history essay grade 12 black power movement

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Gr. 12 HISTORY REVISION: THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT

REVISION: THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT

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Grade 12 History Essay: Black Power Movement USA

Subject: History

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

13 February 2024

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The Black Power Movement Essay explores the historical and social significance of the Black Power Movement that emerged in the 1960s. This essay examines the key ideologies, leaders, and activities that shaped the movement and analyzes its impact on the African American community and the broader civil rights movement.

The essay begins by providing a brief overview of the historical context in which the Black Power Movement emerged, including the Civil Rights Movement and the socio-political climate of the time. It then delves into the core principles of the movement, such as self-determination, racial pride, and the rejection of nonviolence as the sole strategy for achieving racial equality.

The essay explores the influential figures within the Black Power Movement, including Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, and Huey P. Newton. It discusses their roles as leaders and their contributions to the movement’s ideology and activism. Additionally, the essay highlights significant events and organizations associated with the movement, such as the Black Panther Party and the National Black Power Conferences.

Furthermore, the essay examines the impact of the Black Power Movement on the African American community and the broader civil rights movement. It analyzes how the movement challenged traditional civil rights strategies and redefined notions of Black identity and empowerment. The essay also discusses the movement’s influence on subsequent activist movements and its lasting legacy in contemporary social and political discourse.

Overall, the Black Power Movement Essay provides a comprehensive analysis of this significant chapter in American history, shedding light on its ideologies, leaders, impact, and lasting relevance in the fight for racial justice and equality.

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How the Black Power Movement Influenced the Civil Rights Movement

By: Sarah Pruitt

Updated: July 27, 2023 | Original: February 20, 2020

How the Black Power Movement Influenced the Civil Rights Movement

By 1966, the civil rights movement had been gaining momentum for more than a decade, as thousands of African Americans embraced a strategy of nonviolent protest against racial segregation and demanded equal rights under the law.

But for an increasing number of African Americans, particularly young Black men and women, that strategy did not go far enough. Protesting segregation, they believed, failed to adequately address the poverty and powerlessness that generations of systemic discrimination and racism had imposed on so many Black Americans.

Inspired by the principles of racial pride, autonomy and self-determination expressed by Malcolm X (whose assassination in 1965 had brought even more attention to his ideas), as well as liberation movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the Black Power movement that flourished in the late 1960s and ‘70s argued that Black Americans should focus on creating economic, social and political power of their own, rather than seek integration into white-dominated society.

Crucially, Black Power advocates, particularly more militant groups like the Black Panther Party, did not discount the use of violence, but embraced Malcolm X’s challenge to pursue freedom, equality and justice “by any means necessary.”

The March Against Fear - June 1966

The emergence of Black Power as a parallel force alongside the mainstream civil rights movement occurred during the March Against Fear, a voting rights march in Mississippi in June 1966. The march originally began as a solo effort by James Meredith, who had become the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, a.k.a. Ole Miss, in 1962. He had set out in early June to walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, a distance of more than 200 miles, to promote Black voter registration and protest ongoing discrimination in his home state.

But after a white gunman shot and wounded Meredith on a rural road in Mississippi, three major civil rights leaders— Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Floyd McKissick of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to continue the March Against Fear in his name.

In the days to come, Carmichael, McKissick and fellow marchers were harassed by onlookers and arrested by local law enforcement while walking through Mississippi. Speaking at a rally of supporters in Greenwood, Mississippi, on June 16, Carmichael (who had been released from jail that day) began leading the crowd in a chant of “We want Black Power!” The refrain stood in sharp contrast to many civil rights protests, where demonstrators commonly chanted “We want freedom!”

The Campus Walkout That Led to America’s First Black Studies Department

The 1968 strike was the longest by college students in American history. It helped usher in profound changes in higher education.

The 1969 Raid That Killed Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton

Details around the 1969 police shooting of Hampton and other Black Panther members took decades to come to light.

Civil Rights Movement

Jim Crow Laws During Reconstruction, Black people took on leadership roles like never before. They held public office and sought legislative changes for equality and the right to vote. In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave Black people equal protection under the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted Black American men the […]

Stokely Carmichael’s Role in Black Power

Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael

Though the author Richard Wright had written a book titled Black Power in 1954, and the phrase had been used among other Black activists before, Stokely Carmichael was the first to use it as a political slogan in such a public way. As biographer Peniel E. Joseph writes in Stokely: A Life , the events in Mississippi “catapulted Stokely into the political space last occupied by Malcolm X,” as he went on TV news shows, was profiled in Ebony and written up in the New York Times under the headline “Black Power Prophet.”

Carmichael’s growing prominence put him at odds with King, who acknowledged the frustration among many African Americans with the slow pace of change but didn’t see violence and separatism as a viable path forward. With the country mired in the Vietnam War , (a war both Carmichael and King spoke out against) and the civil rights movement King had championed losing momentum, the message of the Black Power movement caught on with an increasing number of Black Americans.

Black Power Movement Growth—and Backlash

King and Carmichael renewed their alliance in early 1968, as King was planning his Poor People’s Campaign, which aimed to bring thousands of protesters to Washington, D.C., to call for an end to poverty. But in April 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis while in town to support a strike by the city’s sanitation workers as part of that campaign.

In the aftermath of King’s murder, a mass outpouring of grief and anger led to riots in more than 100 U.S. cities . Later that year, one of the most visible Black Power demonstrations took place at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where Black athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised black-gloved fists in the air on the medal podium.

By 1970, Carmichael (who later changed his name to Kwame Ture) had moved to Africa, and SNCC had been supplanted at the forefront of the Black Power movement by more militant groups, such as the Black Panther Party , the US Organization, the Republic of New Africa and others, who saw themselves as the heirs to Malcolm X’s revolutionary philosophy. Black Panther chapters began operating in a number of cities nationwide, where they advocated a 10-point program of socialist revolution (backed by armed self-defense). The group’s more practical efforts focused on building up the Black community through social programs (including free breakfasts for school children ).

Many in mainstream white society viewed the Black Panthers and other Black Power groups negatively, dismissing them as violent, anti-white and anti-law enforcement. Like King and other civil rights activists before them, the Black Panthers became targets of the FBI’s counterintelligence program, or COINTELPRO, which weakened the group considerably by the mid-1970s through such tactics as spying, wiretapping, flimsy criminal charges and even assassination .

Legacy of Black Power

Even after the Black Power movement’s decline in the late 1970s, its impact would continue to be felt for generations to come. With its emphasis on Black racial identity, pride and self-determination, Black Power influenced everything from popular culture to education to politics, while the movement’s challenge to structural inequalities inspired other groups (such as Chicanos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and LGBTQ people) to pursue their own goals of overcoming discrimination to achieve equal rights.

The legacies of both the Black Power and civil rights movements live on in the Black Lives Matter movement . Though Black Lives Matter focuses more specifically on criminal justice reform, it channels the spirit of earlier movements in its efforts to combat systemic racism and the social, economic and political injustices that continue to affect Black Americans.

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Civil Rights Movement 1950 to 1970 essay: Black Power Movement History Grade 12

Civil Rights Movement 1950 to 1970 essay: Black Power Movement History Grade 12 memo and answer guide.

CIVIL SOCIETY PROTESTS FROM THE 1950s TO THE 1970s: BLACK POWER MOVEMENT

Explain to what extent did Black Power Movement influence the actions of African Americans in the 1960s. Use relevant examples to support your line of argument.

[Plan and construct an original argument based on relevant evidence using analytical and interpretative skills.]

Candidates should indicate to what extent the Black Power Movement influenced the actions of African Americans in the 1960s. Candidates should use relevant examples to support their line of argument.

MAIN ASPECTS

Candidates should include the following aspects in their response:

Introduction: Candidates should indicate to what extent the Black Power Movement influenced the actions of African Americans in the 1960s.

ELABORATION

Origins of the Movement:

The Black Power Movement came out of dissatisfaction with the Civil Rights Movements.
The Civil Rights Movement had focused on black and white Americans working together but inequalities remained. African Americans still faced poverty and racial discrimination.
Some African American were disappointed with the Civil Rights Movement and believed that King was too moderate
They wanted change in the USA to happen faster and they were prepared to use violence to do this.
Black Power Movement promoted black pride, unity and self- reliance
Black nationalists believed that the use of force was justified in order to gain social, political and economic power for Black Americans

Role of Malcolm X:

Malcolm X, leading figure in the Black Power Movement, powerful speaker and dedicated human rights activist
In 1952 he became a leading member of the nation of Islam, a black Muslim group which believed that white society was holding African Americans back and they desired separation of races
Eloquence and charisma attracted many new members to this organisation membership grew from 500 in 1952 to 30 000 in 1963
Promoted the use of violence to achieve the aims of Black Power
Challenged the peaceful approach of Martin Luther King Jnr
After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1963-1964, Malcolm X changed his ideas about integration as he had seen how Muslims of all nationalities and races could live together peacefully
Founded the Organisation of Afro-American unity in 1964. He became less militant and adopted views that were not popular with black nationalists

The Black Panther

Huey Newton and Bobby Searle formed the Black Panther Party (BPP) for Self Defence in 1966
They aimed to protect African American neighbourhoods from police brutality and racism
The Black Panthers promoted African Americans carrying guns to defend themselves
The idea of Black Power scared many white Americans
The BPP started programmes to help ease poverty in Black communities such as Free Breakfast for Children, feeding thousands of poor and hungry black children everyday
Clinics where adults and children could get free medical care
A tutoring scheme to help black children succeed at school
The BPP drew up a ten-point programme that included the following demands:
Full employment and an end to capitalism that preyed on the African American community
Descent housing and education for African Americans
An end to police brutality
The Black panthers were very popular in the 1960s as they were involved in defending the rights of both workers and ethnic minorities like the African American communities in the ghettoes

The role of Stokely Carmichael

Stokely Carmichael joined the Civil Rights Movement when he saw the bravery of those involved in a sit-in
Became a member of SNCC and a Freedom Rider
His commitment to Martin Luther King’s passive resistance ideals changed in 1966 after James Meredith, a civil rights activist engaged in a peaceful protest march, was shot
Carmichael and other activists continued on the march to honour Meredith and during the march he was arrested
When he was released from jail, Carmichael made a famous speech using the term ‘Black Power’ for the first time and he urged African Americans to take pride in being black
He was in favour of African dress and Afro hairstyles
He wanted African Americans to recognise their heritage and build a sense of community
He also adopted the slogan ‘Black is beautiful’ which promoted pride in being black
Carmichael started to criticise other leaders, like King, and how they wanted to work with whites
He later left the SNCC and joined the BPP where he promoted the Black Power Movement as a leader, speaker and writer
He later wrote a book linking Black Power to Pan-Africanism
Any other relevant answer Conclusion: Candidates should tie up their argument with relevant conclusion

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Grade 12 history essay: black power movement in the usa.

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Description: This comprehensive resource delves into the history and significance of the Black Power movement, a pivotal moment in the fight for racial equality and justice. Through engaging readings, thought-provoking discussion questions, and interactive activities, students will gain a deeper understanding of the origins, goals, and impact of the movement. They will also examine key figures, events, and ideologies associated with the Black Power movement, and explore its lasting legacy in contemporary social justice movements. Perfect for history or social studies classes, this resource encourages critical thinking, empathy, and a deeper appreciation of the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

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