| Though misunderstood and misrepresented by the | | | | Politically, at both the local and national level, black |
| media and its opponents, the 1960s Black Power | | | | people started to organize around the three ends of |
| movement touched every aspect of American culture, | | | | Black Power-self-respect, self-determination, and |
| and like the "New Negro" Movement of the 1920s, | | | | self-defense. In 1967 the first Black Power Conference |
| African Americans came of age, becoming | | | | was held in Newark. A Black Power Manifesto came |
| self-determining and racially conscious. Black people- | | | | out of this conference, condemning "neo-colonialist |
| sharecroppers, unionists, welfare and tenants rights | | | | control" of black populations worldwide and calling for |
| organizers, students, intellectuals, poets, musicians and | | | | the circulation of a "philosophy of blackness" that |
| singers and politicians-grounded in the ideology of Black | | | | would unite and direct the oppressed in common |
| Power, began to organize around controlling their own | | | | cause. In 1972 Black Power advocates, organized and |
| lives and institutions. The movement pointedly | | | | called for a State of the Union meeting, first National |
| questioned the capacity of America's democracy to | | | | Black Political Convention. Delegates included elected |
| extend justice, citizenship and equality of opportunity to | | | | officials and revolutionaries, integrationists and black |
| African Americans, castigating America for its failure | | | | nationalists, Baptists and Muslims (the widows of Martin |
| to live up to the principles of democracy. | | | | Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X- Coretta Scott King and |
| Unfortunately, the confrontational style and practice the | | | | Betty Shabazz- both attended). Participants were |
| Black Power Movement has obscured its pivotal role in | | | | buoyed by the spirit of possibility, and themes of unity |
| transforming American democracy. Yet, its cultural and | | | | and self-determination. |
| political mode of thought and practice- its assertive | | | | In a real sense, Black Power ushered in a new black |
| posture, strong rhetoric and uncompromising | | | | politics. In Dark Days Bright Nights, Peniel Joseph, |
| critique-permanently altered the political landscape of | | | | argues persuasively that the politics of Black Power |
| America as well as the identity of African Americans. | | | | included a "cultural ethos that redefined black identity |
| At a time when blacks were still referring to | | | | by promoting defiantly popular images of racial pride |
| themselves as "Negroes", ashamed of being black, of | | | | and self-determination." Peniel adds that Black Power |
| their hair, and their African heritage, the movement for | | | | "waged a war of attrition to in order to implement |
| power by black people in 1966 roared on the national | | | | Black Studies programs...established independent |
| stage transforming the consciousness of African | | | | schools, educations centers, cultural centers, and think |
| Americans. Thus, coined and popularized by Kwame | | | | tanks...the new black politics featured alliances |
| Toure, Black Power captured the spirit and imagination | | | | between elected officials and black nationalist militants, |
| of black people, setting a new national agenda with | | | | and a cultural movement that used art to expand |
| international ramifications. | | | | black consciousness and helped forged an international |
| To be sure, the Black Power movement imagined the | | | | legacy that viewed African liberation as the crown |
| possibilities for black empowerment and American | | | | jewel of a global revolution." Peniel concludes that all of |
| democracy. Its unflinching call for the promotion of | | | | this in turn "planted seeds that partially inspired |
| black history and black studies; its Pan African impulse; | | | | post-Black Power era anti-apartheid activisms," and |
| its far-reaching criticism of racism at home and | | | | that; "If the civil rights worked from the outside-in by |
| imperialism abroad, expanded the dialogue and | | | | paving the way for legal and legislative reforms, Black |
| parameters of the black freedom struggle. Resultantly, | | | | Power worked in reverse, imbuing the race |
| black people began to turn inward, using their cultural | | | | consciousness and pride within the African American |
| strengths to push back against racism and to affirm | | | | communities upon which much of contemporary black |
| their own humanity and to embrace an African centric | | | | identity is based." |
| worldview. So far-reaching and so expansive was the | | | | In brief, unlike the Civil Rights Movement, which has had |
| tentacles of the Black Power movement that no | | | | its signal events incorporated into the fabric of |
| venue or sector was untouched by its vision and | | | | America's political and cultural institutions and historical |
| critique. The Black Power salute in the 1968 Olympic | | | | memory through the media and academic historians, |
| by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for example, was | | | | the Black Power Movement has been defined by its |
| the most overly political statements in the history of | | | | excesses and demonized by the media and |
| the modern Olympic Games. The salute was part of a | | | | marginalized in history of the 1960s. Yet, failure to |
| protest to call attention to the injustices black | | | | recognize the achievements of the Black Power |
| Americans were facing. | | | | Movement and rescue its legacy serves only to |
| Another sector heavily impacted by ideology and | | | | diminish the history of the social justice movement, |
| direction of Black Power Movement, was the music | | | | including civil rights, and the contemporary racial justice |
| industry. The music in the late 1960s began to reflect | | | | movement. To be sure, this Movement made |
| the influence of the movement- James Brown, Say it | | | | significant accomplishments in transforming African |
| Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud, the anthem for the Black | | | | American politic and culture, and in reforming American |
| Power Movement, Nina Simone, To Be Young Gifted | | | | institutions: laying the groundwork for the Jesse |
| and Black, The Temptations, Message From A Black | | | | Jackson's candidacy for the Democratic 1984 and |
| Man. Besides this, the "Natural", a hair style which | | | | 1988 presidential nominations, the election of Ron |
| evolved into a cultural and political statement for black | | | | Brown as the first African American chair of the |
| men and women, and the dashiki, which became the | | | | Democratic National Committee, and the election of |
| dominant form of dress for African Americans, were | | | | Barack Obama, the first African American elected |
| representative of the African centric perspective of | | | | President of the United States of America. |
| blacks. | | | | |