
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the Civil Rights movement was alive and well in the United States of America. The Civil Rights movement had a great deal of effect on the literature written during this period. One piece of literature would be Stockely Carmichael’s “Black Power”. To help one further understand how prevalent the movement was on literature one would look at speeches given by Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” and Malcom Little (Malcom X) “By any Means Necessary”. All three works speak on the racial tension that was ever prevalent during the time period which these pieces were written. The Civil Rights movement was very influential to all pieces written and displayed how real the issue race had on the United State of America. The piece “Black Power” by Stockely Carmichael greatly embodies the essence and feelings that were created by the Civil Rights movement and pieces like “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. and “By any Means Necessary” by Malcom Little (Malcom X) greatly support this claim as they share similar concepts and where written in the same time period. 

The Civil Rights movement in the United States was a tense time for both the black and white communities. The event played such an impact on the culture of the United States of America that it changed the way we view race and human rights. Prior to the Civil Rights movement black and white communities were classified as separate and equal. The problems being the two communities were not equal. The black community was not treated equally and this created large issues between both communities. The unfair treatment of the two communities brought several issues for both parties and this greatly affected the literature written during this period. 

In Carmichael’s speech “Black Power” he presents several ideas on how the black and white communities interact and what issues arise. Throughout the piece Carmichael mentions the issues of white and black communities not working together but instead how the two could not seem to be on the same proverbial page. Carmichael states “So police brutality is going to exist on that level because of the incapability of that white man to see black people come together and to live in the conditions” (Carmichael.) This one statement shows how tense the race problems where in the United States. Carmichael also states in his speech “If we were to be real and to be honest, we would have to admit, we would have to admit that most people in this country see things black and white. We have to do that. All of us do. We live in a country that’s geared that way. White people would have to admit that they are afraid to go into a black ghetto at night. They are afraid. That’s a fact. They’re afraid because they’d be “beat up,” “lynched,” “looted,” “cut up,” etcetera, etcetera. It happens to black people inside the ghetto every day, incidentally, and white people are afraid of that. So you get a man to do it for you–a policeman.” (Carmichael). Carmichael explains why there is the tension between black and white communities and why this fear and hatred exist. The relations between the black and white communities in the United States where increasingly heated during the Civil Rights movement.

Carmichael’s speech shows a lot on the affects the Civil Rights movement had on the literature written in the Americas. Another piece of literature that helps portray the idea that the Civil Rights movement was so tense and filled with heated relations between the black and white communities would be Dr. Marian Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech. Throughout the speech King speaks on how America is divided and there is so much hate between white and black communities. King states “There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.” (King Jr.). That statement made by King portrays the idea that the black community was being treated unfairly and that the community would not stand for the transgressions acted upon them. To further show this point King also states “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition." (King Jr.). King says this and one can almost feel the pain and sorrow in his words. For King to write that the black community still feels like slaves even after being freed gives the reader a sense of how the black community felt during this time period. No American citizen should feel subjugated or miss represented. The ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the foundation of what the United States of America represents. King sees this and is believes that the black community is still being appressed long after their emancipation. The tensions between both communities is shown beautifully by King’s speech and he ends it hopefully stating “And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”.” (King Jr.). These words give a sense of power to this piece and a sense of hope that one can look forward to; that better things are on the horizon. 

Malcom Little (Malcom X) also wrote a speech during this time about the racial tension that was caused by the Civil Rights movement. Little’s speech “By any Means Necessary” much like Carmichael’s and King’s speeches also speak on the relation between the black and white communities during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Little states in his speech “Bring about the complete Independence of people of African descent here in the western hemisphere and first here in the United States and bring about the freedom of these people by any means necessary.” (Little). Little speaks of the issues of lack of rights given to minorities in the United States of America. Little sees that the black community needs to be represented and they will achieve their representation by any means necessary much like the colonist in the America revolution.

The pieces written by Stockely Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom Little all written during the Civil Rights movement beautifully embody what was happening during the period. The movement was full of racial tension and several acts of oppression against the black community. The movement changed the culture of the United States drastically and created these works of literature. The culture of America changed due to this movement and it is still changing due to the aftermath of the event. These pieces show how things used to be in the United States of America. These pieces all share a common theme that being how the effects of racial tension and division had on the American society. While each speaker was African Amirian they all came from different back grounds and all found common problems with the treatment of African Americans in the United States. It’s amazing how all three authors found these problems and it speaks to the magnitude of the Civil Rights movement for it to call for the creation of these wonderful works of literature. 
