The readings for the week of April 12th were The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program a primary source and and Robyn Spencer’s Merely One Link in the Worldwide Revolution. The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program is a list of demands that ways of operations for the party. The second reading links the Black Freedom Struggle to international events such as the decolonization of African countries and the Cold War. Throughout the texts and our in-class discussion we see the themes of communism, internationalism, racial capitalism and the human rights, civil rights struggle and their relationship with the Black Freedom Movement.
The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program was a radical list that exemplified the physical needs and philosophical
…show more content…
Black people should have rights because they are respectable human beings, not animals. Secondly, the party appeals to the internationalist struggle for civil and human rights, inside and outside of the United States. The sixth point of the program demonstrates the internationalist nature of the struggle. The Party demands that all black men be exempt from military service because they should not be forced to defend a country that does not respect or protect their own civil rights. Moreover, they should not be forced to fight against other persons of color who are a victim of the US’s racist government. They should not infringe on the human rights of global citizens. This notion emphasizes the domestic nature of civil rights and its connection between global human rights. By including that aspect, the party appeals to internationalism. While the United States is promoting capitalism across the world, there still remains an unpaid debt to people of color who were exploited by the capitalist system. The duality of what is promoted abroad and what exists domestically is apparent in point of the of the program, “We Want An End To The Robbery / By The Capitalists Of Our Black Community.” The Ten Point Program challenges the Mad Men era of unquestioned white supremacy. Similar themes of internationalism apparent in Robyn Spencer’s Merely One Link in the World-Wide …show more content…
It became apparent of the impact of the Black Civil Rights Movement on Cold War politics and ideologies. The US believed that the problem of racial discrimination should be viewed in a global context of the struggle between freedom and tyranny. In addition, they added that, “racial discrimination furnishes the grist for the Communist propaganda mills” (215). The racial discrimination in the United States furnishes the communist ideology among the young black radicals. The capitalist system in the US has taken advantage, exploited and mistreated black people. Therefore, many took a linking towards communism due to its lack of racial discrimination and inequality. The contradiction between what the United States promoted overseas with the intention to sway the world towards capitalism and the sentiment became apparent as black radicals began to focus on an internationalist perspective. Black activists realized the international stage they had and began to utilize it to advance the civil rights of people of color in the United States. In Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham Jail, he writes that Black Americans “creep at a horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at the lunch counter”, while “African nations move “with Jet like speed towards independence”. James Lawson states that that, “all Africa will be free before the American Negro
These movements have many similarities in the goals that they wanted to achieve, however they have some differences as well. In the document written by the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, they voiced their demands ...
The 20th century was a definitive time period for the Black civil rights movement. An era where the status quo was blatant hatred and oppression of African Americans, a time when a black son would watch his father suffer the indignity of being called a “boy” by a young white kid and say nothing in reply but “yes sir”. Where a Black person can be whipped or lynched for anything as little as not getting off the sidewalk when approaching a white person, for looking into their eyes, or worse, “for committing the unpardonable crime of attempting to vote.” In the midst of the racial crises and fight for social equality were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. who despite their difference in philosophies were “icons of social justice movement both in the United States and around the world” .
The concepts of Reform and Revolution are nearly polarizing by their very nature, with one seeking to modify, and the other seeking to destroy and rebuild. If an organized Black movement was to find itself in an opportunistic position -whatever that may be- with which to attempt a radical movement (in either case; reform or revolution, the resulting movement would need to be large and radical if it would hope to accomplish its goals before the opportunity for change ceases to present itself) it would only serve to befall their efforts if they found themselves in a splintered state of conflicting ideologies. But, in either case, be it reform or revolution, a reconfiguring of the thought processes behind how one looks at the nature of American politics is undoubtedly necessary in order to look into the potential for future Black liberation.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
During the 1960s, many Black Americans drew attention to the inequalities among races in society. Protest groups formed and demonstrations highlighting discrimination towards dark people were a common practice for civil rights activists. Some activists believed non-violence was the only way to overcome, and others, such as Anne Moody and the Black Panthers, had a more aggressive attitude towards gaining freedom. In her autobiography, The Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody describes the hardships of growing up in the heavily racist South, and displays the “price you pay daily for being Black.” (p.361) She grows tired of seeing her Black companions beaten, raped, murdered, and denied their opportunity to prosper in the land of plenty: America. The Black Panthers’ assertive mindset was aimed to exemplify the injustices of a prejudiced society that denied Blacks the power to determine their own destiny. At a young age, Anne realizes that there is something that gives Whites privilege over Blacks. She thinks that there is a secret to why Blacks always have to watch a movie from the balcony while Whites watch from the floor. Both Anne Moody and the Black Panthers discover this secret, and use an assertive approach in their civil rights activism for social and political reform that would finally give Blacks the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are granted to all Americans. The secret was racial discrimination.
In the examination of the roots of the Party she emphasizes the importance that the Southern migrants had on the future movement; though they did not play as large a role in the Party as the youth did, the ideals and social structures of the old generation greatly inspired the Party and its rise to prominence. Murch uses this to approach why the Party was successful in maintaining itself on the local level but often failed on the national level. One can not argue that the Black Panther Party wasn’t a socially driven movement but Murch argues that the movement itself was driven by the social structures of the Bay Area African American community. Murch approaches the success of the Black Panther Party at an angle that examines how the Party’s positions and it’s course was driven by the public it was centered within. Murch details that the African American community of Oakland was deeply rooted in family values as well as social organizations, such as churches. The Black Panther Party’s initial success came about without having to address these roots but, as the Party expanded and wished to move ahead, the Party’s shifts in policy can be directly attributed to the wishes and needs of the community. Murch profiles the Oakland Community School and the People’s Free Food Program, which were social institutions created by the Black Panther Party to address the needs
The Party’s fight for redistribution of wealth and the establishment of social, political and social equality across gender and color barriers made it one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for working class liberation and ethnic minorities (Baggins, Brian). The Black Panther Party set up a ten-point program much like Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam that called for American society to realize political, economic and social equal opportunity based on the principles of socialism, all of which was summarized by the final point: "We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace" (Newton, Huey P). The Black Panther Party wanted to achieve these goals through militant force. In the words of Che Guevara, “Words are beautiful, but action is supre...
The United States after the Civil War was still not an entirely safe place for African-Americans, especially in the South. Many of the freedoms other Americans got to enjoy were still largely limited to African-Americans at the time. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois emerged as black leaders. Their respective visions for African-American society were different however. This paper will argue that Du Bois’s vision for American, although more radical at the time, was essential in the rise of the African-American society and a precursor to the Civil Rights Movement.
Racial inequality is once again on the forefront of Americans ' minds, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement has become a topic of contentious debate. However, this tension is by no means a new phenomenon, this is the same anger that inspired civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr to rally against the status quo and fight for racial equality. The essay "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by King addresses the same issues of racial inequality, prejudice, and police violence that has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the 1960 's, the Jim Crow laws that mandated segregation and prevented black Americans from voting were brutally, and blatantly racist policies. Additionally, the penalties for breaking these laws
The Black Panther had a huge background of history, goals, and beliefs. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, Ca 1966, founded the Panthers. They were originally as an African American self defense force and were highly influenced by Malcolm X’s ideas. They were named after Lowndes County Freedom Organization or LCFO. The Panthers had many goals like; giving back to the ghetto, protecting blacks from police brutality, and to help blacks get freedom and jobs. They also had many beliefs like; Malcolm X was a great person, and they believed that gun use was ok if necessary, or if people were oppressing the poor.
Bloom, Joshua, and Waldo E. Martin. Black against empire: the history and politics of the Black Panther Party. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013.
About 60 years ago, our society here in the United States was different then it is now. African Americans suffered from injustices by law after the abolishment of slavery. Great leaders stood up to these injustices as their lives took precise paths that lead to a revolution they had a vision in. In the first two volumes of the March trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, we see their fate's play out in peculiar ways and their dreams of justice eventually fulfilled. Fate and Dreams play key roles in several events in the text that has resulted in society as we know of today. The concept of being “woke” is emphasized throughout the text, Lewis’ destiny had the opportunity to go awry at critical points in the text, and John Lewis and Dr. Martin
The Black Panther Party was born to elevate the political, social, and economic status of Blacks. The means the Party advocated in their attempt to advance equality were highly unconventional and radical for the time, such as social programs for under privileged communities and armed resistance as a means of self preservation. The Party made numerous contributions to Black’s situation as well as their esteem, but fell victim to the ‘system’ which finds it nearly impossible to allow Blacks entry into the dominant culture. Thus, the rise and fall of a group of Black radicals, as presented by Elaine Brown in A Taste of Power, can be seen to represent the overall plight of the American Black: a system which finds it impossible to give Blacks equality.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and a civil rights activist during the mid 1950s Civil Rights movement. Dr. King was one of the major influencers in changing federal and state laws in the betterment, by removing segregational laws, of the African American community. Dr. King won a Nobel Peace Prize along with other awards for his involvement in raising awareness of the civil liberties being taken away from the African American community. One of the reasons why Dr. King was so influential in his movements, along with his speeches, was because he was able to communicate his and the African American community’s feelings towards segregation and use his orating and writing abilities to move that community into action. King was highly motivated to do what was right and did not care of the consequences of acting out towards his suppressors. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a perfect example of a time King uses his ability to communicate feelings into getting a large group of people to join his movement. Although his letter had little to no effect on the issues of Birmingham, since by the time the letter was written most issues had been resolved, it did help gain support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Letter from Birmingham Jail uses pathos to criticize the white church and gain sympathy for the atrocious acts committed towards the African American community to increase the white churches’ support for integration.
5) Online University of the left RSS. “The Forbidden History of the Black Panther Party”. Web. May 07 2014.