Black Power

1
Black Power Black Nationalism

• African-American History

2
Background 1800s

• Many whites favored colonization in 1800s
• American Colonization Society founded Liberia in
  1821 for that purpose, but only 12,000 went there
• Dr. Martin Delaney led emigration movement in
  1850s 1860s
• 20,000 emigrated to Canada Haiti in early 1800s
• Bishop Henry M. Turner called for limited
  colonization of Africa in late 1800s
• Calculated U.S. govt owed ex-slaves 40 billion,
  wanted some of that money to fund emigration
• Southern white Senators introduced bill in 1890
  to fund emigration

3
Background 1900s

• Marcus Garveys UNIA made black nationalism
  popular in the 1920s
• Cyril V. Briggs Oscar Brown called for separate
  black 49th state
• F.S. Cherry founded Church of God in Philadelphia
  in 1915, claiming blacks were really Falasha Jews
  from Ethiopia

Marcus Garvey
4
Black Muslims

• Timothy Drew (Noble Drew Ali) formed
  Moorish-American Science Temple in Newark, NJ in
  1913
• Wallace D. Fard appeared in Detroit in July 1930,
  claiming to be prophet from Mecca
• Claimed blacks were lost tribe of Shabazz
• Evil scientist Yakub created race of white
  devils, who were given 6,000 years to rule over
  the Black Nation
• Elijah (Poole) Muhammad took over leadership of
  Nation of Islam following W.D. Fards
  disappearance from Chicago in 1934

5
Malcolm X the Nation of Islam

• Malcolm Little was son of Baptist preacher and
  UNIA organizer
• Joined Nation of Islam in prison in 1948
  Minister of Harlem temple in 1954
• Broke with Nation in March 1964 made pilgrimage
  to Mecca
• Founded Organization of Afro-American Unity
• Murdered in Feb. 1965

Malcolm X and Elijah Mohammad
6
Malcolm Xs Message

• Attacked King others as Uncle Toms
• Said integration was false goal what was needed
  was real revolution
• Argued ghettoes were white creations
• Rejected Christianity as slaveowners religion of
  white supremacy

Malcolm X speaking at Harlem rally
7
The Appeal of Black Nationalism the Nation of
Islam

• Black nationalism always appealed to Northern
  blacks more than Southern blacks
• Southerners could believe rest of U.S. wasnt
  racist
• Northerners knew better
• Islam better suited to black nationalism because
  it lacks the concept of grace
• Christianity requires one to love forgive
  enemies
• Islam emphasizes divine justice retribution
• American Christianity cast in white, middle-class
  mold
• Islams strict ascetic code addressed problems of
  ghettoes through self-help

8
Pan-Africanism

• African Americans related to colonial experience
  of Africans (and Asians)
• Immanuel Wallersteinss world system thesis
  provided Marxist explanation for colonialism
• Independence of African nations seen as model

9
Black Power

• New SNCC leaders Stokely Carmichael Rap Brown
  abandon nonviolent strategy and goal of
  integration in 1966
• CORE followed suit in 1967 under Floyd McKissick
• Black Panthers founded in Oakland in 1966 by Huey
  Newton Bobby Seale

H. Rap Brown
Stokely Carmichael, 1970
10
Black Power Ideology

• Insisted on being called Black to assert that
  Black is beautiful
• Threatened violence, especially in retaliation
  for police brutality
• Condemned Vietnam War as unjust continuation of
  colonial rule over people of color

Bobby Seale Huey Newton
11
Black Studies

• San Francisco State introduced 1st Black Studies
  program under Nathan Hare
• Antioch College est. Afro-American Studies
  Institute that excluded whites
• Kenneth Clark resigned in protest
• Militants at Cornell demanded separate Black
  College of Black Studies in 1968