Everyone always says history repeats itself. In a speech given by Stokley Carmichael, to a mostly white crowd of students at the University of California Los Angeles, he explains how the population is selfish in its interactions, and that they are unable to assume blame for a situation, in attempt of saving their reputation. Academic essays written by Jennifer Jensen Wallach and Robert L. Allen showcase how our actions of the past are resurfacing in today’s society. In Replicating History in A Bad Way? White Activists and Black Power in SNCC's Arkansas Project Wallach describes how the media today is against the African Americans in the same way they were in the 1960’s. As well, in Allen’s Reassessing the Internal (Neo) Colonialism Theory he explains that the movements for racial equality in the past were successful largely in part to the roles of a centralized speaker, such as Malcom X; in today’s society the African American community does not have anyone to rally around. These three pieces all connect together in demonstrating how the black culture is being changed by society as a whole, to show that there is a common connection between the oppression endured by the black community in the 1960’s and today. In order to see change in society the black culture needs to change itself first. 

A black rights civil activist, Stokley Carmichael, tells the students of UCLA the coercion faced by the African American community is to follow orders and not to speak up. Carmichael explains the principles of philosophers Camus and Sartre who show how man cannot condemn himself. This principle is very applicable to current state of the African American community because the confrontation between white and black citizens today is out of control, and no one is willing to condemn themselves for their wrong doings. In order for the community to see change men need to be able to look past their differences, take responsibility for their actions, and lead by example for others. In Carmichael’s eyes, “A man is born free. You may enslave a man after he is born free, and that is in fact what this country does. It enslaves black people after they’re born, so that the only acts that white people can do is to stop denying black people their freedom; that is, they must stop denying freedom. They never give it to anyone”. The black culture needs to stop waiting for change to occur and make it happen themselves. They have the resources at their fingertips to stop the oppression and go further with equality of all.

Jennifer Jensen Wallach clearly states that the African American community is headed down a long road if they go about change in the same as their ancestors. Wallach shows how the media of the past glorifies white people and sees black people as the aggressor in the relationship. For example, she says, “This “media-driven” interpretation, which glorifies early integrationist civil rights leaders and vilifies black nationalists as white-hating separatists, has often been accompanied by much hand-wringing over the fate of the white activists” (Wallach 269). In this short excerpt alone it is shown how poorly the black community is seen during this time due to media manipulation. She supports the argument that in order to be recognized you have to be different, this can be done through presenting their struggles through different platforms as opposed to the same-old statistics that get lost in the crowd each time. This supports Carmichael’s speech in that they are both showcasing a similar kind of racism. Wallach and Allen are both accurately able to show that if the black community today stays on the same path that it has in the past, then they will never be able to see any differences.

       Robert L. Allen explains the importance of Malcom X to the black community in the 1960’s and today. In his writings, he shows that Malcom X was able to rally others around his ideas of black internal colonialism through a common connection, himself. The black power movement of today will never be as successful as Malcom X’s movement in Allen’s mind, because they lack leadership to get them through hard times. For black people to be successful in creating a change in the minds of the general population, they need to rally behind someone centrally as a spokesperson to represent the masses. Allen describes the media’s role in Malcom X’s death when he says that, “The assassination of Malcom X in February 1965 silenced a revolutionary voice, and raised suspicion among black activists of a government plot. These suspicions were dismissed by the media…”. Allen and Wallach perfectly align here because the reader is able to see the impact Malcom X has the community and how the media controls all the information. In conjunction Robert L. Allen and Jennifer Jensen Wallach outline a clear path for the black community to take in order for the to ensure their success. These 2 works combined to highlight the points made in Stokley’s speech, which overall supports the change in black culture.

In order to avoid making the same mistakes, black society has to look within itself and realize that they are the problem. They are the problem because they are not being creative enough when marketing themselves to mass public; they have been using the same worn out tactics for many years and it has yet to prove worthwhile.  Together all three of these sources show how the black culture of today needs to change itself in order to change society as a whole today. Stokley Carmichael’s speech Black Power, examines how men are unable to condemn themselves, with this in mind men are never going to see change until they take responsibility for their actions. Wallach’s Replicating History in A Bad Way? White Activists and Black Power in SNCC's Arkansas Project examines the oppression faced back in the 1960’s due to media scrutiny, the only way African Americans will ever further themselves and our world as a whole is through positive media coverage. Finally, Robert L. Allen depicts just how effective Malcom X was for the revolution in the 1960’s and in order to be that effective now, African American culture needs a true leader.  Ultimately these three pieces culminate to show the connection based on racism portrayed in the various decades. 
