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136-762: Peter J. Countryman, a white Yale student, helped assemble the NSM in the fall of 1961 from “existing networks of the Student Christian Movement of New England.” The mission of the NSM was to "support the work of the SNCC and to "challenge discrimmination in the North". The Northern Student Movement soon began organizing projects in the communities of the North to fight against injustice in Black communities. Countryman stepped down as NSM's executive director in 1963 and

272-519: A nervous breakdown and was committed to Kalamazoo State Hospital . The children were separated and sent to foster homes . Malcolm and his siblings secured her release 24 years later. Malcolm attended West Junior High School in Lansing and then Mason High School in Mason, Michigan , but left high school in 1941, before graduating. He excelled in junior high school but dropped out of high school after

408-502: A "crisis in American institutions which made the legislative agenda of 'polite, realistic, and businesslike' mainstream organizations" more appealing to politicians. In this way, it can be argued that the more strident and oppositional messages of the black power movement indirectly enhanced the bargaining position of more moderate activists. Black power activists approached politics with vitality, variety, wit, and creativity that shaped

544-579: A Nation of Islam member, was beaten by two New York City police officers . On April   26, Johnson and two other passersby‍—‌also Nation of Islam members‍—‌saw the officers beating an African American man with nightsticks. When they attempted to intervene, shouting, "You're not in Alabama   ... this is New York!" one of the officers turned on Johnson, beating him so severely that he suffered brain contusions and subdural hemorrhaging. All four African American men were arrested. Alerted by

680-530: A State of Emergency, arresting 15 black power leaders. Some members of the Defence Force, led by Raffique Shah and Rex Lassalle , mutinied , taking hostages at the army barracks in Teteron; the mutiny was ultimately quelled on 25 April. It is often described as an attempted military coup. Williams, who was accused of upholding colonial and capitalist power structures, endeavoured to win over members of

816-540: A White teacher told him that practicing law, his aspiration at the time, was "no realistic goal for a nigger." Later, Malcolm   X recalled feeling that the White world offered no place for a career-oriented Black man, regardless of talent. From age 14 to 21, Malcolm held a variety of jobs while living with his half-sister Ella Little-Collins in Roxbury , a largely African American neighborhood of Boston . After

952-423: A child. As an adult, he expressed conflicting beliefs on the question. After a dispute with creditors, Louise received a life insurance benefit (nominally $ 1,000 ‍—‌about $ 20,000 in 2023) in payments of $ 18 per month; the issuer of another, larger policy refused to pay, claiming her husband Earl had committed suicide. To make ends meet, Louise rented out part of her garden, and her sons hunted game. During

1088-569: A concrete program for black self-determination centered in the cities." Already, "in the spring of 1964, together with Max Stanford of Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM); Baltimore Afro-American reporter William Worthy , and Patricia Robinson of Third World Press," the Boggses had "met with Malcolm in a Harlem luncheonette to discuss our proposal that he come to Detroit to help build the Organization for Black Power," but "Malcolm’s response

1224-532: A demonstration "run by Whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive." While the civil rights movement fought against racial segregation , Malcolm   X advocated the complete separation of African Americans from Whites. He proposed that African Americans should return to Africa and that, in the interim, a separate country for Black people in America should be created. He rejected

1360-490: A dinner party; soon she was regularly attending his lectures. In 1956, she joined the Nation of Islam, changing her name to Betty   X. One-on-one dates were contrary to the Nation's teachings, so the couple courted at social events with dozens or hundreds of others, and Malcolm   X made a point of inviting her on the frequent group visits he led to New York City's museums and libraries. Malcolm   X proposed during

1496-468: A diverse plurality of social justice movements, including black feminism , environmental movements, affirmative action , and gay and lesbian rights. Central to these movements were the issues of identity politics and structural inequality , features emerging from the black power movement. Because the black power movement emphasized and explored a black identity, movement activists were forced to confront issues of gender and class as well. Many activists in

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1632-682: A fellow dishwasher at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem who aspired to be a professional comedian. Both men had reddish hair, so Sanford was called "Chicago Red" after his hometown, and Malcolm was known as "Detroit Red". Years later, Sanford became famous as comedian and actor Redd Foxx . Summoned by the local draft board for military service in World War II in late 1943, he feigned mental disturbance by rambling and declaring: "I want to be sent down South. Organize them nigger soldiers   ... steal us some guns, and kill us [some] crackers ". He

1768-464: A letter to the Universities chaplain, an advocate of the NSM, which he writes that he was “really heartened by the movement in the right direction I sense at Yale.” The NSM declined later in the decade as Black students began to protest and negotiate for the successful temporary removal of police from campuses, amnesty for striking students, and the creation of Black studies courses like the ones

1904-532: A member of the Nation of Islam, maintaining a regular correspondence with Muhammad. In 1950, the FBI opened a file on Malcolm after he wrote a letter from prison to President Harry S. Truman expressing opposition to the Korean War and declaring himself a communist. That year, he also began signing his name "Malcolm   X." Muhammad instructed his followers to leave their family names behind when they joined

2040-504: A mentor and confidant to Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace D. Muhammad ; the son told Malcolm X about his skepticism toward his father's "unorthodox approach" to Islam. Wallace Muhammad was excommunicated from the Nation of Islam several times, although he was eventually re-admitted. During 1962 and 1963, events caused Malcolm   X to reassess his relationship with the Nation of Islam, and particularly its leader, Elijah Muhammad. In late 1961, there were violent confrontations between

2176-411: A message of self-actualization and cultural self-definition. The emphasis on a distinctive black culture during the black power movement publicized and legitimized a culture gap between black and white people that had previously been ignored and denigrated. More generally, in recognizing the legitimacy of another culture and challenging the idea of white cultural superiority, the black power movement paved

2312-504: A political force and either electing representatives or forcing their representatives to speak their needs." Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton explain the term "black power" in their 1967 book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation : "It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations." Black power adherents believed in black autonomy, with

2448-452: A primary objective. King was critical of the black power movement, stating in an August 1967 speech to the SCLC: "Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout ' White Power !' — when nobody will shout 'Black Power!' — but everybody will talk about God's power and human power." In his 1967 book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? , King stated: In the final analysis

2584-535: A pro-black political agenda, and brought sensitive issues to the forefront of American politics. In its confrontational and often oppositional nature, the black power movement started a debate within the black community and America as a nation over issues of racial progress, citizenship, and democracy, namely "the nature of American society and the place of the African American in it." The continued intensity of debate over these same social and political issues

2720-567: A protester, was killed by the police on 6 April. He was later recognised as the first martyr of the Revolution. His funeral on 9 April saw some 100,000 people join a march from Port of Spain to the San Juan cemetery. On 13 April A. N. R. Robinson , Member of Parliament for Tobago East, resigned. On 18 April, sugar workers went on strike, with rumblings of a general strike to follow. In response, on 21 April, Prime Minister Williams declared

2856-453: A racist and as a hate teacher, or as being anti-White or as teaching Black Supremacy". One of the goals of the civil rights movement was to end disenfranchisement of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in voting and other aspects of the political process. The NAACP and other civil rights organizations denounced him and the Nation of Islam as irresponsible extremists whose views did not represent

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2992-407: A range of political goals, from militant self-defense against racial oppression to the establishment of social institutions and a self-sufficient economy, including black-owned bookstores , cooperatives, farms, and media. However, the movement has been criticized for alienating itself from the mainstream civil rights movement , and its support of black separatism . The earliest known usage of

3128-461: A result of economic exploitation . In his book Seize the Time , he states that "In our view it is a class struggle between the massive proletarian working class and the small, minority ruling class . Working-class people of all colors must unite against the exploitative, oppressive ruling class. So let me emphasize again—we believe our fight is a class struggle and not a race struggle." For Seale,

3264-478: A revolutionary but not a revolution." London police arrested sixteen of the protestors that day, three women and thirteen men with threatening and assaulting police officers, distributing a flier entitled "the Definition of Black Power", intending to incite a breach of the peace, and willful damage to a police raincoat. The raincoat charge was dropped by the judge, but the judge found five of the accused guilty of

3400-558: A riotous (and widely covered) demonstration at the United Nations in order to protest against the assassination of Patrice Lumumba . Malcolm X , national representative of the Nation of Islam , also launched an extended critique of nonviolence and integrationism at this time. After seeing the increasing militancy of blacks in the wake of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing , and wearying of Elijah Muhammad 's domination of

3536-807: A self-educated man he would later describe as "the first man I had ever seen command total respect   ... with words". Under Bembry's influence, Malcolm developed a voracious appetite for reading. At this time, several of his siblings wrote to him about the Nation of Islam , a relatively new religious movement preaching Black self-reliance and, ultimately, the return of the African diaspora to Africa, where they would be free from White American and European domination. He showed scant interest at first, but after his brother Reginald wrote in 1948, "Malcolm, don't eat any more pork and don't smoke any more cigarettes. I'll show you how to get out of prison", he almost instantly quit smoking and began to refuse pork. Following

3672-599: A serious violation of Nation teachings. After first discounting the rumors, Malcolm   X came to believe them after he spoke with Muhammad's son Wallace and with the girls making the accusations. Muhammad confirmed the rumors in 1963, attempting to justify his behavior by referring to precedents set by Biblical prophets. Over a series of national TV interviews between 1964 and 1965, Malcolm   X provided testimony of his investigation, corroboration, and confirmation by Elijah Muhammed himself of multiple counts of child rape. During this investigation, he learned that seven of

3808-555: A short time in Flint , Michigan, he moved to New York City's Harlem neighborhood in 1943, where he found employment on the New Haven Railroad and engaged in drug dealing, gambling, racketeering , robbery, and pimping . According to biographer Bruce Perry, Malcolm also occasionally had sex with other men, usually for money , though this conjecture has been disputed by those who knew him. He befriended John Elroy Sanford,

3944-718: A short time, Ghana became a place of freedom and black nationalism , with many African Americans migrating to Ghana during the Cold War to escape the constraints placed on them in American society. Black power got a foothold in Britain when Carmichael came to London in July 1967 to attend the Dialectics of Liberation Congress . As well as his address at the Congress, he also made a speech at Speakers' Corner . At that time, there

4080-538: A single garment of destiny. The language, the cultural patterns, the music, the material prosperity, and even the food of America are an amalgam of black and white. SNCC's base of support was generally younger and more working-class than that of the other "Big Five" civil rights organizations and became increasingly more militant and outspoken over time. As a result, as the Civil Rights Movement progressed, increasingly radical, more militant voices came to

4216-691: A telephone call from Detroit in January 1958, and they married two days later. They had six daughters: Attallah (b. 1958; Arabic for "gift of God"; perhaps named after Attila the Hun ); Qubilah (b. 1960, named after Kublai Khan ); Ilyasah (b. 1962, named after Elijah Muhammad); Gamilah Lumumba (b. 1964, named after Gamal Abdel Nasser and Patrice Lumumba ); and twins Malikah (1965–2021) and Malaak (b. 1965, both born after their father's death, and named in his honor). The American public first became aware of Malcolm   X in 1957, after Hinton Johnson,

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4352-484: A variety of tendencies such as black nationalism , black self-determination, and black separatism . Such positions caused friction with leaders of the mainstream Civil Rights Movement , and thus the two movements have sometimes been viewed as inherently antagonistic. Civil Rights leaders often proposed passive, non-violent tactics while the black power movement felt that, in the words of Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton , "a 'non-violent' approach to civil rights

4488-407: A visit during which Reginald detailed the group's teachings, including the notion that White people are considered devils, Malcolm initially struggled to accept this belief. Over time, however, Malcolm reflected on his past relationships with White individuals and concluded that they had all been marked by dishonesty, injustice, greed, and hatred. Malcolm, whose hostility to Christianity had earned him

4624-417: A witness, Malcolm   X and a small group of Muslims went to the police station and demanded to see Johnson. Police initially denied that any Muslims were being held, but when the crowd grew to about five hundred, they allowed Malcolm   X to speak with Johnson. Afterward, Malcolm   X insisted on arranging for an ambulance to take Johnson to Harlem Hospital. Johnson's injuries were treated and by

4760-585: Is Black Power! Stokely Carmichael saw the concept of "black power" as a means of solidarity between individuals within the movement. It was a replacement of the "Freedom Now!" slogan of Carmichael's contemporary, the non-violence leader Martin Luther King Jr. With his use of the term, Carmichael felt this movement was not just a movement for racial desegregation, but rather a movement to help end how American racism had weakened black people. He said, " 'Black Power' means black people coming together to form

4896-541: Is a political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people . It is primarily, but not exclusively, used by black activists and other proponents of what the slogan entails in the United States . The black power movement was prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emphasizing racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture, promote and advance what

5032-542: Is a definite, much-needed role that whites can play." They felt that whites could serve the movement by educating other white people. Not all black power advocates were in favor of black separatism . While Stokely Carmichael and SNCC were in favor of separatism for a time in the late 1960s, organizations such as the Black Panther Party were not. Though the Panthers considered themselves to be at war with

5168-421: Is a tribute to the impact of the black power movement in arousing the political awareness and passions of citizens. Some have compared the modern movement Black Lives Matter to the black power movement, noting its similarities. The Movement for Black Lives openly promotes black power. Though the aims of the black power movement were racially specific, much of the movement's impact has been its influence on

5304-487: Is also crushing itself. The sword of Retribution, suspended by a single hair, hangs over it. That sword must fall. Liberty must triumph." In Apartheid Era South Africa , Nelson Mandela 's African National Congress used the call-and-response chant " Amandla ! (Power!)", "Ngawethu! (The power is ours!)" from the late 1950s onward. The modern American concept emerged from the Civil Rights Movement in

5440-506: Is an approach black people cannot afford and a luxury white people do not deserve." However, many groups and individuals—including Rosa Parks , Robert F. Williams , Maya Angelou , Gloria Richardson , and Fay Bellamy Powell —participated in both civil rights and black power activism. A growing number of scholars conceive of the civil rights and black power movements as one interconnected Black Freedom Movement. Numerous black power advocates were in favor of black self-determination due to

5576-640: Is further shown by the expatriates in Ghana criticising the Kennedy administration and paralleling the March on Washington . Ghana became aligned with the Black power movement , centrally focusing on the black nationalism and the anti-war movement. Julian Mayfield , who became a prominent member in Ghana as well as influencing African American civil rights, stated that the nonviolent, passive-resistive strategies failed

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5712-399: Is often seen as a cultural revolution as much as a political revolution, with the goal of celebrating and emphasizing the distinctive group culture of African Americans to an American society that had previously been dominated by white artistic and cultural expressions. Black power utilized all available forms of folk, literary, and dramatic expression based in a common ancestral past to promote

5848-471: Is often unclear. "It is pertinent to note that as the movement expanded the variables of gender, class, and only compounded issues of strategy and methodology in black protest thought." Due to the negative and militant reputation of such auxiliaries as that of the Black Panther Party, many people felt that this movement of "insurrection" would soon serve to cause discord and disharmony through

5984-450: Is translated into the music and the music is used to express their resistance against the white supremacist system. Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little , later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz ; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. A spokesman for

6120-588: The Malcolm ;X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center . A posthumous autobiography , on which he collaborated with Alex Haley , was published in 1965. Malcolm Little was born May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska , the fourth of seven children of Grenada -born Louise Helen Little (née Langdon) and Georgia -born Earl Little. Earl was an outspoken Baptist lay speaker, and he and Louise were admirers of Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey . Earl

6256-609: The Nation of Islam (NOI) until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure within African American and Muslim communities for his pursuit of racial justice. Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. He committed various crimes, being sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary. In prison, he joined

6392-477: The Nation of Islam , Malcolm left that organization and engaged with the mainstream of the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm was now open to voluntary racial integration as a long-term goal, but he still supported armed self-defense, self-reliance, and black nationalism ; he became a simultaneous spokesman for the militant wing of the Civil Rights Movement and the non-separatist wing of the black power movement. An early manifestation of black power in popular culture

6528-570: The Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February   21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City . Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences . In 2021, two of the convictions were vacated. Speculation about the assassination and whether it

6664-633: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On June 16, 1966, in a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi , after the shooting of James Meredith during the March Against Fear , Stokely Carmichael said: This is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested and I ain't going to jail no more! The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take over. What we gonna start sayin' now

6800-595: The Transport and Industrial Workers Union , and Basdeo Panday . In February 1970, a Carnival band, Pinetoppers, presented "The Truth about Africa", with portrayals of Fidel Castro , Kwame Ture and Tubal Uriah Butler . Several marches and protests followed, including a demonstration on 26 February which started outside of the Canadian High Commission and the Royal Bank of Canada to protest

6936-596: The 'political' hinders appreciation of the movement's cultural manifestations and unnecessarily obscures black culture's role in promoting the psychological well being of the Afro-American people," states William L. Van Deburg , author of A New Day in Babylon, "movement leaders never were as successful in winning power for the people as they were in convincing people that they had sufficient power within themselves to escape 'the prison of self-deprecation'". Primarily,

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7072-624: The 1930s, white Seventh-day Adventists witnessed to the Little family; later on, Louise Little and her son Wilfred were baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Malcolm said the Adventists were "the friendliest white people I had ever seen." In 1937, a man Louise had been dating‍—‌marriage had seemed a possibility‍—‌vanished from her life when she became pregnant with his child. In late 1938, she had

7208-535: The 1960s. They worked with the U.S. Black Panther Party in 1967–68, and 1968–72. The On March 2, 1970, roughly one hundred people protested outside the U.S. embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, in support of the U.S. Black Panther founder Bobby Seale, who was on trial for murder in New Haven, Connecticut. They chanted "Free Bobby!" and carried posters proclaiming "Free, Free bobby Seale" and "You can kill

7344-546: The African-American struggle was not solely a struggle for black supremacy . In 1970, this contention fulfilled aims similar to those of the languishing Poor People's Campaign , as well as Jesse Jackson 's Resurrection City and his later Rainbow/PUSH , the latter a counter to Hamptonian iterations of Rainbow Coalitions . Offshoots of black power include African internationalism , pan-Africanism , black nationalism , and black supremacy . The term "black power"

7480-596: The Assembly, and Malcolm   X met publicly with him as part of a welcoming committee of Harlem community leaders. Castro was sufficiently impressed with Malcolm   X to suggest a private meeting, and after two hours of talking, Castro invited Malcolm   X to visit Cuba. From his adoption of the Nation of Islam in 1952 until he broke with it in 1964, Malcolm   X promoted the Nation's teachings . These included beliefs: Louis E. Lomax said that "those who don't understand biblical prophecy wrongly label him as

7616-429: The Civil Rights Movement, the black power movement created, what sociologist Herbert H. Haines refers to as a "positive radical flank effect " on political affairs of the 1960s. Though the nature of the relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the black power movement is contested, Haines' study of the relationship between black radicals and the mainstream civil rights movement indicates that black power generated

7752-614: The Elders of Zion was authentic and introduced it to NOI members, while accusing the Jewish people of "perfecting the modern evil" of neo-colonialism . He helped change the Black community's image of The Holocaust , engaging in Holocaust trivialization and claiming that the Jews "brought it on themselves". In 1961, Malcolm X spoke at a NOI rally alongside George Lincoln Rockwell ,

7888-691: The NSM started provided in other cities. The records of the Northern Student Movement, including a complete run of its periodical, Freedom North , are on file with the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division of the New York Public Library . Oral History interviews with several NSM organizers are available through the Columbia Center for Oral History Research . Black power Black power

8024-527: The Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad. He is largely credited with helping the group's dramatic increase in membership between the early 1950s and early 1960s—from around 1,200 to between 50,000 and 100,000 members, with up to 25,000 actively attending, according to estimates. He inspired the boxer Muhammad Ali to join the Nation, and the two became close. In January 1964, Ali brought Malcolm   X and his family to Miami to watch him train for his fight against Sonny Liston . When Malcolm   X left

8160-704: The Nation of Islam and use "X" instead. When the time was right, after they had proven their sincerity, he said, he would reveal the Muslim's "original name." In his autobiography, Malcolm   X explained that the "X" symbolized the true African family name that he could never know. "For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears." After his parole in August 1952, Malcolm   X visited Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. In June 1953, he

8296-490: The Nation of Islam members and police in South Central Los Angeles , and numerous Muslims were arrested. They were acquitted, but tensions had been raised. Just after midnight on April   27, 1962, two LAPD officers, unprovoked, shoved and beat several Muslims outside Temple Number 27. A large crowd of angry Muslims emerged from the mosque and the officers attempted to intimidate them. One officer

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8432-447: The Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm   X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the white slavemaster name of 'Little ' ", and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating Black empowerment and separation of Black and White Americans , and criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and

8568-614: The Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader, Elijah Muhammad . He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca and became known as " el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz," which roughly translates to "The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch". After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and

8704-413: The Nation of Islam, he tried to convince Ali (who had just been renamed by Elijah Muhammad) to join him in converting to Sunni Islam , but Ali instead broke ties with him, later describing the break as one of his greatest regrets. Malcolm   X mentored and guided Louis   X (later known as Louis Farrakhan ), who eventually became the leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm   X also served as

8840-836: The Nation of Islam. During 1955, Malcolm   X continued his successful recruitment of members on behalf of the Nation of Islam. He established temples in Springfield , Massachusetts (Number   13); Hartford , Connecticut (Number   14); and Atlanta (Number   15). Hundreds of African Americans were joining the Nation of Islam every month. Besides his skill as a speaker, Malcolm   X had an impressive physical presence. He stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed about 180 pounds (82 kg). One writer described him as "powerfully built", and another as "mesmerizingly handsome   ... and always spotlessly well-groomed". In 1955, Betty Sanders met Malcolm   X after one of his lectures, then again at

8976-631: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (and a leader of the 1963 Birmingham campaign), had worked closely with an armed defense group that was led by Colonel Stone Johnson . As Alabama historian Frye Gaillard writes, During the March Against Fear, there was a division between those aligned with Martin Luther King Jr. and those aligned with Carmichael, marked by their respective slogans, "Freedom Now" and "Black Power". While King never endorsed

9112-425: The arms raised with biceps flexed and clenched fists, is temporally specific, variants of the multitude of handshakes, or "giving and getting skin," in the 1960s and 1970s as a mark of communal solidarity continue to exist as a part of black culture. Jazz had played a crucial artistic role to the black power movement throughout the 20th century. Throughout the century jazz had undergone a series of changes in terms of

9248-489: The arrest of Caribbean students for an anti-racism sit-in at Sir George Williams University in Montreal. The Prime Minister tried to appease protesters by introducing a five percent levy to fund unemployment relief, and established the first locally owned commercial bank, but this had little impact. After several weeks of increasingly heated demonstrations, which included disaffected citizens of all ethnicities, Basil Davis,

9384-418: The belief that black people must lead and run their own organizations. Stokely Carmichael is such an advocate and states that, "only black people can convey the revolutionary idea—and it is a revolutionary idea—that black people are able to do things themselves." However, this is not to say that black power advocates promoted racial segregation . Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton write that "there

9520-466: The black power movement became active in related movements. This is seen in the case of the "second wave" of women's rights activism, a movement supported and orchestrated to a certain degree by women working from within the coalition ranks of the black power movement. The boundaries between social movements became increasingly unclear at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s; where the black power movement ends and where these other social movements begin

9656-472: The black power movement by trying to align himself and his party with their aims. In a Cabinet re-shuffle, he removed three ministers (two of them white) and three senators. However, he also introduced the Public Order Act , which reduced civil liberties in a bid to restrict protest marches. After public opposition, led by Robinson and his newly formed Action Committee of Democratic Citizens, the bill

9792-442: The black power movement largely achieved an equilibrium of "balanced and humane ethnocentrism." The impact of the black power movement in generating discussion about ethnic identity and black consciousness supported the appearance and expansion of academic fields of American studies , black studies, and African studies, and the founding of several museums devoted to African-American history and culture in this period. In these ways

9928-438: The black power movement led to greater respect for and attention accorded to African Americans' history and culture. As the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence, President Nkrumah opened Ghana up to African Americans seeking freedom, stating that "the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of the whole of Africa". Black power was directly influenced by two key factors:

10064-431: The civil rights movement's strategy of nonviolence , arguing that Black people should defend and advance themselves " by any means necessary ". His speeches had a powerful effect on his audiences, who were generally African Americans in northern and western cities. Many of them‍—‌tired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality and respect ‍—‌felt that he articulated their complaints better than did

10200-408: The civil rights movement. Malcolm X has been widely accused of being antisemitic . His autobiography contains several "antisemitic charges and caricatures of Jews ". Alex Haley , the autobiography's co-author, had to rewrite some of the book to eliminate a number of negative statements about Jews in the manuscript. Malcolm X believed that the fabricated antisemitic text The Protocols of

10336-478: The common interests of African Americans. Malcolm   X had been equally critical of the civil rights movement. During this period, he denounced Martin Luther King Jr. as a "chump," and referred to other civil rights leaders as being "stooges" of the White establishment and was strongly against any kind of racial integration. He called the 1963 March on Washington "the farce on Washington," and said he did not know why so many Black people were excited about

10472-564: The communities like tutoring and establishing the North End Community Action Project “that organized protests against discriminatory hiring practices.” Also, the Northern Student Movement focused more on organizing locally. However, while advocates of Black Power acknowledged the achievements and dedication of the hard working white NSM members, and a dramatic shift taken place of creating an all-Black organization because many felt that blacks really needed to be

10608-409: The composition and structure as experimentalists attempted to break away from the status quo. From swing to bebop, hard bop, free/avant-garde, Afrofuturist, and fusion jazz, African-American artists continued to evolve the genre to adapt to the social trends of their time. One of the core reasons behind jazz experimentation was the integration of the music in to the white-controlled mainstream, subjecting

10744-495: The decade and only after the 'successes' of earlier efforts, Simone's album makes clear that black power perspectives were already taking shape and circulating widely...in the early 1960s." By 1966, most of SNCC's field staff, among them Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture), were becoming critical of the nonviolent approach to confronting racism and inequality—articulated and promoted by Martin Luther King Jr. , Roy Wilkins , and other moderates—and they rejected desegregation as

10880-400: The development and strategies of later political and social movements. By igniting and sustaining debate on the nature of American society, the black power movement created what other multiracial and minority groups interpreted to be a viable template for the overall restructuring of society. By opening up discussion on issues of democracy and equality, the black power movement paved the way for

11016-572: The early 1960s. Beginning in 1959, Robert F. Willams , president of the Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the NAACP , openly questioned the ideology of nonviolence and its domination of the movement's strategy. Williams was supported by prominent leaders such as Ella Baker and James Forman , and opposed by others, such as Roy Wilkins (the national NAACP chairman) and Martin Luther King Jr. In 1961, Maya Angelou , Leroi Jones , and Mae Mallory led

11152-527: The election of a proportionate number of black representatives to Congress, community control of schools, national health insurance, etc. Though the convention did not result in any direct policy, the convention advanced goals of the black power movement and left participants buoyed by a spirit of possibility and themes of unity and self-determination. A concluding note to the convention, addressing its supposed idealism, read: "At every critical moment of our struggle in America we have had to press relentlessly against

11288-456: The entire U.S. Even Stokely Carmichael stated, "When you talk of Black Power, you talk of building a movement that will smash everything Western civilization has created." Though black power at the most basic level refers to a political movement, the psychological and cultural messages of the black power movement, though less tangible, have had perhaps a longer-lasting impact on American society than concrete political changes. Indeed, "fixation on

11424-462: The event, but no charges were laid against the police. The coroner ruled that Stokes's killing was justified. To Malcolm   X, the desecration of the mosque and the associated violence demanded action, and he used what Louis   X (later Louis Farrakhan) later called his "gangsterlike past" to rally the more hardened of the Nation of Islam members to take violent revenge against the police. Malcolm   X sought Elijah Muhammad's approval which

11560-664: The family relocated in 1926 to Milwaukee , and shortly thereafter to Lansing, Michigan . There, the family was frequently harassed by the Black Legion , a White racist group Earl accused of burning their family home in 1929. When Malcolm was six, his father died in what has been officially ruled a streetcar accident, though his mother Louise believed Earl had been murdered by the Black Legion. Rumors that White racists were responsible for his father's death were widely circulated and were very disturbing to Malcolm X as

11696-520: The fore to aggressively challenge white hegemony. Increasing numbers of black youth, particularly, rejected their elders' moderate path of cooperation, racial integration and assimilation. They rejected the notion of appealing to the public's conscience and religious creeds and took the tack articulated by another black activist more than a century before, abolitionist Frederick Douglass , who wrote: Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up

11832-528: The ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. ... Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will. Most early 1960s civil rights leaders did not believe in physically violent retaliation. However, much of the African-American rank-and-file, especially those leaders with strong working-class ties, tended to complement nonviolent action with armed self-defense. For instance, prominent nonviolent activist Fred Shuttlesworth of

11968-476: The head of the American Nazi Party . Rockwell saw overlap between black nationalism and white supremacy. According to historian Stephen H. Norwood , Malcolm X's negative statements about Jews continued even close to his death, referring to Jews as "bloodsucker[s]" in statements he made during the last months of his life. Malcolm   X is widely regarded as the second most influential leader of

12104-479: The independence of Ghana and the Cold War ideology. As a result of the Cold War, black radicals and activists were unable to freely propose ideas due to government censorship. Consequently, Ghana became the example for black freedom and liberation movements due to the Cold War ideology and politics proving in the long term to be a factor for the demise of black power. After Ghana's independence, black power reached

12240-545: The international stage, with visits from notable African American activists, such as Malcolm X in 1964. For many expatriates, 'home' became Ghana due to the freedom of thought, speech, and economy which could not be had in America amidst the ongoing Cold War. Ghana as a place itself inspired black power due to its position as a non-aligned nation during the Cold War. Ghana thus represented a place for black freedom with no constraints by anti-communist, nor communist propaganda. The connection between black power in America and Africa

12376-490: The liberation and empowerment experienced by African Americans occurred in the psychological realm. The movement uplifted the black community as a whole by cultivating feelings of racial solidarity and positive self-identity, often in opposition to the world of white Americans, a world that had physically and psychologically oppressed black people for generations. Stokely Carmichael stated that "the goal of black self-determination and black self-identity—Black Power—is recognition of

12512-420: The limits of the 'realistic' to create new realities for the life of our people. This is our challenge at Gary and beyond, for a new Black politics demands new vision, new hope and new definitions of the possible. Our time has come. These things are necessary. All things are possible." Though such political activism may not have resulted in direct policy, they provided political models for later movements, advanced

12648-475: The mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on non-violence and racial integration . Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements, such as its free drug rehabilitation program. From the 1950s onward, Malcolm X was subjected to surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with

12784-473: The most well-known and unexpected demonstrations for black power occurred at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. At the conclusion of the 200m race, at the medal ceremony, United States gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos wore Olympic Project for Human Rights badges and showed the raised fist (see 1968 Olympics Black Power salute ) as the anthem played. Accompanying them

12920-447: The music to marketization for the purpose of entertainment. Kwami Coleman explains this played an integral role in the production of avant-garde jazz in the 1960s as a response to the use of bebop as cultural propaganda during Cold War and its growing reputation as "white music." The structure of avant-garde jazz allowed the musicians to have more creative liberty in their pieces because of the emphasis on improvisation that had contradicted

13056-505: The needs of the lower class blacks. He believed that "the only way to win a revolution is to be revolutionary". America nevertheless managed to keep much of Africa under the western sphere of influence, especially after communism began to enter African countries, with Ghana being one. Black power in Africa soon lost its way though, with the coup and overthrow of Nkrumah and the death of black power advocates, such as Malcolm X. Nevertheless, for

13192-715: The notion that black people's natural features such as skin color, facial features and hair are inherently ugly. John Sweat Rock was the first to coin the phrase "Black is Beautiful", in the slavery era. The movement asked that men and women stop straightening their hair and attempting to lighten or bleach their skin . The prevailing idea in American culture was that black features were less attractive or desirable than white features. The black power movement produced artistic and cultural products that both embodied and generated pride in "blackness" and further defined an African-American identity that remains contemporary. Black power

13328-437: The notions of Euro-American music. This generation, which was grounded within the conditions of the Civil Rights Movement, utilized an Afrological and Afro-Modernist sound to reconnect to African heritage in a move away from American Romanticism. Avant-garde jazz was also developed from the desire of African Americans to develop their own cultural attitudes and structures of power outside of the status-quo; this desire for autonomy

13464-515: The officers who beat Johnson. In October, Malcolm   X sent an angry telegram to the police commissioner. Soon the police department assigned undercover officers to infiltrate the Nation of Islam. By the late 1950s, Malcolm   X was using a new name, Malcolm Shabazz or el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz ("The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch"), although he was still widely referred to as Malcolm   X. His comments on issues and events were being widely reported, in print and on radio and television. He

13600-587: The ones determining what their communities needed. Bill Strickland, the second executive director of the NSM, was the leadman in “rent strikes, school boycotts, and neighborhood-initiated community projects”. After a shooting that wounded NSM volunteer, Bruce Payne, who was with a group of fellow volunteers in Mississippi to help with a voter registration campaign, sparked a visit by Dr. Martin Luther King to where it NSM all started, Yale University. He wrote

13736-609: The opposition People's National Party gained support. In the 1972 election , the Jamaica Labour Party was defeated by the People's National Party, and Michael Manley , who had expressed support for black power, became prime minister. The 1970 Black Power Revolution in Trinidad & Tobago was born out of a black power movement that gained strength between 1968 and 1970. The National Joint Action Committee (NJAC)

13872-465: The people who used the slogan ranged from business people who used it to push black capitalism to revolutionaries who sought an end to capitalism, the idea of black power exerted a significant influence. It helped organize scores of community self-help groups and institutions that did not depend on white people, encouraged colleges and universities to start black studies programs, mobilized black voters, and improved racial pride and self-esteem. One of

14008-400: The prevailing white supremacist power structure , they were not at war with all whites, but rather with those (mostly white) individuals empowered by the injustices of the structure and responsible for its reproduction . Bobby Seale , chairman and co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was outspoken about this issue. His stance was that the oppression of black people was

14144-412: The prison nickname "Satan," became receptive to the message of the Nation of Islam. In late 1948, Malcolm wrote to Elijah Muhammad , the leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad advised him to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to God and promise never to engage in destructive behavior again. Though he later recalled the inner struggle he had before bending his knees to pray, Malcolm soon became

14280-629: The remaining charges. A black power movement arose in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Though Jamaica had gained independence from the British Empire in 1962, and Prime Minister Hugh Shearer was black, many cabinet ministers (such as Edward Seaga ) and business elites were white. Large segments of the black majority population were unemployed or did not earn a living wage. The Jamaica Labour Party government of Hugh Shearer banned black power literature such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and

14416-464: The slogan, and in fact opposed the black power movement, his rhetoric sometimes came close to it. In his 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here? , King wrote that "power is not the white man's birthright; it will not be legislated for us and delivered in neat government packages." The "Crisis and Commitment Statement" was a full-page ad taken out in the New York Times on October 14, 1966. The ad

14552-796: The spokesperson for the group, claimed they had recruited 778 members in London during the previous seven weeks. In 1968 Egbuna published Black Power or Death . He was also active with CLR James , Calvin Hernton and others in the Antiuniversity of London , set up following the Dialectics of Liberation Congress. Black people in Britain who identified themselves as the British Black Power Movement (BBPM) formed in

14688-664: The station house and gave a hand signal to the crowd. Nation members silently left, after which time the rest of the crowd also dispersed. One police officer told the New York Amsterdam News : "No one man should have that much power." Within a month the New York City Police Department arranged to keep Malcolm   X under surveillance; it also made inquiries with authorities in other cities in which he had lived, and prisons in which he had served time. A grand jury declined to indict

14824-434: The symbolic thing, the afro , power sign   ... That phase is over and it succeeded. My children feel better about themselves and they know that they're black." The outward manifestations of an appreciation and celebration of blackness abound: black dolls, natural hair, black Santas, models and celebrities that were once rare and symbolic have become commonplace. The "black is beautiful" cultural movement aimed to dispel

14960-763: The term "black power" is found in Richard Wright 's 1954 book Black Power . On May 1, 1965, a few months after the February 21 assassination of Malcolm X , Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs created "in our basement" the national Organization for Black Power, along "with former and then current members of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and SNCC among its members," including "representatives from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, and New York," as "a coordinating group of grassroots activists that looked to establish

15096-459: The time he was returned to the police station, some four thousand people had gathered outside. Inside the station, Malcolm   X and an attorney were making bail arrangements for two of the Muslims. Johnson was not bailed, and police said he could not go back to the hospital until his arraignment the following day. Considering the situation to be at an impasse, Malcolm   X stepped outside

15232-733: The virtues in themselves as black people." Through the movement, blacks came to understand themselves and their culture by exploring and debating the question, "who are we?" in order to establish a unified and viable identity. And "if black people are to know themselves as a vibrant, valiant people, they must know their roots." Throughout the Civil Rights Movement and black history, there has been tension between those wishing to minimize and maximize racial difference. W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr. often attempted to deemphasize race in their quest for equality, while those advocating for separatism and colonization emphasized an extreme and irreconcilable difference between races. McCormack argues that

15368-399: The way for the celebration of multiculturalism in America today. The cultural concept of "soul" was fundamental to the image of African-American culture embodied by the black power movement. Soul, a type of "in-group cultural cachet," was closely tied to black America's need for individual and group self-identification. A central expression of the "soulfulness" of the black power generation

15504-423: The way future generations approached dealing with America's societal problems (McCartney 188). These activists capitalized on the nation's recent awareness of the political nature of oppression, a primary focus of the Civil Rights Movement, developing numerous political action caucuses and grass roots community associations to remedy the situation. The National Black Political Convention, held March 10–12, 1972,

15640-470: The weakness of Black Power is its failure to see that the black man needs the white man and the white man needs the black man. However much we may try to romanticize the slogan, there is no separate black path to power and fulfillment that does not intersect white paths, and there is no separate white path to power and fulfillment, short of social disaster, that does not share that power with black aspirations for freedom and human dignity. We are bound together in

15776-769: The works of Eldridge Cleaver and Trinidad-born Stokely Carmichael , later Kwame Ture . Guyanese academic Walter Rodney was appointed as a lecturer at the University of the West Indies in January 1968, and became one of the main exponents of black power in Jamaica. When the Shearer government banned Rodney from re-entering the country, the Rodney Riots broke out. As a result of the Rodney affair, radical groups and publications such as Abeng began to emerge, and

15912-409: Was a cultivation of aloofness and detachment, the creation of an "aura or emotional invulnerability," a persona that challenged their position of relative powerlessness in greater society. The nonverbal expressions of this attitude, including everything from posture to handshakes, were developed as a counterpoint to the rigid, "up-tight" mannerisms of white people. Though the iconic symbol of black power,

16048-540: Was a local leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and Louise served as secretary and "branch reporter", sending news of local UNIA activities to Negro World ; they inculcated self-reliance and black pride in their children. Malcolm   X later said that White violence killed four of his father's brothers. Because of Ku Klux Klan threats, Earl's UNIA activities were said to be "spreading trouble" and

16184-546: Was a significant milestone in black politics of the black power era. Held in Gary, Indiana , a city with a significant black population, the convention included a diverse group of black activists, although it completely excluded whites. The convention was criticized for its racial exclusivity by Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, a group that supported integration. The delegates created a National Black Political Agenda with stated goals including

16320-572: Was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades. He was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day , on which he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, while the Audubon Ballroom , the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate

16456-454: Was declared "mentally disqualified for military service". In late 1945, Malcolm returned to Boston, where he and four accomplices committed a series of burglaries targeting wealthy White families. In 1946, he was arrested while picking up a stolen watch he had left at a shop for repairs, and in February began serving a sentence of eight to ten years at Charlestown State Prison for larceny and breaking and entering. Two years later, Malcolm

16592-492: Was denied, stunning Malcolm   X. Malcolm   X was again blocked by Elijah Muhammad when he spoke of the Nation of Islam starting to work with civil rights organizations, local Black politicians, and religious groups. Louis   X saw this as an important turning point in the deteriorating relationship between Malcolm   X and Muhammad. Rumors were circulating that Muhammad was conducting extramarital affairs with young Nation secretaries‍—‌which would constitute

16728-461: Was disarmed; his partner was shot in the elbow by a third officer. More than 70 backup officers arrived who then raided the mosque and randomly beat Nation of Islam members. Police officers shot seven Muslims, including William X Rogers, who was hit in the back and paralyzed for life, and Ronald Stokes, a Korean War veteran, who was shot from behind while raising his hands over his head to surrender, killing him. A number of Muslims were indicted after

16864-619: Was featured in a 1959 New York City television broadcast about the Nation of Islam, The Hate That Hate Produced . In September 1960, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Malcolm   X was invited to the official functions of several African nations. He met Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea, and Kenneth Kaunda of the Zambian African National Congress . Fidel Castro also attended

17000-586: Was formed out of the Guild of Undergraduates at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and under its leader Geddes Granger (later Makandal Daaga ), along with Khafra Khambon, they challenged Prime Minister Eric Williams and his government. Simultaneously, there was growing unrest among trade unionists, led by George Weekes of the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union , Clive Nunez of

17136-700: Was named assistant minister of the Nation's Temple Number One in Detroit. Later that year he established Boston's Temple Number   11; in March 1954, he expanded Temple Number   12 in Philadelphia; and two months later he was selected to lead Temple Number   7 in Harlem, where he rapidly expanded its membership. In 1953, the FBI began surveillance of him, turning its attention from Malcolm   X's possible communist associations to his rapid ascent in

17272-589: Was no black power organization in Britain, although there was Michael X 's Racial Adjustment Action Society (RAAS). However, this was more influenced by the Malcolm X 's visit to Britain in 1964. Malcolm X also adopted Islam at this stage, whereas black power was not organized around any religious institution. The Black Power Manifesto was launched on 10 November 1967, published by the Universal Coloured People's Association . Obi Egbuna ,

17408-735: Was replaced by William L. Strickland . The organization started some tutoring and community programs in the most segregated and poverty-stricken urban areas up past the Mason-Dixon line. “In the Roxbury-South End area of Boston, NSM led a voter registration drive, preschool programs, and a Black history workshop.” In Philadelphia, a Northern Student Movement freedom library was started to “have books by and about black people.” The NSM had 50 fulltime employees with different sources reporting of somewhere between 2,200-2,500 college student volunteers. These college students focused on helping

17544-402: Was seen by proponents of the movement as being the collective interests and values of black Americans . The basis of black power is various ideologies that aim at achieving self-determination for black people in the U.S., dictating that black Americans create their own identities despite being subjected to pre-existing societal factors. "Black power" in its original political sense expresses

17680-400: Was silver medalist Peter Norman , a white Australian sprinter, who also wore an OPHR badge to show his support for the two African Americans. Though the black power movement did not remedy the political problems faced by African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, the movement did contribute to the development of black politics both directly and indirectly. As a contemporary of and successor to

17816-485: Was that we should go ahead while he served the movement as an 'evangelist.'" New York politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. used the term on May 29, 1966, during an address at Howard University : "To demand these God-given rights is to seek black power." The first popular use of the term "black power" as a political and racial slogan was by Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture ) and Willie Ricks (later known as Mukasa Dada), both organizers and spokespersons for

17952-428: Was the performances given by Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall in March 1964, and the album In Concert which resulted from them. Nina Simone mocked liberal nonviolence ("Go Limp"), and took a vengeful position toward white racists (" Mississippi Goddamn " and her adaptation of " Pirate Jenny "). Historian Ruth Feldstein writes that, "Contrary to the neat historical trajectories which suggest that black power came late in

18088-487: Was transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony (also in Massachusetts ). Between Mr. Muhammad's teachings, my cor­re­spond­ence, my vis­i­tors   ... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being impris­oned. In fact, up to then, I had never been so truly free in my life. —Malcolm X When Malcolm was in prison, he met fellow convict John Bembry,

18224-519: Was used in a different sense in the 1850s by black leader Frederick Douglass as an alternative name for the Slave Power —that is the disproportionate political power at the national level held by slave owners in the South. Douglass predicted: "The days of Black Power are numbered. Its course, indeed is onward. But with the swiftness of an arrow, it rushes to the tomb. While crushing its millions, it

18360-493: Was withdrawn. The cultivation of pride in the African-American race was often summarized in the phrase " black is beautiful ." The phrase is rooted in its historical context, yet the relationship to it has changed in contemporary times. A respondent in Bob Blauner 's "Longitudinal Oral History of U.S. Race Relations" in 1986 stated: "I don't think it's 'Black is beautiful' anymore. It's 'I am beautiful and I'm black.' It's not

18496-418: Was written and signed onto by Civil Rights leaders, condemning the "extreme" measures used by groups such as the black power movement, while reaffirming the basic tenets of the Civil Rights Movement. The statement was signed by Dorothy Height , A. Philip Randolph , Bayard Rustin , Roy Wilkins , Whitney Young , Amos T. Hall, and Hobson R. Reynolds . Although the concept remained imprecise and contested and

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