Black Power Shift

450-500 words
Prompt: Select one individual whose work reflects the presence or influence of another, and
describe how that individual built upon or extrapolated from the pre-existing works,
methodologies, techniques, products, or ideas of their influence. Examine the significance of the
influence and analyze how it changes or enhances the process or outcome.

The unmistakable stench of cigarettes and sweat filled the crowded quarters of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) training room. Over the past week, dozens of
young black and white students were exposed to all the horrors that awaited them in their pursuit
of change. Their vision blurred as fellow classmates tightened their grip on common police
chokeholds, taking away all senses except hearing. The men became accustomed to their female
counterpart’s screams as the women were brutally dragged by their hair. Students who had never
smoked in their lives, left camp with second hand smoke and butt burns from constantly having it
blown into their faces and put out on their skin when they refused to retaliate. Painful memories of
sit-in training camps were all too familiar for Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
leader Stokely Carmichael. He had bought into Martin Luther King Jr’s promises of social change
through nonviolent protests long ago, but grew tired of nominal results.
By the mid 1960s, Carmichael was determined to free the Civil Rights Movement from its
painful crawl. He called onto the goals of MLK to drive his new approach for the movement, “I have
the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies,
education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits,” (Martin
Luther King Jr., 1964). The current movement lacked recent excitement and publicity. Carmichael
recognized the power of slogans through MLK’s “Freedom Now” and utilized it to gain momentum
in the press. Carmichael’s 1966 use of the term “Black Power” would revolutionize the moment
forever.
The term “Black Power” was not invented by Carmichael and was very much discouraged by
MLK who viewed the term as being detrimental to the movement due to its message of segregation
and negative connotation in the white population. Carmichael claimed “It is a call for black people in
this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build sense of community. It is a call for black
people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.” Carmichael’s new message
shifted the movement away from MLK’s goal of multiracial unity and towards single race
improvement of blacks.
Without the background of MLK’s campaign of nonviolence, Carmichael would have lacked
the skills necessary to produce the successful revival and redefining of the motto “Black Power.”
MLK’s influence allowed Carmichael to view the Civil Rights Movement in several different
perspectives and more clearly define the strengths and weaknesses of nonviolence. “Black Power”
was the direct result of Carmichael’s frustrations with the slow-moving change of MLK’s nonviolent
philosophy.
The impact of “Black Power” transcended the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and is still
relevant in modern activist groups. Though Carmichael’s belief of isolation from other ethnicities
has faded, his message of black pride derived from his time with MLK endures.
Citations: APA

(n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from

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Bates, K. G. (2014, March 10). Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power
Movement. Retrieved October 31, 2017, from
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/10/287320160/stokely-carmichael-a-
philosopher-behind-the-black-power-movement

Black Power. (2017, October 29). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Power

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes: 33 Quotes on Education, Courage, Love, Racism, Violence, and
Service. (2015, November 09). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from
https://www.theepochtimes.com/martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-33-quotes-on-education-courage-
love-racism-violence-and-service_454112.html

Stokely Carmichael. (2017, October 28). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokely_Carmichael

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http://www.brainyquote.com/authors/stokely_carmichael