Where Do We Go From Here

The term Black power has various origins. Stokely Carmichael used the term as a rallying slogan in his speech during the March Against Fear in 1966. More than integration, Black power emphasized self-determination and racial pride for Black people in their culture and identity. African Americans proclaimed their human rights and demanded control over their communities, businesses, schools, and local government. The movement was also informed by the ideologies of Black nationalism and Black separatism. The Black power movement believed that nonviolent resistance was inadequate to address the injustice facing Black Americans. Some members of the movement also saw integration as a false promise: Rather than participating in institutions that had been built to sustain white supremacy, Black people should focus on dismantling or radically transforming those institutions. Black people claimed their right to self-defense and sought to address economic oppression, systemic racism, and the powerlessness imposed on them. The activism and ideology of Malcolm X were influential in the development of Black power. Several ideas of Black power are also echoed in King’s 1967 analysis.

The Black power movement gained momentum in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Calls for Black pride and self-reliance resonated with many African Americans during the period, after growing resistance to change by white society and continual discrimination. Throughout the 1970s, the movement adopted the philosophies of pan-Africanism and socialism, inspired by worldwide events like the African revolutions against colonialism. The movement’s anti-war rhetoric also grew, and by the 1970s, it also protested the apartheid system in South Africa. One of the most prominent organizations in the movement was the Black Panther Party, which organized several social programs against poverty and for the education of Black children. Women played key roles in the Black power movement, developing their own Black feminist consciousness and activism. By the late 1970s, the movement was targeted by government agencies like the FBI. Assassinations, spying, and false criminal charges weakened the movement, but its impact remained.

Black separatism is a political concept that supports the separate political, economic, and cultural development of Black people. This concept has a wide range of definitions—while leaders like Marcus Garvey in the 1920s called for Black Americans to return to Africa, and leaders in the Nation of Islam have proposed the creation of independent Black states within the US, Black separatism can also mean simply an emphasis on local institutions built by and for Black people. The concept stems from the ideology of Black nationalism, which emphasizes Blackness as a national identity.

The SCLC was established in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia by King and other civil rights activists to coordinate local protests and support full equality for African Americans. King served as its first president, organizing the group on the premise of nonviolent action and resistance. The committee operated primarily in the South and was responsible for pivotal civil rights demonstrations like the March on Washington in 1963. It also organized campaigns that led to the passing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. After King’s assassination, Ralph Abernathy became the president. The organization continues its commitment to nonviolent action in fighting for social, economic, and political equality.

The SNCC was a political organization that played a central role in the civil rights movement. It started as an interracial alliance of young people that supported nonviolence and coordinated direct-action protests against racial segregation. They remained independent from the SCLC and King, forming their own plans and strategies. The two organizations often clashed but worked together during the civil rights movement. By 1966, the SNCC supported the anti-war movement. It later allied with the Black power ideology. Stokely Carmichael, its chairman during 1966 and 1967, became a founding member of the Black Panther Party. By the early 1970s, the committee had dissolved.

The war on poverty was a broad program of social welfare legislation during the 1960s, introduced by President Lyndon B. Johnson as an effort to eliminate poverty in the United States. It was part of the Great Society program, a set of reforms through which Johnson intended to reinforce equity in the country. The legislation sought to boost opportunities in education and employment while improving the living conditions in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The program encountered resistance and criticism from political fronts either for its futility or its failure to be effective. The program was limited as the government provided increasing resources to fund the Vietnam War.