essay on black power movement

Black Power Movement in America Essay (Critical Writing)

In America, the beginning of the 1960s was characterized by a number of political and civil movements that were aimed at providing the Black people with rights, freedoms, and opportunities. Regarding the thoughts developed by Malcolm X and Mr. King and the outcomes of their murders, many people did not want to accept the fact that a Black man should not have the rights to power. The fact that a Black man was deprived of power made people believe that they deserved that right and that they had all possibilities to achieve power and use it as they wished. Black Americans were constantly oppressed, and protests and revolutions turned out to be the only chance to change the situation. Though many Whites admitted that the Blacks promoted hate as the only weapon to demonstrate their intentions ( Eyes on the Prize ), the participants refused that idea underlining that the only strong desire they have is “to live with hope and human dignity that existence without them is impossible” (Newton 5). The Black Power movement helped to provide people with a sense of racial pride. People had not to be afraid of the color of their skin. All they had to do was to comprehend that the white color is not better than the black color, and there was no person, who could give a clear explanation of why racial diversity should be developed in favor of the Whites. There were a number of attempts to prove the worth of the black nation, and the creation of the Black Panther Party was one of the brightest achievements in the middle of the 1960s. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale were the founders of the party when they came to the conclusion that there was no other way to deal with white shotguns that spread fear among ordinary black citizens and the instability that deprived people of hope. The idea to create a new political party that could be legally approved was based on casual discussions and conversations (Newton 111). People were in need of something more than the white rooster that represented the Democratic Party, and the elephant that represented the Republican Party. Now, it was a black cat that spoke for all Black communities ( Eyes on the Prize ). The ideas offered by the Black Panther Party were impressive. It was not enough for them to ask for freedoms, education, employment, etc. It was necessary to prove that the Black community was not worse for the communities organized by the white people, and certain systematic changes were necessary for America. A ten-point program was developed by the representatives of the Black Panther Party within the frames of which the main ideas and intentions of the Black community were identified. One of the most interesting ideas was the necessity to deal with police brutality and murders of Black people (Newton 120). The organization of self-defense groups was the decision that proved the importance of patrolling. According to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, people had the right to bear arms, and Newton used that opportunity to help the Black people protect themselves against the police as “it was ridiculous to report the police to the police, but… by raising encounters to a higher level, by patrolling the police with arms, we would see a change in their behavior” (120). These were the first steps that helped to realize that the Black people could do a lot of things to improve their lives in case they did everything on their own.

Black Power Movement in America Essay (Critical Writing)

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