Black Power

The preface of the book clearly lays out what the goal of the book is, and they state that they want to promote black people taking care of their own business. I related this to how Malcolm X says that African-Americans shouldn’t rely on the help of white people. They also state that they know that this book is going to upset most white people and black people as well. One idea they raise in the preface that I found really interesting was the idea that “Black Power” didn’t just relate to black people in America. They want black people to start viewing themselves as part of a larger group internationally. This idea reminds me of some of Malcolm X’s ideas in the book Malcolm X Speaks. Malcolm talks about the liberation of black people abroad, after decolonization, and how this could be used as a model to liberate African-Americans. Another idea that this book raises is the idea of overt and covert racism. I found that this concept is still prevalent today. Overt racism is the obvious racist who spews hate speech and acts in large groups. This is the type of racism that receives the most attention, but I find it interesting to focus on the concept of covert racism. I feel like the people who are racist in this sense are a product of social norms and culture. The way the authors talked about this topic and institutionalized racism reminds me of how King talked about the white moderates. Covert racism and institutionalized racism are much easier to ignore or excuse. This piece of work draws many similarities to Malcolm X Speaks book that we read. In the second chapter especially draws similarities to how Malcolm relied heavily on historical context to support their claims. I think that this tactic is used by authors to first educate, second support, and third agitate a response.

 Ture, Kwame, and Charles Hamilton. "Black Power: The Politics of Liberation." Mobilizing Classics, 2016.

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