 "We are oppressed as a group because we are black, not because we are lazy, not because we're apathetic, not because we're stupid, not because we smell, not because we eat watermelon and have good rhythm. We are oppressed because we are black (Carmichael 251)." Stokely Carmichael delivered this powerful line during his Black Power speech in October of 1966 on the campus of UC Berkley. During his speech to a primarily white group of college students, Carmichael addressed white supremacy, poverty, and heavily criticized the oppressive nature of societal institutions, among other things. During this time period, racism was the leading problem throughout America and sparked the formation of the Civil Rights Movement with influential leaders such as Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom X. Stokely Carmichael was a very important and respected figure in his community and his passionate fight for equality and justice made a huge difference in history and is still impacting society today. 

Born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1941, Stokely Carmichael immigrated to New York with his parents at a young age. Due to his high intelligence level, he attended Howard University where he majored in philosophy and used the works of Camus, Sartre, and Santayana as inspiration for his viewpoints on the Civil Rights Movement. Carmichael later rose to power as a prominent member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He originally was in favor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s stance on nonviolent protest, but eventually lost faith in that tactic and began to promote what he called "Black Power", as well as allying with the militant Black Panther Party (Stokely).

During his "Black Power" speech, Stokely Carmichael spoke most strongly on the corrupt and oppressive societal institutions in America, claiming that they were built entirely on racism. He goes on to talk about the different social classes, arguing that:

The assumptions of this country is that if someone is poor, they are poor because of their own individual blight, or they weren't born on the right side of town; they had too many children; they went in the army too early; or their father was a drunk, or they didn't care about school, or they made a mistake. That's a lot of nonsense. Poverty is well calculated in this country (Carmichael 258).

Carmichael continues to invalidate these stereotypes by saying that, "this country told us that if we worked hard we would succeed, and if that were true we would own this country lock, stock, and barrel (Carmichael 255)." This statement goes to show the anger and resentment that has built up in the young black man who has worked twice as hard as his white peers, yet has nothing to show for it due to the color of his skin.

A strong and moving part of Carmichael's speech was when he stated:

The question is, How can we build institutions where those people can begin to function on a day-to-day basis, where they can get decent jobs, where they can get decent houses, and where they can begin to participate in the policy and major decisions that affect their lives? That's what they need, not Gestapo troops, because this is not 1942, and if you play like Nazis, we playing back with you this time around. Get hip to that (Carmichael 252).

This statement is so powerful because he is preaching to a predominantly white crowd, bashing the politics of this country and not only claiming that they are not doing their job, but actually comparing them to Nazis. He is challenging his white audience to stand up and make a change, and indirectly threatening them if they choose not to.

Another powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement, who existed in the same era as Stokely Carmichael, was Malcolm X. His speech "The Ballot or the Bullet" delivered on April 3rd, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio expressed a lot of the same concerns as "Black Power" did. Some of his main arguments that he discussed were corrupt politics and unjust institutions. In response to the inequality and systematic oppression against black people in the United States, X argued that:

I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an d American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation; you wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn't be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D.C., right now. They don't have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an American (Malcolm).

This statement only goes to further prove the racial turmoil going on in the United States during this time period. Malcolm X continues his argument by stating, "I'm speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare (Malcolm)." That powerful excerpt shows the effect of such deep racial segregation among the people of this era, so extreme in fact, that black people neither felt like they were welcome in their homes nor were they a part of this nation.

Decades later there have been many changes, yet the original fight for racial equality that leaders such as Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. so passionately spoke about many years ago, are still being fought for today. On the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches, President Obama made an extremely touching speech in Selma, Alabama, coincidentally in recent wake of the Ferguson protests. In response to the court ruling of the trial of Michael Brown, Obama responded with:

Of course, a more common mistake is to suggest that Ferguson is an isolated incident; that racism is banished; that the work that drew men and women to Selma is now complete, and that whatever racial tensions remain are a consequence of those seeking to play the "race card" for their own purposes. We don't need the Ferguson report to know that's not true. We just need to open our eyes, and our ears, and our hearts to know that this nation's racial history still casts its long shadow upon us (Remarks).

Never in a million years did the forefathers of the Civil Rights Movement ever picture a black man as the President of the United States, however, black people and other oppressed minority groups still have to deal with systematic institutions and corruption with government and law enforcement. 

Stokely Carmichael, along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, made a huge impact on history and their culture. As a whole, their passionate speeches and efforts during the Civil Rights Movement brought about a lot of change, yet their fight is far from over. They inspired millions not only in America, but worldwide, to fight for equality and a better future for themselves. They taught the black community and other oppressed minorities that "No man can give anybody his freedom. A man is born free (Carmichael 249)." Their teachings have proved to continue on after their deaths and will no doubt be passed on from generation to generation. They were the spark that inspired a group of people that had been mistreated for hundreds of years to finally step up and fight for what they deserved, and their infamous words of wisdom made a priceless impact on history, as well as the present. 

