Black Power Movement: Actors, Political Orgs and Events - Essay Sample

Introduction

The emergence of Black Power ideology was a sharp contrast from civil rights movements. Black power movement advocated for violence, unlike civil rights movements that used peaceful means to address the challenges facing minorities, especially African Americans in the United States. This paper explores the Black power movement by discussing the actors, political organizations, and events associated with the Black Power Movement, discussing the involvement of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Black Panthers, and evaluating the use of violence by these groups and its effectiveness.

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Actors, Political Organizations and Events Associated with the Black Power Movement

The Black power movement comprised mainly of young Black activists who were discontented with the methods used and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, they advocated for racial pride, self-determination, and autonomy of African Americans. Unlike civil rights movements, groups created based on black power ideology were willing to go the extra mile of using violence to pursue freedom, justice, and equality in the U.S.

Some of the key individuals who played a central role in the Black Power movement are Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Elaine Brown, Angela Davis, Fred Hampton, Amiri Baraka, and Shirley Chisholm (United States National Archives, par. 4). Most of these individuals were the people behind the formation of groups that were linked to Black power ideology. Others were active participants in the activities of these groups. For instance, Stokely Carmichael was one of the chairmen of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Malcolm X had a significant impact on the Black power movement, especially with his insistence that these groups should use any means necessary to achieve equality and other goals that they intended to fulfill.

There were several groups that emerged during the Black Power Movement inspired by Black power ideology. Some of the main ones are the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP), Nation of Islam (NOI), Deacons for Defense and Justice, and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) (United States National Archives, par.2). Each of these groups used different mechanisms, but they had similar founding principles of attaining racial pride, self-determination, and autonomy for minorities in the United States.

Involvement of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Black Panthers

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and The Black Panthers were two of the most vocal groups that emerged from the Black Power Movement. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was founded in February 1960 by African American college students to champion the rights and equality of African Americans. The group would use several means to achieve its goals, especially sit-ins. However, its approach of using peaceful means to fulfill its objective changed with time to use of radical measures. For instance, Hubert Brown’s leadership alienated White members of the group and eventually kicked them out of the group (United States National Archives, par.3) One key contribution of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the Black Power Movement was when its leader, Stokely Carmichael, who led his followers during the march against fear in June 1966. It is through this protest that the ideology of Black Power gained momentum (Pruitt, par.5).

The Black Panthers Party for Self Defense was founded in 1966. Its main objectives were to promote Black Nationalism, socialism, and armed defense. Black Panthers was one of the parties that were linked with violence due to its ideology of armed defense, whereby African Americans were to be trained and allowed to carry weapons to protect themselves. Such a doctrine was perceived as one of perpetuating anarchy. Some of the main achievements of Black Panther were empowering black communities through the use of social programs. For instance, the group offered free meals to students (Pruit, par.13).

Use of Violence and Its Effectiveness

Black Power movements failed to achieve the main goals that it initially wanted to make. Several factors, such as lack of coordination, use of violence, and creation of divisions between Black and Whites, lead to this failure. The use of force made the groups target of law enforcement agencies and eventually lead to their decline (Black Power Movement, par. 5.). Furthermore, their advocacy for racial discrimination and the use of violence disrupted cooperation between Whites and Black in the United States, which had yielded positive outcomes during Civil Rights Movements. For instance, Hubert Brown’s decision to make the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee an all-Black party lead to the downfall of the party as it lost financial support from its white members. The latter were expelled (United States National Archives, par.3). Similarly, the use of violence attracted a negative perception of Black Power organization from both White and Black folks in the United States. It hindered the functioning of these organizations hence paralyzing their ability to achieve their goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Black Power movement was founded on the principles of self-determination, autonomy, and racial pride. The movement advocated for the use of violence to achieve its goals, as seen through the functions of groups such as Black Panthers. Unfortunately, the strategy of using violence failed to work but attained other outcomes, such as the emergence of the Black Arts movement.

Works Cited

Black Power Movement. https://law.jrank.org/pages/4776/Black-Power-Movement.html

Pruitt, Sarah. “How the Black Power Movement influenced the Civil Rights movement.” https://www.history.com/news/black-power-movement-civil-rights

United States National Archives. “The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.” https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power/sncc

United States National Archives. “Black Power.” https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power

United States National Archives. “Black Panthers.” https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power/black-panthers