Fight for Civil Rights by Black Power Movement Essay

Over the years, a variety of issues have been raised regarding racism and its impacts.

To end racism and advance equity, countless initiatives have been put into action. The creation of rights movements or unions is one of the most well-known mitigating tactics against prejudice and inequality. These movements or unions work to ensure the accomplishment of specific objectives, many of which are social in nature. The African Americans needed to stand up for themselves and demonstrate their importance. One of the motivations for the term “Black Power Movement” is what was just mentioned. The movement also established for the purpose of fostering equality in terms of civil rights. As a result, it was enacted during the time when the civil rights movement was largely operational. In general terms, civil rights refer to the protections and privileges which endowed to individuals by law. The most common iteration of a civil right is the power to determine the governmental structure through a ballot system. Blacks during the time of civil movement were denied the right most notably in America and South Africa.

Affirming Thesis

The union, as the name suggests, was founded for the sole purpose of ensuring that Blacks were treated equally as Whites in many areas such as democracy. It is important to note that the Black Movement was created when the advocates for inter-racial equality discovered that demonstrations were not an effective means of getting their voices heard. Instead, they opted for the formation of movements or unions which brought together people with similar ideologies and shared common interests. Similar to other movements, the Black Power Movement had its share of downs and ups. One thing that served to retaliate the efforts brought forward by the movement was its tarnishing reputation. The demonstrations which were performed by the Black Power Movement were seen as violent and hence a threat to the common safety of individuals. In essence, the black power movement was established in order to ensure civil rights to all individuals regardless of their races, especially the blacks. In light of the above, the following essay attempts to look at one of such movements which include the Black Power Movement.

Rising of Black Movement

As already described above, the Black Power Movement was established as a cause of advocating for interracial equality. It emerged during the time when the civil rights strife was at its final stages. Black Power, as suggested by the name, points to an elevated degree of assertion and dominance which the African American’s wished to assert. Although the Union benefited from a great degree of assistance prior to its launch, it achieved a large number of goals, and most efforts were not in vain. The Black Power Movement was enacted and remained running for 20-25 years. Since the Black Power movement was enacted in June of 1965, it ran up to the late 1980’s. The Union encountered a great degree of resistance since it was a unanimous common belief that the movement was a beacon for violence.

One of the earliest inspirations for Black Nationalist’s groups commenced at around the 1930’s.

The organization which was dubbed “Nation of Islam” began working on a black nationalist’s movement at around this time. One of the icons behind the establishment of Black Movement Part was Malcolm X. Malcolm X showed interest in the cause by becoming the spokesperson and the minister for the “Nation of Islam.” He later abandoned his role at the organization due to existing conflicts between him and Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X expressed his interest in working with other civil rights leaders mainly because he felt that Elijah was a hindrance which prevented him from achieving his civil rights-based goals.

Malcolm X was later assassinated in the year 1965 whilst giving a speech.

The assassination prompted riots in Los Angles which later led to the SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) breaking its ties with the main civil rights movement. According to the committee, Blacks needed to establish their own power and should refrain from seeking support from the already established powerhouses. The SNCC hence became an independent committee whose main purpose was to ensure equality in terms of civil rights between blacks and whites. The period between 1960-1965 also saw the rise of the SNCC from a non-violent philosophical group to that which is characterized by great militancy. SNCC later on, joined radical groups including the Students for a Democratic Society. The ties

Notably, it can be argued that the earliest iterations of the black power movement were seen during the year 1965.

The SNCC decided to become an independent activist movement and not rely on the already established powers. The move of fostering independence was attributed to the fact that the committee saw the possibility of influencing more people through independence. The move was largely advantageous since the group membership rose significantly after the breaking off of the committee. In later years, similar movements with which the committee shared a great deal of of interests emerged and hence the number of members rose. It is important to note that the committee shifted from an entirely nonviolent philosophy to that characterized with a great degree of militancy and violence. The militancy was solely the reason behind the vast amount of retaliation which the group would later face. The resistance will be mainly due to the perceived violent nature of the general movement. The Black Panther Party was established in late October 1996. The party was solely involved in developing a new political system which favored civil right equality between blacks and whites. The Black Panther party, which was developed by Bobby Seale and Hue P. Newton, formed ties with other movements which shared the same interests.

It can be conclusively stated, without a doubt, that SNCC laid the foundation for the establishment of independent movements which shared a common cause with the committee.

Most importantly, most of the established movements were known for later merging to form more robust groups with greater influence. Given the rise in terms of membership and support of the advocacy carders, the groups’ impact were beginning to be felt. The Black Panther movement was solely involved with defense and retaliation against forces which served as a hinderance toward the Black Power Movement. As a result, they established a law which allowed for contemporary weapon wielding. The law was initially intended to protect party members when participating in demonstrations. In addition to the above, they were also employed to provide real-life footage of police brutality which was very common at that time. The open-gun carry laws were arguably the greatest contributor toward the negative perception of the movement as violent, this lead to widespread resistance from the opposing parties. The opposition was, in fact, so pronounced, that laws were issued which called for the murder of anyone found to have ties with the movement.

Inherently 1967-1969 saw a much smaller rise in terms of memberships of these groups.

In fact, the SNCC began declining due to internal issues which existed in the leadership sector and due to the fact that many members left for the Black Panther Party. The members of SNCC were convinced that Panther Party was more decisive and made more far-fetching decisions toward the overall cause. The Panther party hence became the most renowned and highly established Black Power movement group. Efforts indulged by the groups included staging rallies. They disrupted the California State Assembly with armed Marchers. Such a violent outburst was enough to gain the attention of the overall law enforcement agencies, and they began to take action. The FBI developed COINTELPRO which was an initiative aimed at retaliating against the efforts of the Black Power Movement, notably the Black Panther Party.

The COINTELPRO initiative was involved in investigative efforts which were aimed at Black Nationalist groups and other civil rights movement’s leaders.

The Black Panthers and their respective members became marked COINTELPRO targets by the year 1969. Efforts which were attributed to the COINTELPRO initiative led to the immediate arrests of the Black Panther leaders including Huey P. Newton for the murder of a police officer. The members became more resistant and later engaged the police in a fire exchange at a Gas Station in Los Angles.

Black Movement and Fight for Civil Rights

In light of all which has been discussed above, it can be argued that the year 1968 saw the peak of Black movement activities. Martin Luther King Junior was also assassinated during the same year which led to the rise of riots dubbed “The King Assassination Riots.” The riots were arguably the most significant contributing factor to the wave of arrest that existed during the time. In light of the above, the King riots were not the only iterations of social unrest in the region. Other movements such as the Republic of New Libya engaged the police in an open firefight. Following these riots, the White Panther Group was duly established which was basically a group of whites who believed in the cause of the Black Panthers Group and, therefore, assisted by any means they can. Inherently, the black power movement was growing in Trinidad and was beginning to establish its mark toward the efforts. Despite the apparent rise of the black movement, resistance was a profoundly encountered, for instance, the White Panther Party was accused of being involved with the bombing of the Central Intelligence Office in Ann Arbor during the year 1968. The tension and resistance became so widespread that the Black Panther movement began reducing the number of its members in fear of infiltration by the law enforcement personnel. The campaigns to free Huey who was their founder were also underway, and they were eventually successful following the release of their leader from containment.

Prior to release, Huey traveled to various countries to discuss means through which the American government can be resisted.

They devised different ways of making their mark and thus battling the threat which was the American government. The Black Panther movement engaged in multiple efforts which included an ambush of the American police officers. In Trinidad, the Black Power Movement had escalated so much that it adopted a new name, which is the Black revolution movement. The revolution can be thought to have entered the peak stage following the release of the founder from prison. The same year (1970) saw the formation of the Black Liberation army from former Black Panther members including Elridge Cleaver. The liberation party was formed to assist in the efforts of resistance which was established by the Black Panther and the Trinidad Activists group. The Black Liberation kicked off with a rough start since it was later accused of planting a bomb in the St. Brendan’s church of San Francisco which was filled by individuals mourning for the death of a police officer who was gunned down during a bank robbery. 1971 saw the establishment of the Black Revolutionary Assault which was involved in the Bombing of the South Africa Consular office which was located in New York. The group is also believed to have been involved in bombing the UN missions of Congo and also Malawi. The escalation of the black power movement is mostly attributed to the attacks and the open gun fights which unions involved with the group indulged in.

From the above-mentioned time period to about 1971, the movements were involved in a lot of resistive practices such as participating in shootings of two police officers.

A white Panther dubbed John Sinclair was also apprehended, and a concert dubbed the Free John concert was held in order to foster his release. Sinclair was, however, released two years later. The year 1971 also saw the attempt made by George Jackson to escape detainment. The efforts were however mostly unsuccessful since he was killed before making the escape. Majority of the Black Panther operations were shut down by Huey Newton during the year 1972 since he saw the amount of damage and destruction which was as a result of the efforts made by the movement. Newton himself was forced to flee prior to being accused of the murder of a prostitute in the year 1971. The Black Panther, therefore, enacted a new leader who was known as Elaine Brown who takes things to an entirely different approach. Rather than indulging in a violent campaign, the new leader sought a more peaceful approach to the issue by advocating for campaigns. This marked the net declination of the Black movement.

Death of Black Movement

Despite the various efforts which the group indulged in for the purpose of ensuring net equality and freedom the apparent lack of resources and proper leadership would lead to the eventual demise of the black power movement. Before the declination, various subgroups of the movement were involved in multiple activities. For instance, the George Jackson Brigade which robbed seven banks was formed. The group was also engaged in detonating several pipe bombs which targeted buildings where well-renowned individuals mostly stayed in. The said included governmental structures in addition to electric power facilities. Newton returned from exile shortly after in the year 1978 and Elaine Brown resigned from the party. Following the reinstatement of Newton in the year 1978, the party was to conduct one final act which was to murder a witness against party leader Huey Newton.

In essence, it cannot be refuted that the period between 1971, to 1978 saw a net decline in the efforts orchestrated by the Black Power movement. In essence, over the 1980’s the Black Power Movement was actively declining in terms of membership and also popularity. The black liberation army, in reality, was only active until the year 1981. The period between 1985 and 1980 was a period of net declination. During 1983, the May 19th Communist Organization, which was dubbed M19co was involved in various bombings some of which included the attack on the Washington Navy and Officers Club. Two members of the M19co were arrested, and their warehouse was seized in which the police discovered more than 100 blasting caps and many lethal weapons. The decade also saw the establishment of MOVE whose purpose was short lived. The members of the advocacy group were arrested and faced trial. The overall decline of the Black power movement was experienced in the year 1989 where Huey Newton was fatally murdered outside 9th Street in West Oakland by Tyrone Robinson who was a member of the Black Guerilla Family.

Conclusion

In essence, it can be argued that although the black power movement came to a complete halt prior to the murder of Newton Huey, there have been countless reported cases of activities which correspond to those of the Black Panther group. This implies that the movement is carrying on in a downscaled manner. The Black power movement undeniably led to awareness, and many political activists brought to their attention, racial equality. To achieve this, one cannot deny the vast amount of blood which needed to be shed. Various bombings and shootings resulted in the deaths of many individuals who were not directly involved in the struggle for power and equality. The scenario, in turn, leads to speculation on the overall effectiveness of the movement. Critical analysts may note that the movement, in fact, led to more harm than good in light of circumstances. Many people died, and the campaign came to a complete standstill. The efforts, however, entirely alleviated racism, and black individuals are now constitutionally recognized as American citizens with rights. The group is offered the same civil rights as their white counterparts. It is imperative to note that though racism still exists, it toned down, and the instances have become relatively fewer. In essence, the movement did achieve its desired target, but at the cost of colossal amounts of destruction and deaths of individuals.

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