent confrontations between residents and police, looting, and property damage—in Watts and other impoverished predominantly African American neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles. Some 14,000 national guardsmen were called in to quell the violence." - Britannica, The 50th Anniversary of the Watts Riots of 1965
In wake of the riots black people continued to become tired of seeing police brutality and adopted the Black Power ideology.
Scene From Watts Riots
“On February 21, 1965, Malcolm was assassinated while delivering a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem...After his assassination, the widespread distribution of his life story—The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)—made him an ideological hero, especially among Black youth. ” - Britannica, Malcolm X
Malcolm X was another push towards black power in the 1960s. Seeing him killed and reading his autobiography made many black people adopt Black power.
Malcom X Moments Before He Died
All of these described events, directly lead to the creation of the black power movement that would influence the creation of the Black Panther Party.