4/16 Class Notes

4/16/19 In class notes

  1. Discussion questions
    1. What factors/frustrations led to the emergence of Black Power in the late 1960s?
    2. What did advocates of Black Power seek, and how did they propose that it could be achieved? How unified was the movement?
    3. How did those outside of the movement, including others invested in the Freedom Struggle, respond to the emergence of Black Power, and why?
  2. Background information on the BP movement
    1. Key ideas
      1. Panthers
      2. Black is beautiful
      3. Angela Davis
    2. History of this time
      1. ‘64 Civil Rights Act
      2. ‘65 Voting Rights Act
      3. Contrast that forces federal action
        1. Is the US in the amist of the cold war, really going to standby and let a bunch of state troopers to beat African-Americans that want to vote?
        2. Lynden Johnson
          1. This is something that we have to overcome and we shall overcome
            1. Quoting that song indicates that the nonviolent movement has become successful
        3. Liberalizing of criminal justice
          1. Major supreme court decisions in the 60s
            1. Miranda rights
      4. Leads to the question of why do we need Black radicalism after the Voting act?
        1. There are two types of racism
          1. Institutionalized racism
          2. overt/covert
            1. Blowing up a black church- overt
            2. The situation of black children being malnourished, etc.- covert
          3. Even with what feels like real victories, African-Americans are subservient
    3. Quote
      1. “America is a great nation. It has led the world in freedom for a long time, I feel that we can and we must continue to lead in this respect. However, i feel that a greater use should be made of the Negro potential. In my state, this is generally impossible under the present setup. A Negro born in Mississippi can write himself off of the potential list of all of the professions, except teaching and preaching, such as it is, nearly all of the technical fields or trades and off of the Commissioned Officers roll.”- James Meredith
        1. African-Americans do not have a lot of economic and social opportunity
        2. He begins the March against fear in 1966 in effort to draw attention to segregation, white supremacy, and economic injustice
          1. On the second day, a man shoots from behind with a shotgun
            1. He ends up in the hospital
            2. All the major civil rights leaders show up to his hospital room
              1. They agree that they are going to continue the march
              2. A rare brief moment of solidarity
                1. Sncc and sclc had tension together
                2. Proved to be short lived as the March goes on
              3. Start march in june of 66 again
                1. King marchers chanting “freedom”
                2. “Luuru” swahili
                  1. Representing their roots, awareness of African heritage
          2. Governor of mississippi at first tries to have anyone harass these marchers
            1. But then there is an argument and Carmichael gets arrested for ‘trespassing’
              1. “This is the 27th time I’ve been arrested… what do want, “Black Power””. Waiting for the Midnight Hour quote
                1. Is this radical?
                  1. I think it is radical in terms of saying “we are going to take over” because it is threatening the white power structure
            2. SNCC becomes more radical
                  1. King and others distance themselves because they don’t like the term “Black Power”
      2. Mississippi and other southern states remained deeply segregated after the new legislation
        1. You can change the law, but you can’t change people’s opinions or racism
      3. What is the difference between freedom and Black Power? How do you respond to different levels of acts of violence occur?
        1. “We have served notice in Mississippi”
          1. They have been killing us and we are over it
      4. Notes
        1. Stokely Carmichael
          1. Black Power and a panther
            1. Militant blackness
  3. Class discussion
    1. Defining Black Power
      1. Calling for black community to unite
        1. Page 44
          1. “The concept of Black Power… and values of this society.”
            1. Does this give us an idea of what Black Power really looks like? Challenging assumptions
      2. Unity among Black community, having black people take care of their own business
        1. Trying to achieve their goals without white interaction
      3. Reclaiming blackness
        1. “Recognizing their heritage” page 44
          1. What does this mean and why is it important to the movement
            1. Fighting against whiteness or their definition of blackness
        2. What becomes the standard of success in this community?
          1. What are the markers of success?
            1. Coming from the ideas of white Americans
            2. Racialized definition of what success can look like all defined by whiteness
          2. What then does Black Power mean in terms of reclaiming your heritage?
            1. You have to know yourself to know what you are fighting for
              1. Knowing yourself means you have to reject the white standards
                1. That whiteness is not the pinnacle or prevailing standard
                  1. What does this mean in practice
      4. Black is beautiful
        1. The importance of rejecting white beauty standards which include straight hair, lighter skin, lighter eyes
        2. Embracing your own naturalness that you don’t have to change to conform to the white beauty standards
      5. Building the unity, how do you do so? What does it look like?
        1. Empowerment looks like other black people making decisions for other black people and having control over their communities
          1. Page 46-47
            1. “The point is obvious… lost patronage and holiday handouts.”
          2. Black visibility is not Black Power
        2. Asking white people for the power takes the power away from African-Americans
          1. Critique of MLK
            1. How is MLK not sufficiently pro-Black?
              1. Setting for simple rights instead of empowering
              2. Had a lot of white people joining the movement
              3. They welcomed white activists which in a way ‘destrengthens’ the movement
              4. Kinda wanting them to achieve the white American dream instead of their own dream
                1. Conforming in a way
        3. Is there a difference between freedom and Black Power or is Black Power a species of freedom?
          1. Black Power allows African-Americans to live the way they choose
          2. The only way to undo covert racism is to empower the oppressed and take a hold of the system to make sure these structures aren’t there
            1. All about self-determination
      6. How militant is Black Power? What is their place of aggression in the movement? How radical is this?
        1. About a  united movement
        2. Militancy comes to define Black Power in a way
          1. Rejection of nonviolence
          2. “From our viewpoint, rampaging… of dying….Those of us...or the Blacks will fight back.” pages 52-53
            1. A more extreme version of what Malcolm X
      7. What is the critique and anxiety provoking about Black Power ideology? Why does MLK feel like he has to distance himself from this? Why are whites scared of this?
        1. The tables have turned
          1. They have been maltreated for centuries and now they want to do something about it
        2. Fear about what is going to happen, making statements for the community as a whole and you don't know what kind of backlash will happen
          1. What is the place of white liberals and moderates in the movement? Is there a place for them?
          2. You have to acknowledge white power is gone in a way
            1. If there is not structural racism, the Black people wouldn’t have to empower themselves
            2. Uneasiness about acknowledging complacency in  the system
    2. Relation to other books
      1. James Baldwin The Fire Next Time
        1. “You were expected to aspire to excellence: you  were expected to make peace with mediocrity. Wherever you have turned, James, in you short time on this earth, you have been told where you could go and what you could do (and how you could do it) and where you could live and whom you could marry.”
          1. Expected to be average or fit into a box
          2. You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason.
          3. White america
            1. Losing their identity

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