Elan Maj

American Civilization
Professor Macias
21 April 2015
X and the B.P.
More than 50 years ago began a time period in America in which
called for a change. This time period, from 1954 up until 1985, was
known as the Civil Rights Movements where people such as Malcolm X
and the Black Power movement became known. During this time
period there was fight for black freedom and rights as they were
oppressed by a country ruled by a white government in which viewed
the black community as a sore on their thumbs. Malcolm X and the
Black Power movement were extremely influential in this time era
because they stood up to their oppression, fought for their rights and
freedoms, and made positive changes to their community.
Malcolm X was born in as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska in
the year 1925. Malcolms father later moves the family to Lansing
Michigan to avoid violence as his house is attempted to burn down. In
Michigan the family encounters the same issues when a white
supremacy group successfully burns down their house because
Malcolms father was involved with a back to Africa movement that
encouraged all people with African decent to return to Africa1. These
1 Marcus Garveys Back-To-Africa Movement, last modified 2005,
http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm;jsessionid=f830257

ideas did not agree with the white people in the area. Unfortunately
several years later his father is murdered and left on trolley tracks in
Lansing, Michigan to be split in two. Local authorities then rule his
death as a suicide so Malcolms mother is not able to collect insurance
money. Once Malcolm graduates the 8th grade he moves to Boston,
Massachusetts where he becomes involved with small crimes that
eventually land him with a ten-year sentence to jail. It is in jail where
Malcolm found the Black Muslim group, led by Elijah Muhammad, in
which views whites as evil people who stripped the black community
from all of their rights. They also taught Malcolm to be proud of his
culture and skin, which was a hard thing to accomplish in a time where
being black was frowned upon. Because of these religious views he
changed his last name from Little to X as Little represented a
slave name. Malcolms new life of Islam began his journey partly
leading the Civil Rights Movement and becoming a major steppingstone to the Black Power movement where they took many of the
same ideals as Malcolm.2
Malcolms views were much different than most activists during this
time period.

While others were searching for equality peacefully,

Malcolm searched for equality using violence, but mostly with words.

0391429622958273?migration=4&topic=8&bhcp=1.
2 Mintz, S., & McNeil, S., Martin Luther King &Malcolm X on Violence
and Integration, in Digital History, ed. Thomas Ladenburg (n.a.: n.a.,
2007), 29.

For example he once said, If ballots wont work, bullets will. He also
believed in an idea called Black Nationalism that he attempted to
spread, which meant that the black community should be able to
control themselves while the white community has control of
themselves. It was not until after Malcolms assassination on February
21, 1965 the Black Power movement began.
The Black Power movement began as a response to Malcolms
assassination. The assassination inspired many other black activists,
as they were growing tired of being demoralized by the white man.
One of these activists was Stokely Carmichael, who in 1966, was
elected

chairman

of

SNCC

(Student-Non

Violent

Coordinating

Committee). It was Carmichael who changed the SNCC from a group

dedicated towards nonviolence and the integration of blacks in every
day life to a group dedicated towards Black Power. Carmichael thought
it was essential that, political and economic power is what the black
people have to have. The Black Power movement spread its message
through

many

independence.

speeches

and

walks

that

demonstrated

their

In the video The Time Has Come, James Meredith

attempted to march from northern Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama

to demonstrate his determination of making a change to black lives.
Unfortunately on day 2 local white citizens shot him down. After the
assassination, many activists took part in the march together including

Carmichael. There were also many women that took part in this march
as it represented a march towards their freedom.
The Black Power movement was extremely controversial as it
scared many people and was never clearly defined. They operated on
a principle of violence although they were mostly threats.

It was

reported in an article from Digital history that as few as fifteen percent

of African Americans viewed themselves with the Black Power
movement; they viewed Martin Luther King as their speaker because
he stood for integration and nonviolence. The Black Power movement
can be considered successful because even with their small following,
they gave birth to many community self-help organizations as well as
implementing black study programs in universities where African
American students learn to be proud of their heritage and skin color.