Life of Stokely Carmichael and His Contribution to the Black Power Movement Essay Example

black panther as its symbol. Carmichael became the chairman of SNCC in 1966, and he soon achieved national attention from the media in August of that year when he ended a speech with a call for Black Power.IBlack Power! soon became a rallying cry for black protests during the 1960s and 19701s, and it also created a wedge between SNCC and more moderate civil rights groups.

Defined in many ways, Black Power emphasized independent political and economic development by blacks as a necessary element of social change. A 1967 world tour to publicize the black struggle in the United States brought Carmichael more controversy. Carmichaelis passport was revoked while on a visit to Cuba, and he soon faced an indictment for the crime of sedition. Luckily for Carmichael, he was never prosecuted, and he became prime minister of the Black Panther Party the following year. In 1969 Carmichael began to focus his political activity on Africa. After his work with the Black Panthers, he went to work for the All-African People's Revolutionary Party in Ghana.

That same year, Carmichael went to live in the African nation of Guinea with his wife. While residing there, Carmichael took the first and last names of his newfound mentors, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea. Carmichael, now known as Kwame Touré, continued to travel and lecture about U.S. imperialism, Pan-Africanism, and socialism until his death in 1998 from prostate cancer.

The Man: Leader, Speaker, Visionary

Those who encountered Stokely Carmichael as an undergraduate at Howard University in the early 19601s used words like Ibrashi and Ibrillianti to

describe him. It was thanks to his elite education in native Trinidad and in New York that Carmichael became a formidable orator, and his experiences as a battle-tested Movement veteran also contributed to his power as a speaker. He was arrested over thirty-six times in his efforts for African American empowerment, once for attempting to integrate buses and terminals as a Freedom Rider.

For his actions, he was sentenced to Mississippi's brutal Parchman Penitentiary for 49 days. Cleveland Sellers, a modern activist and student in Washington D.C. presently continuing the legacy Carmichael left behind, is quoted in saying, IAnyone who goes [to Parchman) and comes back outlit says something about commitment, courage, and strength.) Stokely Carmichael's passion for his people and the Black Power Movement persevered throughout his life. In 1964, he gained a deal of media attention when he corrected three police officers that stopped his car and addressed him with degrading slanders, including Iniggerl and Oboy..

Carmichaelis response to these comments was the following statement: (Let me remind you, I am to be addressed as Mr. Stokely Carmichael..Carmichael was immediately carted off to jail following his words to the police, yet his determination and dedication to the movement never wavered while he was in prison. Columbia University political scientist Charles V. Hamilton responded to Carmichaelis actions, saying, His sheer presence there, challenging white authority, was a fantastic lesson in how to overcome fear. When people saw his actions, they had to recognize this was a new kind of force.) Stokely Carmichael was a man of purpose, fortitude, and unwavering valor.

His education, his place in American history, and

his position among his contemporaries truly reveal why he was such a strong-minded individual and therefore an exceptional speaker. Carmichaelis initial impetus in speaking to audiences around the world was to educate the public concerning the Black Power Movement and the resistance the faction received. Responding to those who called the Black Powerl slogan as racist and inflammatory, Carmichael wrote that by black power he meant political and economic empowerment, not a notion of supremacy. Carmichael responded to his critics in many interviews, bestowing statements like the following: We want control of the institutions of the communities where we live. We want to stop the exploitation of nonwhite people around the world. Carmichael continued to speak against the entities of political and economic repression throughout his life as a leader of the Black Power Movement.

Followers of Carmichael and the movement quickly took up the phrase Black Power! and echoed the cry for freedom in communities from Oakland to Newark. This was success for Success for Carmichael. He was simply tapping into the minds of the oppressed and the disheartened and providing them with a strong, formidable response to the powers that exploited them. His intentions were to provide hope to those in despair and to educate those he inspired with words of confidence and support. Carmichael knew the amount of desolation the African American people of the United States and beyond were experiencing.

Therefore, by taking on the powers of authority through speech, Stokely Carmichael could become the general of an army of irritated and motivated men and women. Thus, he was left with a tremendous amount of power and potential to

bring change. Yet as Stokely Carmichael's call for black power galvanized many young blacks, it troubled many others. Much of the public beyond that of Carmichaelis army thought IBlack Power! sounded antiwhite, provocative, and even violent. Adverse reaction was powerful and immediate to Carmichael and Black Poweris efforts.

After the integrationist, nonviolent speeches and sermons of Martin Luther King Jr. and others, many Americans, white and black, were unprepared for the somewhat uncompromising demands of the black militants who rallied behind Carmichael's cry for empowerment and representation. The media held much disgust for the Black Power!cry. Editorials in print media and on television warned of Dreverse racismi and the consequences it could yield. Contributions to civil rights groups from sympathetic whites quickly diminished, as the Movement grew larger. Even voting results and local elections around the country in the 1960ls reflected a white backlash.

Many black leaders of the civil rights movement, though eager to avoid a split, were upset by the use of the Black Power! phrase and the separatism it seemed to advocate. Martin Luther King even called the phrase, lan unfortunate choice of words, I while Roy Wilkins of the N.A.A.C.P. scorned the phrase as, lan example of the raging of race against race. Perhaps the most indignant response came from Whitney Young Jr., the director of the National Urban League, who said: Anyone can arouse the poor, the despairing, the helpless.

That's no trick. Sure they'll shout Iblack power,] but why doesn't the mass media find out how many of those people will follow those leaders to a separate state or back to Africa?!