Black Power is a Revelation and a Movement.
“You can jail a Revolutionary but you can’t jail the Revolution”
Before I went into the development of the Black Power Movement, I wanted to understand how African-Americans were functioning in the 1970s. This era comes from the turbulent Civil Rights Era from the 1950s-the 1960s. Professor and Artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie, who helped design the inaugural museum space of the Boston African American Museum in 1974, discusses African American culture in the 1970s. There is a specific discussion about the miniseries Roots that released in 1977. “...Roots was just world-changing because the whole country, black, white, everybody tuned into that. Like nobody, it just didn’t, nothing had that grip on the whole land before. And it showed me something then that I pointed out many times since, that it provided the contrary to what politicians or, you know, pundits, media say, in the privacy of people’s homes, in the privacy of their thoughts and souls, there’s a real hunger and thirst to know more about, what was this slavery thing? What happened? How did these people get through this?”
Black Power March in Britain 1970s
This continuation of the changes in black identity for African Americans is further discussed by Journalist and Political Science professor Anthony Samad. “... it was interesting during that period because you would always see both sides of Black America. You would always see a brother in a suit and tie was basically trying to represent mainstream America, and then there was always a show where you saw a brother in a dashiki trying to represent cultural Afrocentrism, Afrocentrism in a way that allowed us to see the history that wasn’t being taught in public schools. We were just beginning to be exposed to in the colleges because the first black studies department was created at San Francisco State in 1968.”
Samad goes on to add, “...this was a period in which African Americans were learning more about themselves or still trying to, maintain a foothold in mainstream America. So, it is interesting when you go back and look at archival footage of Black America in the 1970s, and you see even mainstream blacks with Afros, longer hair, you know. And those who were not mainstream had huge fros’, you know. You even see Jesse Jackson….I would call it black people’s lost period because we were looking to find ourselves after the assassinations of King [Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.] and we kind of been put in the mindset of well who’s the next black leader.”
With some background on the social and political climate of the United States leading up to the rise of the Black Power Movement, the discussion can begin with the full emergence of the movement. Theologian James H. Cone (1938-2018) gives background to the origin of the movement, “first you have to understand where black power comes from. Black power comes from SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; that group that had worked in Mississipi, Alabama. The most difficult areas, the ones that didn’t get on TV, they worked from there from the early 60s [1960s] all the way up to 65’ [1965].....where people were killed, whites and blacks. And basically, they got tired, they got fed up. As Carmichael said, "integration is a subterfuge for white supremacy." He says we ain't for that no more we ain't for no integration, now we for black power, now we for black people running their own thing. We gone put some black people in this office, and we're are going to get power, and we're going to use it. And that's when those civil rights philosophies of integration began to be dropped off.”
Stokey Carmichael
Civil Rights and Archivist Gwendolyn Patton (1943-2017) also describes the start of the Black Power Movement. “SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] wanted me to join it full time 'cause I was very close to SNCC, I adored SNCC women--they had a lot of spunk. Muriel Tillinghast, Fay Bellamy [Fay Bellamy Powell], Ruby Doris [Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson], I can just name 'em, they--Gwen Robinson [Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons]--they had a lot of spunk…..Adam Clayton Powell [Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.] talked about black power in Harlem [New York, New York], I think it--was it Richard Wright talked about black power in, in, in Harlem in the '40s [1940s] before he went to Paris [France], and--but anyway, it had a new currency, it was bellowed, you know, coming from Stokely [Stokely Carmichael; Kwame Ture] and Mukasa Willie Ricks [Willie Ricks; Mukasa Dada].”
SNCC has been credited with bringing the term black power to fruition in many of these interviews. Willie McCray, a security manager, and civil rights activist (1942-2006) also mention the non-violent group. “SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] office really began to pull peoples in. I don't think it really happened until after he was shot that a lot of folks decided at that point that they would go on in and support him, you know. And so we poured all our resources into Mississippi and started inviting veterans that had went back to their own communities to come back into Mississippi for one more trip. And on this trip black power would come on the scene.”
McCray goes on to recall exactly when the direct term was used, “ Several days before--black power would use Willie Ricks [Mukasa Dada], who lived in Chattanooga [Tennessee], took a bus down to Atlanta [Georgia], stopped in the Atlanta office, and asked Forman [HistoryMaker James Forman], we needed something else to give peoples hope. And Ricks asked Forman whether not he thought using the word black power would be okay, that was a discussion, maybe an hour and forty minutes or maybe less, with the Atlanta staff there was there. We didn't see anything wrong with it because basically that's what we were doing, trying to empower people, and they were black people, so we didn't see anything wrong with black power. We knew that at some point the slogan would be used, but just like I say, time is the key.”
One of the most overlooked parts of the Black Power Movement, is the amount of women that participated in either the philosophical aspect, the activist aspect, or the art aspect. Black women have often been overlooked in this type of catalyst events for Black Americans, the same could be said for the Civil Rights Movement. Because of this I wanted to highlight some black women who were active in the Black Power Movement.
Funeral Director Marcella Boyd Cox talks about her participation in the early era of the black power movement in the 1960s. “think, you know, I think my thing politically I didn't really get, you know, you knew about it and let me see, that's when I was probably away at school [Emma Willard School in Troy, New York] because a lot of the women that I was at school with were getting involved in the movement, getting a lot of information. There were people that were ahead of me who were, you know, raising their fist in assemblies at school and stuff, so, yeah, I can remember.”
She also goes on to explain how she changed her appearance as well, “I can remember wearing an afro, but you know, with an afro in my hair, when I just my hair go natural and, um hum. That was trying times because, see my parents [William F. Boyd, Sr. and Mary Webster Boyd], who had always been schooled to raise to think, you know, I'm supposed to straighten my hair and you know keep it real neat and processed, you know, they-- my mom, you know, it was culture shock for her when I put an afro in my hair, but, hey, I did it anyway. I of my three, there were three of us, listened to my brother [William F. Boyd, II] and my sister [Marina Elizabeth Boyd Grant] and I was the most outspoken, the most rebellious, and, you know, and being more insistent in things.”
Corporate Executive Paul Ann Sneed also talks about her involvement in the Black Power movement, “.....you had a lot of tension between my generation and our parents' generation, who were staunch civil rights folks. You know most of my classmates, most of our parents have been part of the Civil Rights Movement and now we're coming home talking about black power, stopping to straighten our hair, you know. Reading H. black- Rap Brown [H. Rap Brown; Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin], reading Stokely Carmichael, going to these rallies. It was just a diff- an interesting time. I remember my [paternal] grandmother [Pearl Moses Sneed] said to me, "Girl you better straighten your hair," (laughter) you know. I'm like, "No, I'm not straightening my hair," so it was a very empowering time because we really felt like there were things that we could do to change where we were and that was the message, you can change where you are.”
A lot of women found their participation in the Black Power Movement by asking questions, challenging current beliefs and most commonly using their natural hair. Similar to my title, the Black Power movement was also a revelation for many African Americans.
One of the last things I wanted to look at when looking into the Black Power movement was that I wanted to look into conventions and movements during this time period. This has to do with the fact that a lot of these conventions and gatherings were based around ideological and progression discussion.
One of these conventions was the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. Civil Rights Activist Jesse Jackson discusses the convention in Gary Indiana. “Maybe ten thousand people. It was exciting. You know, at that time Gary was still very much alive. It was still an industrial steel capital. There was hotel space and people were using hotels really from Chicago [Illinois] to Gary to Indianapolis [Indiana]. It was just exciting--we were up early in the morning. You know, we'd come out of the kind of riot zone, we'd come out of Dr. King's assassination and the despair that that brought about, and Robert Kennedy [Robert F. Kennedy] had been killed, and yet we kept fighting back. And the Humphrey-Nixon [Hubert Humphrey and Richard Milhous Nixon] fight in 1968.”
Jackson goes on to say, “….. just having the right to vote for seven years, how did we do this? We didn't know much about term flight and gerrymandering, annexation, at large, role purging, all this new kind of political language, and so there was a great learning curve for us at that time. And I would like to think that that was a thrust that took us way into the future.” Jackson brings up very good points, this convention was also a discussion but educating other black people on the different types of political terms that are often used that many average Americans cannot understand.
This is also expanded upon by Dennis Terry, Nonprofit Executive and Civic Leader (1944-2022). “Well during the early '70s [1970s] I think liberation was very important. The liberation movement was sweeping through the former colonial- colonies of the world, so many of us viewed our status in this country as similar to that of a, of a colonized people, so I think the black political convention was an opportunity for those of us who were young and interested in full participation in the political process in this country--was attracted to it, so I went out to see what it was about.”
These points are extremely important regarding the Black Power movement, I do believe that this movement was the starting point in which a large quantity of black Americans started getting politically involved or informed about the U.S. government and the election process. This is the beginning in which, I feel, the community starts understanding how important U.S. elections are both local, state and nation wide.
This interview from Civil Rights Lawyer Howard Moore Jr. sums up the entire impact of the Black Power Movement, “ But Black Power, in the sense that now that you are not under the shackles of segregation, that you can then say, "I'm worth something." And if we're going to have an integrated society, that it can't be on the basis of destroying everything that identifies me as an African or as a black person, because that is genocide. Because when you destroy the history, the memory of a people and deprive them completely of their religions, their customs and traditions, then you destroy them as a people, and they become a new people, and you can control them, because they're new to the new--to the arrangement as such.”
He continues to say, “Look at women, women who have been struggling for centuries, how they rose up once the Black Power Movement emerged. The gay people. The Stonewall [riots] didn't occur until 1969 after the Civil Rights Movement. So, all these people are saying that we are people of worth, and that we have to be respected as we are. We will participate in this melting pot, but we will not lose our identity. And the gay people say that "We will not hide our orientation any longer. We declare ourselves gay," you know. That's an aspect--that's something that may not have occurred at the time it occurred, had it not been for the Black Power Movement that says emphasize the things of value in your group, and that you have a right to be respected for who you are.”
Ambassador Update: This Thursday I had the pleasure of performing at the World House Interdenominational Assembly at Morehouse College with the Morehouse Glee Club. My judges and I always met for the final time to decided our top three winners, them being; Hailey Jones, Zion Hayde, and Alayah Densby. I have since alerted the girls that they have won the top three places in the contest and I am currently awaiting their pictures so I can make a nice instagram post for them on the HistoryMakers page. If I don’t get a picture then I will simply release their names.
WORK CITED
Howard Moore, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2007.137), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 14, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 2, Howard Moore, Jr. describes the impact of Black Power on subsequent social movements, pt. 1
James H. Cone (The HistoryMakers A2006.004), interviewed by Shawn Wilson, January 24, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 1, James H. Cone describes the emergence of the black power movement
Gwendolyn Patton (The HistoryMakers A2007.098), interviewed by Denise Gines, March 19, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 3, Gwendolyn Patton remembers the start of the Black Power movement
Willie McCray (The HistoryMakers A2006.051), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 24, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 1, Willie McCray describes the beginning of the Black Power movement
Dinizulu Gene Tinnie (The HistoryMakers A2017.018), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 23, 2017, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 8, story 2, Dinizulu Gene Tinnie talks about African American culture in the 1970s
Anthony Samad (The HistoryMakers A2013.294), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 16, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 10, Anthony Samad talks about the changes in black identity during the 1970s
The Honorable Chaka Fattah (The HistoryMakers A2005.119), interviewed by Larry Crowe, May 5, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 7, The Honorable Chaka Fattah recalls meeting leaders of the Black Power Movement
Askia Toure' (The HistoryMakers A2007.131), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 10, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 5, Askia Toure analyzes the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X and the Black Panther movement
Robert Bennett (The HistoryMakers A2004.260), interviewed by Larry Crowe, December 14, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 5, Robert Bennett recalls meeting Eldridge Cleaver while traveling in Algiers, Algeria
Paula Ann Sneed (The HistoryMakers A2008.020), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 19, 2008, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 3, Paula Ann Sneed remembers the Black Power movement
Marcella Boyd Cox (The HistoryMakers A2004.077), interviewed by Regennia Williams, June 15, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Marcella Boyd Cox talks about her participation in the black power movement during the 1960s
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson (The HistoryMakers A2006.031), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, March 9, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 4, tape 18, story 3, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson describes the National Black Political Convention
Dennis Terry (The HistoryMakers A2007.303), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, October 25, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 1, Dennis Terry recalls the National Black Political Convention of 1976
