Throughout the majority of the Civil Rights Movement the strategy of non-violent protest was used, but due to the cruel and violent manner of response to protestors by law enforcement, many of those involved in the movement thought that this passive strategy had to go, especially Stokely Carmichael. Protestors during this time period who were showing no aggression whatsoever were oftentimes harmed by police and riot control during marches, they would endure things such as fire hoses, tear gas, and crushing blows from police night sticks. The state which resisted desegregation more than any other was Mississippi, and non-violent protestors faced extremely harsh treatment from law enforcement compared to other states (Nordhaus). Because of this extreme unwillingness to give African Americans equal rights Mississippi is known as the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. is a huge reason why non-violent protest was universally accepted as the best way to achieve equal rights, but Stokely Carmichael publicly questioned the effectiveness of being abused and not retaliating (Roberts). Carmichael's transition from non-violence to "black power" violence was not unusual or strange, but was a predictable and normal reaction to the consistent pain and oppression and lack of substantial results that he experienced during his years of Freedom Rides and Sit Ins in the horrific culture that was 1960s Mississippi.

Beginning in 1963 several civil rights organizations, most notably the S.N.C.C. (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee), started a movement known as the Mississippi movement. The purpose of this movement was to give blacks the right to vote and form African American political party. The S.N.C.C., whose chairman was Stokely Carmichael, used only nonviolent tactics when protesting for change before and throughout the Mississippi movement because they believed that it was the best way to get through to the government. Following the Mississippi movement however, the S.N.C.C. gave up on trying to please the government through passive behavior and abandoned their nonviolent protest tactics. Many innocent African Americans were killed throughout the 1960s while participating in nonviolent protest (Nordhaus). The S.N.C.C., Stokely Carmichael, and the black race as a whole was tired of enduring unwarranted abuse and believed that they needed to change the way they were going about fighting for equal rights. The obvious need for change lead to the Carmichael’s Black Power movement gaining popularity. The transition from non-violence to the black power movement, which believed in the use of self-defense when necessary, was very predictable because it is human nature to reach a breaking point and begin to reciprocate violence. It is very rare for someone to possess the Jesus-like strength to turn the other cheek that MLK and Ghandi endorsed. Honestly it is a miracle that those involved in the Civil Rights Movement were able to avoid retaliation after all of the pain and suffering that every African American faced during this time period. 

The transformation of Carmichael’s protest strategy did not happen over-night; it was a gradual change that happened due to the horrific things that he endured. At the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement Carmichael was 18 years old and a strong supporter of MLK and his beliefs. Over time, he shifted away from MLK’s pacifist ways because of his suffering and the suffering of those around him. Carmichael is well-known for being very active in the numerous “Freedom Rides” that occurred throughout the 1960s. Freedom Rides were a strategy for protest, in which African Americans would board a public transportation system, which at the time had segregated seats, and sit in the “white seats” in order to express their equality. Stokely Carmichael was put in jail frequently for his participation, saying that he had been to jail, “more times than I can count, no more than 36” (Carmichael). He was known for being a great leader, described as charismatic, humorous, positive, and hard-nosed. One example that shows his keen sense of humor is when he was in jail along with several other civil rights activists and he was being beaten by one of the guards and began singing “I’m gonna tell God how you treat me” and the rest of his incarcerated companions joined in on the singing. Like MLK, Carmichael was a great public speaker who had all the traits of a great leader and because of that he was able to garner the support of the African American people and begin convincing them that they should not have to endure abuse at the hands of law enforcement and racists. They should be treated as equals. Carmichael stressed the importance of self-defense in order to survive in the context of an America in which harming and killing a person of color was frequent and often accepted. 

The southern region as a whole, and especially Mississippi, was filled with racial tension throughout the Civil Rights Movement. The racist culture was so extreme during this time, and some people were filled with so much hate for the African American race, that they would do unspeakable things such as bombing churches and killing innocent people just because their skin was not white. Mississippi law enforcement did everything they could to prevent blacks from gaining equal rights, using immoral, dangerous tactics to control non-violent protests, leading to African American deaths. Strong Christian pastor, Martin Luther King Jr., had set the tone for most of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s with his non-violent forms of protest such as Freedom Rides and Sit Ins. But King’s assassination and years of experiencing brutal and deadly responses to non-violence, resulted in the predictable, and in many ways “normal”, desire to reject King’s passive resistance. For any significant movement facing global scrutiny to modify the overall tactical strategy, there needs to be a leader who can bring people together and argue for the necessity of that change. Formerly a proponent of non-violence, Stokely Carmichael lived through horror and suffering that formed him, not surprisingly, into the leader of the Black Power movement, which embrace reciprocal and defensive violence as a new strategy in gaining Civil Rights. 
