During the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement soared through the South as vast amounts of people participated in demonstrations and peaceful protests. Leaders including Martin Luther King Junior, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael helped the nation and African American community through this difficult and frustrating time of gaining equal rights for all. However, this peacefulness approach was not enough for African Americans of the time. Their voices and opinions were not loud enough to make such a drastic change in society. Therefore, a shift to a more aggressive tactic arose to the Civil Rights Movement, which is known as Black Power. Knowing the historical and cultural context of the 1966 the shift to the black power movement, it can help to understand the shape behind Stokely Carmichael’s speech, “Black Power”.

In “‘Defend the Ghetto’: Space and the Urban Politics of the Black Panther Party”, James A Tyner explains the upcoming Black Panther Party in 1966 as well as the history behind the party and the political though behind the party. Tyner states, “Nevertheless, black separatism remained limited to locally oriented small-scale group efforts in large metropolitan areas during the 1940s and 1950s” (107). He is describing when African Americans moved to the North and how they were still segregated which is why Black ghettos started to form. This begins to explain the momentum behind the Civil Rights Movement in general and how African Americans felt during the time. Even though Tyner did not write this article during the time of the Civil Rights Movement, he does a good job of expanding on the feelings of this community of the time. It is important for people to understand the reasoning behind movements in order to form their own opinions. Additionally, understanding how a certain group feels, can help someone understand that groups actions or beliefs and take their own action. 

In the newspaper article, ““Black Power” and the US Civil Rights Movement” by Phillip G Altbach, he explains the motive behind the Black Power movement throughout the nation in 1966. Altbach states under the “Frustration After a Decade” section that, “Black Power is, therefore, a notion developed both from the frustration of the Negro community in the decade of struggle for equal rights, and as a positive statement of a new strategy for much of the civil rights movement” (234). Altbach is explaining that this new movement is a result from frustration of African Americans because their movements from before did not give them enough of the rights that they wanted. He also explains that there is now a shift in strategies along with this new movement. The Black Power movement is supposed to represent a more aggressive approach to gaining civil rights in the African American communities. Because this newspaper article was written at the time the movement was coming alive, it gives proper insight to how the African American communities were feeling. It is important to understand their frustration and anger because they had been fighting for so long and did not receive what they truly wanted. This also foreshadows to more firm talks and speeches, including Stokely Carmichael’s.  

Tyner’s article of the start of the Black Panther Party and Civil Rights Movement prevails to the time of Stokely Carmichael’s speech. Tyner’s facts of the 1940s and 1950s demonstrate the idea behind blacks at the time and that it originally shows non-aggression. This can help explain the niceness Carmichael’s tone he has in the beginning of his speech. For example, he states, “Thank you very much. It’s a privilege and an honor to be in the white intellectual ghetto of the West” (313). Carmichael thanking the crowd and saying that he is honored to be there, at first shows a sign of thoughtfulness towards the crowd of mostly whites. This reveals that Carmichael was trying to be sincere in the beginning of his talk to get the crowds attention. He wanted to be respected so his thoughts and facts that come later in the speech are more appreciated. His tone can also be a representation of the non-aggressive and peaceful protests that had also occurred prior to the Black Power movement. As seen in Tyner’s article, African Americans were not intentionally being aggressive with their protests and groups, just like the beginning of Carmichael’s speech. Knowing this information, it helps to understand Carmichael’s viewpoint and tone as he presents his speech. 

As Carmichael continues with his speech, the audience can notice a more assertive tone towards the crowd. For example, his comment that, “every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people” (Carmichael 315). He is specifically directing his statement towards the government as well as other whites in the country in front of a large audience of mainly white people. He is obviously not afraid of what the audience will think of him because he is so aggravated with the act of the government and the rest of the country. Furthermore, Carmichael’s last statement in his speech, “…we have no choice to say very clearly, ‘Move over, or we’re going to move on over you’” (Carmichael 326). Carmichael is mentioning “we” and reference to the people of the Black Power movement. This forceful comment represents the more forceful this movement is going to be. One might believe that this is too aggressive in a speech towards white college students, but knowing the historical events prior to this speech and during the time, Carmichael can be justified and understood because previous events had not made much of a move towards equal rights. It is important for people to recognize that because then his speech can be more reasonable and his beliefs can be understood by others who are not in his position. That way, people can form their own opinion of the movement and either argue with them of against them. Overall, Carmichael’s whole speech signifies the shift from non-violence movements to more militant and assertive movements, which can be comprehended by being aware of the historical and cultural context of 1966. 

The time of the 1960s was difficult for that of the African American community. With multiple demonstrations and sit-ins to contribute to the Civil Rights movement, African Americans were frustrated when they did not receive the full rights they deserved by the country. Between Tyner’s article of describing the prior movements to Altbach’s article describing the reasoning behind the Black Power movement, it can help a reader understand Stokely Carmichael’s speech, “Black Power”. His whole speech can symbolize the shift he and others had made from the civil rights movement to the Black Power movement. Additionally, Carmichael’s strict tone can be understood by others by having knowledge of the culture of the time period. Today, our country is still having problems with racism and within the African American community. It is important for anyone to have knowledge or given a perspective of people within these communities today to help our country and those fighting. 
