Black Power & Black Nationalism

1. Black Power & Black Nationalism African-American History

2. Background: 1800s • Many whites favored colonization in 1800s • American Colonization Society founded Liberia in 1821 for that purpose, but only 12,000 went there • Dr. Martin Delaney led emigration movement in 1850s – 1860s • 20,000 emigrated to Canada & Haiti in early 1800s • Bishop Henry M. Turner called for limited colonization of Africa in late 1800s • Calculated U.S. gov’t owed ex-slaves $40 billion, & wanted some of that money to fund emigration • Southern white Senators introduced bill in 1890 to fund emigration

3. Background: 1900s • Marcus Garvey’s UNIA made black nationalism popular in the 1920s • Cyril V. Briggs & Oscar Brown called for separate black “49th state” • F.S. Cherry founded Church of God in Philadelphia in 1915, claiming blacks were really Falasha Jews from Ethiopia Marcus Garvey

4. Black Muslims • Timothy Drew (Noble Drew Ali) formed Moorish-American Science Temple in Newark, NJ in 1913 • Wallace D. Fard appeared in Detroit in July 1930, claiming to be prophet from Mecca • Claimed blacks were lost tribe of Shabazz • Evil scientist Yakub created race of white devils, who were given 6,000 years to rule over the Black Nation • Elijah (Poole) Muhammad took over leadership of Nation of Islam following W.D. Fard’s disappearance from Chicago in 1934

5. Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam • Malcolm Little was son of Baptist preacher and UNIA organizer • Joined Nation of Islam in prison in 1948; Minister of Harlem temple in 1954 • Broke with Nation in March 1964 & made pilgrimage to Mecca • Founded Organization of Afro-American Unity • Murdered in Feb. 1965 Malcolm X and Elijah Mohammad

6. Malcolm X’s Message • Attacked King & others as “Uncle Toms” • Said integration was false goal: what was needed was real revolution • Argued ghettoes were white creations • Rejected Christianity as slaveowners’ religion of white supremacy Malcolm X speaking at Harlem rally

7. The Appeal of Black Nationalism & the Nation of Islam • Black nationalism always appealed to Northern blacks more than Southern blacks • Southerners could believe rest of U.S. wasn’t racist • Northerners knew better • Islam better suited to black nationalism because it lacks the concept of grace • Christianity requires one to love & forgive enemies • Islam emphasizes divine justice & retribution • American Christianity cast in white, middle-class mold • Islam’s strict ascetic code addressed problems of ghettoes through self-help

8. Pan-Africanism • African Americans related to colonial experience of Africans (and Asians) • Immanuel Wallersteins’s world system thesis provided Marxist explanation for colonialism • Independence of African nations seen as model

9. Black Power • New SNCC leaders Stokely Carmichael & Rap Brown abandon nonviolent strategy and goal of integration in 1966 • CORE followed suit in 1967 under Floyd McKissick • Black Panthers founded in Oakland in 1966 by Huey Newton & Bobby Seale H. Rap Brown Stokely Carmichael, 1970

10. Black Power Ideology • Insisted on being called “Black” to assert that “Black is beautiful” • Threatened violence, especially in retaliation for police brutality • Condemned Vietnam War as unjust continuation of colonial rule over people of color Bobby Seale & Huey Newton

11. Black Studies • San Francisco State introduced 1st Black Studies program under Nathan Hare • Antioch College est. Afro-American Studies Institute that excluded whites • Kenneth Clark resigned in protest • Militants at Cornell demanded separate Black College of Black Studies in 1968