History: Black Power

Dr. Peniel Joseph is a professor of African-American studies from Tufts University. In this lecture, Dr. Joseph discussed to the audience about Stokely Carmichael and America in the 1960s. He also stressed about black power, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Barack Obama. This is an important topic because the revolutionary transition from the 1960s transformed the constitution and legal rights in our society today.

Black power was a movement that was not all about blacks. Dr. Joseph explained to us that black power is the substance of change in the United States. It is universal and it can be a power for everyone, even if they are not black. Black power also inspired many African American women liberations committee, labor rights unions, and religion. During this time, Malcolm X was the most important figure. He wanted to expand the idea of black nationalism. Malcolm X kept up with public dialogues because he saw the jagged edges of brutality, economic misery, poverty, and segregation. He continued to critique racism and U.S. imperialism that continued in the society until the day he was assassinated.

Soon after Malcolm X's assassination, Stokely Carmichael continued the banner of Malcolm X. Carmichael was the most important figure in the twentieth century. He combined both politics and elements of Caribbean, African American, and Africa. As a teenager, he was a civil rights activist who envisioned social and political transformation. Carmichael soon joined SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), which was founded by Ella Baker, who was an activist and feminist. He announced that he needed to bring civilization to its knees. Stokely Carmichael was the civil bridge of black power who envisioned the democracy to be war-free, poverty-free, and segregation-free.

As mentioned earlier in the previous paragraph, Carmichael joined the organization SNCC. This organization was also an instrumental tool during the election of Obama. In other words, without SNCC, there would be no Obama. Barack Obama holds connections to the black power movement. He also holds different expressions of black power. He is not the end and is not the beginning but the continuation of black power.

I learned more about the beauty of the black power movement in this lecture. Also, I learned that the many activists and leaders involved helped transform the society into something new from the black power movement. Black power helped change transform the views of segregation, poverty, and violence. The history of black power is important because the idea of poverty and segregation came from the 1960s. It is also important because the existing society that the United States of America holds today was formed from the idealism of black power.