Racism has been a problem needing attention across the world dating back many years. Stokely Carmichael was born in 1941 and immigrated to the United States when he was just 11 years old. He became the Honorary Prime Minister of the Black Panther Party and was a Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1966, Stokely Carmichael gave a speech at UC Berkley that showed his transition from nonviolent politics to that of Black Power. He emphasizes that “ending oppression necessitates recognizing-and fighting to change-the inherently oppressive nature of societal institutions” (Carmichael 313). Throughout his speech, readers can find the literary elements of repetition, diction, and imagery. His use of repetition puts and emphasis on what he believes to be important parts of his speech while his use of diction and imagery help the reader to fully understand his view on how to end racism and how the Black Panther Party played a role in the fight to end racism.  

Repetition can be a useful element when used throughout a speech as the reader can further understand what points the author feels are most important. Throughout the speech, “Black Power”, Carmichael repeats phrases and words that help to reiterate what he had just said. In Carmichael’s speech, he states, “Yes, it is we who are the hardest workers and the lowest paid, and the lowest paid”, by repeating and the lowest paid we can understand that Carmichael feels like blacks are not paid right for what they do. (321) They are doing all the dirty work, but they are not getting paid how a white man would be paid for doing the same job. Readers can understand that this is one of the issues he feels strongly about. Later in the speech Carmichael is talking about how blacks question if they are equal to whites because every time they start to do something white people are around showing them how to do it and then he says “If we are going to eliminate that for the generation that comes after us, then black people must be seen in positions of power, doing and articulating for themselves, for themselves” (Carmichael 319). When he repeats for themselves readers can interpret that he feels like the white community needs to allow the black community to do their own things. If they make mistakes they need to be mistakes that the black community makes and learns from instead of the white community always trying to correct them. Knowing what Carmichael finds important is important in understanding the speech because the speech is given in the 60’s which was a time that was hard for blacks. When readers know how they were feeling about how they were being treated it helps readers in understanding why they wanted change. Repetition that is found throughout the speech is very powerful in helping the reader understand what views Stokely Carmichael has.

Diction can be a powerful element when used in a speech to show your beliefs. An author’s word choice that is used throughout a speech can further enhance his speech and lead to the audience feeling the way the author wants them to feel. Carmichael takes an aggressive approach throughout his whole speech and at the end of the speech when Carmichael says “Will white people overcome their racism and allow for that to happen in this country? If that does not happen, brothers and sisters, we have no choice but to say very clearly, ‘Move over, or we’re going to move on over you” (326). This quote shows that the black community wanted to fight for change, but they did not plan on doing it in a violent way unless they needed to. The Black Panther Party played a large role in helping the black community reach their goals of ending racism. In the article, “Revolutionary art is a tool for liberation: Emory Douglas and Protest Aesthetics at the Black Panther” by Erika Doss, readers learn about how the Black Panther Party was originally formed with ideals for self-defense and protecting the black communities from police brutality (Doss 245). The party was not originally formed to be a violent group. This article helps a reader understand “Black Power” because the speech is given during the same time that the Black Panther Party was being formed. The history of the Black Panther Party is important for a reader to understand because Carmichael wants the change to happen in a nonviolent way but if it does not make a difference they are not afraid to “move on over you”. In the speech “Black Power”, readers hear Carmichael say “that we were not fighting for the right to integrate, we were fighting against white supremacy” (314). This quote is important for the understanding of his speech because many people saw the blacks as fighting for their right to be integrated into society. However, they were fighting against white supremacy and the idea that the whites saw them as inferior. The black community wanted the white community to stop seeing them as inferior and allow them to do their own things without always trying to correct them. Carmichaels aggressive approach throughout the speech helps to show the audience that he truly believes what he is saying and that he wants to see change in the world. 

The use of imagery plays a large role on readers understanding of the speech. Being able to visualize what an author is saying allows a reader a deeper understanding of the speech. He uses descriptive terms that help the reader understand what the past has been like for black and where they want to go. Carmichael said, “It is we who have picked the cotton for nothing. It is we who are the maids in the kitchens of liberal white people. It is we who are the janitors, the porters, the elevator men; we who sweep up your college floors.” (321). This quote from the Black Power helps to show that Carmichael believes that the black community is doing all the dirty work and they are not being treated the way they should be. The article by Doss also helps to explain how the Black Panther Party benefitted from imagery. The party had their own newspaper and many times they would use their newspaper to get their messages out to the public and affirm their demand for a specifically masculine black power (Doss 247-248). In some of the images that were in the party’s newspaper showed the Black Panther Party in their uniforms which included a black beret, leather jackets, dark glasses, raised fist and in military drill formation holding guns. The image shows readers that even though the party was originally formed which the idea of being non-violent, they had to shift to a more violent approach. In the article, “The Political Repression of the Black Panther Party 1966-1971: The Case of the Oakland Bay Area”, readers can understand the effect that the newspaper had on the communities in the country because the FBI initiated several actions to disrupt the operation of the newspaper due to its wide circulation (Jones 426). When readers hear that the FBI was trying to stop the newspaper they can infer that it was successful in getting their messages out to the country. Imagery and the use of cartoons help readers in their understandings on Carmichaels stand on racism and how to end white supremacy.  

Black Power was a strong speech that was given by Stokely Carmichael in 1966. He had strong views on the fight to end racism and the role that the Black Panther Party had on that fight to end racism. In an article by Charles Jones, we learn that that growth in the party from a local to national level played a role in the image of the party being a potential threat to the American system of government (417-418). The image of the Black Panther Party played a role in their ability to make change about racism throughout the country. When the party had a more violent image paired with their name more people were talking about them which allowed them to get attention towards issues that they were talking about. Stokely Carmichael could get his point across throughout his speech because readers can further understand his views from his repeating of certain phrases, his strong diction, and the descriptive visuals that he can paint into the reader’s minds. 
