Black Power Essay, Research Paper
BLACK POWER The book “Black Power” was one of the most clearest manifestations of the movement s change of direction in the late 1960 s. Black Power was a change set out by one man to give rights back to black people and to put an end to prejudice and imperialism. One of the goals set out by Kwame Ture and Charles Hamilton, the authors of Black Power was to make black people stronger and overcome the subjection of a white society. Suppression by whites was the central problem trying to be solved. Attempting to achieve a new consciousness of the problem, by responding in their own way to a white society, was the overall goal of the movement. The main idea behind Black Power was to address the problems at hand and find solutions to them in order to find economic, political, and social justice. “It is about black people taking care of business-the business of and for black people”(Ture and Hamilton,1967,XV). Economic problems included not being able to afford a good education because of low incomes and unemployment for months at a time. Social problems such as lack of civil rights were the key motivator in the Black Power movement. White extremists groups targeting black people, such as the Klu Klux Klan, also fueled the ambition of liberation of suppression. Politically, black men and women had virtually no rights, they could not vote, or be elected into office in a predominantly white political system. As Black Power infiltrated itself into society, however, more and more political groups were being heard across the nation. Politics was the best used method of spreading the goals and intents of Black Power. Through political groups, like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or the SNCC, and later the Black Panther Party, the idea was made known publicly. The SNCC was one of the first organizations to produce Black Power in the mid 1960 s. Many SNCC workers came to believe that further progress depended on independent black political power. Organizations such as these gave black people power and helped the economic movement. Through politics, the economic problems of education and jobs could be attended to. Politics led to giving more black people civil rights, allowing such things as a wider range of public school access (blacks and whites, not segregated). With black people beginning to have a voice, it would be easier to get a job when people saw you as someone who may be “important” to the community. There would still be discrimination in the work place as well as everywhere else, increased by organizations like the Black Panthers. According to Black Power, “The people must put this discrimination and prejudice behind them and move on to achieve their own hopes and goals so they may rise up above the hatred.” Many of the political organizations succeeded in the 1960 s, and the goal of establishing a voice in the public s eye was achieved. Economically some differences were made in education and employment, but these were not the main issues of the movement. Gaining civil rights and fighting for freedom was the main goal of Black Power. Through the use of politics, new civil liberties were instituted for black people helping to achieve many of the goals of the movement. While the movement may not have succeeded in all aspects such as economically, and racially, it was a pivotal action during the civil rights movement and allowed many new civil liberties. Black Power attempts to resolve the problems of black people by promoting to take action into their own hands and overwrite the order of a white male domination over society. It stresses that black people cannot wait for help, they must do for themselves. These ideas were carried out with political, social, and economical standpoints. Politics carried the Black Power movement and allowed social goals to be set as well. Through these three positions, Black Power centered on overcoming white suppression, achieving a consciousness that there is a problem, and in order to solve that problem the enemy must in turn be suppressed by them. Black Power was created to spread the idea that black people must become stronger and unite to put an end to prejudice, racism, and injustice in the black community.