Summary: The Legacy Of Stokely Carmichael

1094 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of the civil rights movement on America today

The legacy of Stokely Carmichael's contributions and achievements impacted the outcome of the African American Civil Rights movement to some extent. Before converting to militant means, Carmichael’s involvements in the non-violent organisations were a success, desegregating numerous facilities. Carmichael's conversion to aggressive means also brought hope to African Americans as many were frustrated at the minimal change. Carmichael, though, was able to increase black morale by popularising the term ‘Black Power.’ However, his violent ideas did not bring significant change in society as his alliance with the Black Panther Party stained the reputation of the African Americans and influenced the African Americans to launch riots.

Carmichael’s …show more content…

Carmichael’s infamous ‘Black Power’ speech in 1966 increased black morale; ‘The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin’ us is to take over. We been saying freedom for six years and we ain’t got nothin’. What we’re gonna start saying now is Black Power!’ (The Massachusetts Review, 1966). Professor Jonathan Holloway states that this became ‘a radicalising moment for Carmichael… one radicalising moment after another’ (Yale University). Carmichael’s powerful speech captured the media’s attention, allowing the SNCC’s popularity to increase in Georgia, Alabama, Maryland and California as well as catching the attention of Elijah Muhammad, the Islamic African-American religious leader, allying with the Black Panther Party. The increase in popularity allowed Carmichael to emphasise the needs of the ghettoes, including educating African Americans how to start businesses and credit unions, improve schools and increase employment. His contributions can therefore be seen in modern Civil Rights movement, as noted by Professor Peniel Joseph; ‘There is no question that the Black Lives Matter is organically connected to the heroic period of the Civil Rights movement-… and the Black Power Movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s’ (USA Today Network, …show more content…

Initially beginning with non-violent tactics, Carmichael’s efforts in lead NAG to desegregate different facilities became since this led to an increase in support. His conversion to aggressive means also initially began effective as his infamous ‘Black Power’ speech increased black morale and attempted to help the ghettoes. His speech also has a long term impact as it has been noted by historians that the modern Civil Rights movement has been influenced by the Black Power movement. However, it is inaccurate to assume that Carmichael’s contributions brought significant change to the Civil Rights movement as his conversion to violence and association to the Black Panthers stained the reputation of the African Americans as his call for black nationalism led to a white backlash and loss of supporters. HIs violent philosophies also became a form of encouragement for militant African Americans to launch riots throughout the country, provoking restlessness from blacks and whites and therefore causing the dissolution of the Black

Show More
Related

  • Nation of Islam in the Light of Elijah Muhammad

    2034 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1930 Wallace D. Fard gave birth to the Nation of Islam movement. He began in Detroit going door to door preaching to black families about his remedy for their problems. He tried replacing their beliefs with his own, for solving their problems. Fard had three main ideas that laid the foundation for his “remedy”. He wanted black separatism, everyone to know that white men are evil (which was not hard for African Americans to believe since the idea already lived within their minds), and to show the inadequacy of Christianity to African Americans. During this period Fard recruited Elijah Poole, changed Elijah’s name to Elijah Muhammad and developed him into his Chief Minister. With the mysterious disappearance of Fard in 1934, Elijah took over the movement. Elijah was born in Sandersville, Georgia in 1897 as the seventh of twelve children. He barely finished the third grade before dropping out to work in the fields to help support his family (Muhammad 1+). During his childhood Elijah witnessed a lynching right before his eyes; different accounts vary on whom he actually saw lynched. In Baldwin’s account in “Down at the Cross,” he says he saw his father lynched befo...

    Read More

  • Black Power as Interpreted by Stokely Carmichael

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    This state of push-and-pull is far from one that would allow any sort of true social progress for Blacks, and when the power holding demographic does see fit to establish a state that coincides with the favor of the minority, it is rarely for the express purpose of allowing further rights for the population of people that they hold such power over. In all likelihood, as discussed by Carmichael and his colleagues, the power structure is merely making effort in order to adjust for a less submissive subservient population. While claims such as this are easy ...

    Read More

  • Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X rejected the idea that the main goal of the civil rights movement should be based on an aspiration to gain rights “equal” to those of white men and to assimilate into white culture. They instead emphasized a need to empower Black Americans.1 Their ideas were considered radical at a time when Martin Luther King Jr. preached the potential of white and black americans to overcome “the race issue” together and in a gradual manner. Malcolm X’s attempt to achieve his goals through revolutionary top-down methods and Fannie Lou Hamer’s focus on the need for grassroots movements contributed to the Civil Rights movement significantly by encouraging and assisting Black Americans.

    Read More

  • Stokely Carmichael: Catalyst of the Black Power Movement

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ever since slavery black people have been fighting for their freedom time after time and many different activists had different ways of expressing themselves to get their point across. But in the mid 1960s Stokely Carmichael had his own way of pushing freedom in the black community. He gave more awareness to the words “Black Power” as he was the leader of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) but soon changed his approach once he saw nonviolent protesters were being brutalized in the South. He had a speech at the university of California in 1966 where he addressed this issue of freedom in the black community in which he challenged the “civil rights leadership by rejecting integration and calling on blacks to oust whites from the freedom movement.” Because of Stokely Carmichael the freedom movement for blacks was heightened and was taken more seriously by whites and by other blacks and is also a main reason for blacks having the freedom we do today.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X Dbq

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    There were many contributors that made the Black movement so successful, especially the most effective, Martin Luther King Jr. as in contrast to Malcolm X. Both made such a grave and huge impact but with very different strategies to go about it. Martin Luther King Jr. using a peaceful protest approach, meanwhile Malcolm X preferred a violent, political protest. Although both men were striving for a better life for his fellow African American their different approaches to the initial subject had a varied effect which ended up winning one of them a nobel peace prize. Malcolm had his fair share of trying to help, he only made things worse for himself and the things he was trying to strive for. Having become a very influential person and to give

    Read More

  • The Chicano and The Black Power Movements

    3047 Words  | 7 Pages

    Ogbar, Jeffrey. Black Power Radical Politics and African American Identity. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 2004, 124.

    Read More

  • Black Panther Party Analysis

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Living for the City, Donna Murch details the origins and the rise to prominence the Black Panther Party experienced during the 1960s and into the 1970s. The Civil Rights Movement and eventually the Black Panther Movement of Oakland, California emerged from the growing population of migrating Southern African Americans who carried with them the traditional strength and resolve of the church community and family values. Though the area was heavily driven by the massive movement of industrialization during World War II, the end of the war left a period of economic collapse and social chaos in its wake. The Black Panther Party was formed in this wake; driven by continuing violence against the African American youth by the local police forces, the Black Panther Party’s roots consisted mostly of educational meetings of local African American college students.

    Read More

  • Development Of Malcolm X Essay

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper will discuss the different stages of thought processes the former Nation of Islam minister, Malcolm X went through during his lifetime in terms of how he viewed white people, but more specifically “the white man” in America. The reason the focus is on White Americans is because these were the people outside of the Nation of Islam that shaped his life good or bad and put him on the path where he eventually transformed from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X who was one of the most polarizing and controversial figures during his lifetime and even nearly 50 years after his death the name Malcolm X causes certain people to shudder. Malcolm X became a well-known figure during the 50’s and 60’s during the civil rights movement which involved figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. This was a pivotal era in American history because for the first time that there was major push towards full rights for African Americans. When Malcolm X came on the scene he put fear into White people because they weren’t used to hearing the truth about race relations in America and many of them felt that things were just fine because they themselves were living life high on the hog while at the same time exploiting Blacks. Because this type of talk from a black person was new to them they misinterpreted his views as “hate speech” and accused him of trying to incite violence when he was simply trying wake his people up to properly deal with what was happening to them.

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights and the LGBT Movements

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the conclusion of the Civil War during the mid-1860s demolished the official practice of slavery, the oppression and exploitation of African Americans has continued. Although the rights and opportunities of African Americans were greatly improved during Reconstruction, cases such a 1896’s Plessy v. Ferguson, which served as the legal basis for segregation, continue to diminish the recognized humanity of African Americans as equal people. Furthermore, the practice of the sharecropping system impoverished unemployed African Americans, recreating slavery. As economic and social conditions worsened, the civil rights movement began to emerge as the oppressed responded to their conditions, searching for equality and protected citizenship.With such goals in mind, associations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which came to the legal defense of African Americans and aided the march for civil rights reforms, emerged. By working against the laws restricting African Americans, the NAACP saw progress with the winning of cases like Brown v. Board of Education, which allowed the integration of public schools after its passing in 1954 and 1955. In the years following the reform instituted by the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, the fervor of the civil rights movement increased; mass nonviolent protests against the unfair treatment of blacks became more frequent. New leaders, such as Martin Luther King, manifested themselves. The civil rights activists thus found themselves searching for the “noble dream” unconsciously conceived by the democratic ideals of the Founding Fathers to be instilled.

    Read More

  • The Black Panthers In The 1960's

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1960’s was an era of constant turmoil as a result of the fight for equal rights for all races, a fight led by the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Even before they were both murdered, the mostly peaceful Civil Rights movement was gaining traction, but still actually gaining equal rights at a painfully slow pace. Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party emerged as a revolutionary group who aimed to change not only the unfair government but the slow pace at which the Civil Rights Movement was progressing. In the late 1960’s and the 1970’s, The Black Panther’s consistently stood up for their beliefs on Civil Rights and were successful in changing it into

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Movement: The Black Panther Party

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    Leading this march was Bobby Seale. The Panthers were protesting because the state was trying to outlaw carrying weapons in public. While Bobby Seale was reading a statement of protest, the police immediately arrested Bobby Seale along with thirty other Panthers. This act sparked the Panthers and later they started to spread outside of the state of California. On October 1967, the police arrested Huey Newton for killing an Oakland cop. As a result, Eldridge Cleaver started a movement called “Free Huey.” The Panthers really devoted themselves to this movement. While this was happening, the Black Panther Party was trying to be involved in political spectrum. The party formed alliances with various revolutionaries. Stokely Carmichael, the former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, was recruited and he later became the party’s prime minister in February 1968. Stokely Carmichael was not in favor of letting whites into the black liberation movement. Carmichael believed that whites did not understand what the Panthers were doing and did not have the same effect in the movement. Stokely Carmichael said, "Whites who come into the black community with ideas of change seem to want to absolve the power structure of its responsibility for what it is doing, and say that change can only come through black unity, which is the worst kind of paternalism..... If we are to proceed

    Read More

  • Comparing Stokely Carmichael And Martin Luther King Jr.

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    With this approach, King managed to become a worldwide icon, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and he managed to unite a divided nation. In regards to Stokely Carmichael’s internal philosophy, that is a more complicated answer. Whilst originating as a user of nonviolence, even working with King at some points, Carmichael converted to the side of violence after seeing James Meredith shot on his ‘Walk against fear’. Whilst finishing Meredith’s march, Stokely Carmichael popularised the pro-militant phrase ‘Black Power’. The concept of Black Power and its various interpretations spread throughout the nation like wildfire, leaving a fiercely angered and re-divided populace. Some interpreted the saying as a call for the integration of african americans into positions of power, like government. Others however perceived it as a sign to create an artificial apartheid, with an all black nation within, but separate to the U.S. (historylearningsite.co.uk 2015). Both approaches achieved different goals, and this is likely because they never wanted the same thing. Carmichaels militant movement managed to gain numbers of followers in an unprecedented time frame, whereas Kings nonviolent philosophy gained respect from everyone, something he would need if his movement were to

    Read More

  • Malcolm X: Paving the Way for the Rights of African Americans

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Nation of Islam, which Malcolm X was an important member of, is not a religious organization as the name suggests but rather an organization whose goal was to make the lives of African Americans better instead of actually teaching the proper ethics of Islam. One of the main objectives of this organization was Black Nationalism, through which Black leaders can control the areas where there is a majority of African Americans. This cause was greatl...

    Read More

  • NAACP

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    From bold investigations of mob brutality, protests of mass murders, segregation and discrimination, to testimony before congressional committees on the vicious tactics used to bar African Americans from the ballot box, it was the talent and tenacity of NAACP members that saved lives and changed many negative aspects of American society. While much of its history is chronicled in books, articles, pamphlets and magazines, the true movement lies in the faces—black, white, yellow, red, and brown—united to awaken the conscientiousness of people, and a nation. Work Cited www.en.wikipedia.org www.naacp.org www.spartacus.schoolnet.co

    Read More

  • The Black Panther Impact

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Black Panther Party made blacks more progressive in trying to be more equal and more willing to fight for justice. Their self-determination to come together and stand up for themselves, as one was a stepping-stone for blacks to fight for themselves and the good of their people, also to make sure blacks could be treated equally both socially and politically in society. The Black Panther Party was started in Oakland, California in 1966, when “Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton took up arms and declared themselves apart of a global revolution against American imperialism” (Bloom). They wanted to empower the black people to stand up for themselves and defend themselves against the police and their unjust ways. The police were the oppressor’s that kept blacks down and kept blacks from gaining any self-rights.

    Read More

More about Summary: The Legacy Of Stokely Carmichael

Open Document