America took a huge turn in history in the 1900's as many African Americans began to stand up and gain their freedom during the Civil Rights Movement.  Amongst the many activists in this movement was Stokely Carmichael who was involved in the non-violence approach to gaining civil rights.  After feeling like the peaceful approach was getting black people nowhere in gaining justice, the activist made the decision to change his method.  Carmichael's "Black Power" is his speech about his transition to using violence and aggression to gain civil rights.  Carmichael had an audience of white people when giving this speech.  He asks many questions that make people think about exactly how white people continuously treat blacks wrong.  He uses both questioning and warning tactics to get through to the audience.  Within his speech and  in many articles found from that time period and modern day, Carmichael talks about the actual meaning of black power and how he thinks using force and a direct approach can gain social justice.

From the beginning of the speech, Stokely Carmichael brings a direct tone to the issue at hand.  Carmichael starts off his speech by talking about Black Power and the struggle in gaining respect from white people.  For example, he talks about how black people have always had human rights, but a bill had to be passed in order for white people to allow blacks those rights. He states, "I am black I am a human being, and therefore I have the right to go into any public place.   White people didn't know that, some boys had to write a bill to tell that white man.  This bill was for the white man, not for me.  I knew it all the time." (Carmichael 249). This shows the lack of respect the white people had for African Americans. Martin Luther King's "The World House" starts off very different from activist Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power" speech given in 1967.  King starts off his speech by comparing the world to a big house. He paints a great picture in the reader's head as he states, "We have inherited a large house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together-black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, ... a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace." (King, 284).  Martin Luther King seems to start off with a general idea, not putting the blame on or scrutinizing any particular person.  Carmichael on the other hand singles whites out from the start and notes that they are the blame for the problem of equality as soon as the speech begins. King and Carmichael's opening approaches differ because of the different messages both activists were trying to get across.  King wanted peace and happiness without using violence while Carmichael wanted peace in a more forceful or violent way.

Carmichael then goes on to talk about what "Black Power" actually means in his own terms.  He talks about how black power is simply justice for African Americans, and how a different approach will have to be made in order for blacks to gain the rights they deserve.  Within the new approach he states that black need to having a new understanding of white supremacy.  Carmichael claims, "Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.  No man can giving anybody freedom.  A man is born free." (Carmichael, 249).  Carmichael is stressing the importance of blacks knowing their freedom, and not letting white people take what they were born with.  He is tired of being restricted of what was given to black people from birth.  This contributes to his reasoning behind using the violent approach in gaining civil rights.  In addition, the article "Why Cry for 'Black Power'" in the New York Times from 1966 gives a background on why many black people are advocating black power.  The newspaper clipping reads, "The anger has been given fuel by incident after incident, disappointment after disappointment in the drive for civil rights.  The term Black Power is a slogan directed toward whites, suggesting whites move on over, or we'll move on over you." (Roberts, New York Times).  The statement from the New York Times is a very strong connection to Carmichael's approach in the "Black Power" speech.  Both the New York Times article and Carmichael's speech suggest that blacks are getting freedom whether they have to use violence or not.  The New York Times article properly reflects Stokely's argument of blacks getting tired of fighting for the rights they deserve.   

Carmichael wants to shift into a more aggressive tactic in gaining justice for black people.  He states that he is tired of hearing about white violence to black people, with the example of "Six-foot-two men who kick little black children". (Carmichael, 257).  In his opinion, the non-violent approach to gaining justice is not working as quickly as aggression towards whites would.  The part in Carmichael's speech about the party emblem justifies his approach on the new tactic.  Carmichael says, " We chose for the emblem a black panther which symbolizes the strength and dignity of black people, an animal that never strikes back until he's back so far into the wall, he's got nothing to do but spring out.  And when he springs he does not stop." (Carmichael 259).  He is simply saying that the black people have had enough and have decided to fight their way to full freedom.  Once again, Carmichael's speech is very different from Dr. King's speech in the way he goes about his tactics in gaining the social justice. King states, "Nothing could be more tragic than for men to live in these revolutionary times and fail to achieve the new attitudes and the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands." (King, 286).  King suggests that violence is not the answer in these hard times, contrasting with Carmichael's sense of force and directness.  Carmichael seems to stray away from King's approach because of how ineffective the non-violence method has been in the past.

  The last part of the speech talks about black people standing up and gaining their freedom no matter what it takes. He states, "We are on the move for liberation.  We have been tired of trying to prove things to white people." (Carmichael, 251).  He continues to show his direct tone throughout the speech and refrains from being passive like Dr. King was within "The Power House" speech.  The last line of his speech fully conveys exactly how he plans on using his approach to achieve equality.  He insists, "If white people can't overcome their racism, we have no choice but to say very clearly, 'move over, or we're gonna move on over you.'" (Carmichael, 260).  Carmichael uses this direct tactic as a warning and acknowledgement about gaining civil rights.  By the end of his speech, Stokely successfully proves his point of black people changing the way they fight for civil rights.  

 There are still many struggles for civil rights going on in modern times.  "Bayard Rustin and the Civil Rights Agenda" by Norman Hill is a modern newspaper clipping on how the need for economic and social justice is still lacking in today's society.  The article explains how blacks are in the much lower paying job whole than whites and many blacks are victims of racial biased convictions. (Hill, par 3)  This is similar to what was going on during the time of "Black Power". Carmichael talks about racial unjust and maybe social problems with black people during that time period that can be connected to the racial problems today. The connection between racial issues during the time of the "Black Power" speech and the issues in modern times show that racism is still a huge issue in society, and tactics from the 60's can still be used.

In conclusion, Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power" fully depicts the transition from non-violence to the aggression of white people in regards to the civil rights movement.  He asks many questions about the way whites have treated African Americans in the past to make the audience think about the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.  This style justifies his beliefs in moving toward aggression.  His direct approach in singling the white man out from the start to fully convey who black people should target in the fight for civil rights.  Carmichael fully explains black power as the movement of gaining full freedom and stopping at nothing to get that freedom.  The speaker warns the white people many times about the new movement as well.  Although his speech contrasts greatly with Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, he captures the audience and gets his point across in a very different way. Through this speech, Carmichael fully conveys the message of black power to the audience. 

