Students will trace the growth of Black nationalism and Black Power movements and analyze why they attracted young activists frustrated with the slow pace of progress and the mainstream emphasis on integration.
Essential Knowledge
9.A. With deep roots in the “race first” philosophy of Marcus Garvey, Black nationalism called for Black solidarity and political self-determination. The Nation of Islam (NOI), which recruited Malcolm X, was an early proponent of Black nationalism, and though Malcolm X later split from the NOI, the call for Black self-determination continued to resonate with many people engaged in the struggle for Black freedom.
9.B. In 1966, SNCC activist Stokely Carmichael’s call for “Black Power” drew on rural Black organizing traditions and Black nationalist ideas to push the movement toward the acquisition of economic and political power.
9.C. The Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, California, in 1966, was envisioned as a revolutionary organization that would facilitate the self-determination of Black communities while protecting them from police violence.
9.D. The federal government allied both with and against the Black freedom struggle. The FBI targeted individual activists and civil rights organizations, including SNCC, SCLC and the Black Panther Party. The FBI’s Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) worked with local and state police agencies to disrupt and sabotage activist groups.
9.E. The Black Panther Party’s strategies of community support and self-sufficiency continue to inspire organizers and activists. In 2020, mutual-aid and bail-out organizations developed across the U.S. for community members to support one another through protests and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related Resources
- [9.A.] To understand the long history of these ideas and for context, students can watch the NBC News Learn video “Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association” and read Garvey’s own statement calling for Black unity and African independence, “The Negro’s Place in World Reorganization,” available through the LFJ text library.
- [9.A.] To learn more about Malcolm X, his connections to Black nationalism and the Nation of Islam, and how to teach a nuanced history that extends beyond the false dichotomy of “Malcolm vs. Martin,” educators can listen to the Teaching Hard History podcast episode “Malcolm X Beyond the Mythology.”
- [9.B.] To understand the calls for Black self-determination, read and analyze the 1966 position paper “The Basis of Black Power,” written by SNCC members in Atlanta but never formally adopted by SNCC, available through the Civil Rights Movement Archive. Students can also read comments by Stokely Carmichael to SNCC in 1966, in which he lays out the key ideas behind the calls for Black Power, available through the University of Southern Mississippi digital collections.
- [9.C.] For an introduction to the history of the Black Panther Party and ideas for sharing this history with students, educators can listen to the Teaching Hard History podcast episode “The Black Panther Party and the Transition to Black Power.”
- [9.C.] Another helpful resource for educators is the Zinn Education Project’s “‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ 10-Point Program.”
- [9.C.] For more on the work of the Black Panther Party in communities, students can read the LFJ text “Introduction to the Black Panther Party Survival Programs” and examine the 1972 flyer for the Black Community Survival Conference.
- [9.C.] For an example of how self-determination might look in practice, students can read the Fred Hampton speech “Power Anywhere Where There’s People!” delivered the year he was assassinated by police at the age of 21.
- [9.D.] Students should deepen their understanding of the many ways that the federal government persecuted movement activists by exploring COINTELPRO. They can read the 1967 FBI memo announcing COINTELPRO counterintelligence program against civil rights groups to see how the program was an attempt to discredit and undermine civil rights organizations. The teaching activity “COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement,” from the Zinn Education Project, offers support for educators bringing this history to students.
- [9.D.] Students can review passages from The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, the Black Panther Party’s newspaper available through the Freedom Archives, to see how leaders of the Black Panther Party were targeted and the way leaders used their persecution as a catalyst for revolutionary change.
- [9.E.] For an overview of community aid programs in which organizers recognize the influence of the Black Panther Party in pioneering this work, students can watch the 2020 Democracy Now! story “Solidarity Not Charity: Mutual Aid & How To Organize in the Age of Coronavirus.”
- [9.E.] To trace the direct influence of the Black Panther Party on contemporary activist movements, students can read the Time magazine article “How the Black Panther Party Inspired a New Generation of Activists” or the WBEZ Chicago article “Police Killed Fred Hampton 51 Years Ago. A BLM Chicago Co-Founder Says ‘Every Single Aspect of the Black Panther Party Program’ Applies Today.”
