Stokely Carmichael Quotes


Black Power is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.


Context

He was one of the people who popularized the term “Black Power”


Citations

Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Toure], 1942-1998, Chairman, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party, Speech 1966

Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

Related Quotes

This was the speech that started the "Black Power" Movement. The rally was held in a city park to Protest the murder just 10 days before of the civil rights activist, James Meredith. It also marked the break between the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the nonviolent movement lead by Martin Luther King. Because of that, the speech received so much publicity that "Black Power" became a significant political term instantly.


Thus testimony was an example of one of the reasons that Black Americans lobbied to end the use of the word, Negro, in official documents to describe them. “Negro” was a term used by whites to describe Blacks but rarely used by Blacks until Reconstruction. A century later, cultural and official language went back to the language that the slaves had used to describe each other and added “African American” as well.


This very important historical quotations did not derive its importance for its content or the eloquence of the language. It is famous for what it triggered the examination of the role of the press that followed. His speech was at a Russian Sponsored "Peace Conference" and the Associated Press (AP) reported extensively on the role of the most prominent American participating in the conference. Exactly how it happened of why is still a mystery, but AP immediately sent back a wire story from Paris that quoted Robeson of having said, "We colonial peoples have contributed to the building of the United States and are determined to share its wealth. We denounce the policy of the United States government which is similar to Hitler and Goebbels.... It is unthinkable that American Negros would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has lifted our people to full human dignity." This version was reprinted all over the United States and when a few weeks later, Robeson was to have given a concert for a civil right cause, at the instigation of a local newspaper in Peekskill NY motivated by the erroneous AP story triggered a riot where thugs beat concert goers and prevented Robson from singing that evening. See {583346} for the editorial and background. Bad reporting and irresponsible editorializing had triggered a terrible incident that at least luckily did not kill anyone.


Dr. Ambrose was the senior Black education official in the country. Note his title which was given to him by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.


Qutb was studying at Greeley College and with some Egyptian friends want to a movie theater. Greeley, even though not in the South, practiced racial discrimination in many of their public accommodations and the Civil Rights Law would not be passed for another 15 years or so. The ticked clerk at first would not sell tickets to the dark skinned Egyptians and when one protested, the owner was called. He ruled that as long as they were not American Blacks, they could enter. But Qutb refused.


Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael
  • Born: June 29, 1941
  • Died: November 15, 1998
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Activist

Kwame Ture was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global Pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the United States from the age of 11 and became an activist while attending the Bronx High School of Science. He was a key leader in the development of the Black Power movement, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), then as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and last as a leader of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP).