black power

Exhibiting the Black Panthers' Ephemera

An exhibition of the radical group's posters illustrates the importance-and difficulty-of documenting political movements that used visual communications through ephemeral media like postering and newspapers. 

Black Power is a Love Story

by Dan Berger

While the movement is popularly associated with anger, love was the emotional force that enabled activists to struggle for justice against powerful opposition. 

I Grew Up in a Black Liberationist Commune

From 1973 to the early 2000s, the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church operated a communal home in a Detroit apartment building, dedicated to the collective project of replacing received notions of Black inferiority with a sense of possibility. 

Stephen Shames's Photos Document the Lives and Activism of Black Panther Party Women

As a college student, Shames built trust with the members of the BPP and documented their activism. Now, working with former member Ericka Huggins, a book of those photos preserves the history. 

New Documentary uses Fight for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama as Lens on Present

Vann Newkirk, whose work inspired "Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power" examines how a conservative white minority fought to keep power even after the passage of the Voting Rights Act

The Revolution that Wasn't: What did 1960s Radicals Achieve?

by Michael Kazin

A new book of narrative history of the 1960s New Left repeats a common error: mistaking rhetoric for revolution and ignoring a key outcome of the decade: that the right emerged more powerful, argues reviewer Michael Kazin. 

Learn Lessons about Movement Building from Radical Black Women

by Keisha N. Blain, Premilla Nadasen and Robyn C. Spencer

Barbara Ransby facilitates a roundtable collaborative essay about the role of women in building radical movements for justice in Black communities encompassing social welfare, economic security, police accountability, women's liberation and more. 

This Late Civil Rights Icon's Imprint Is Everywhere Today

by Peniel E. Joseph

"Stokely Carmichael's legacy spans the movement for Black power, the push for voting rights in the 21st century and the recent political campaigns that have given voice to those seeking more radical change."

Fists of Freedom: A Storymap of Responses to the Olympics Protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith

by Lou Moore

Louis Moore presents an interactiv graphic exploration of media responses to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics protest of American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith. 

Sounds of Freedom: The Music of Black Liberation

Shana Redmond and Rickey Vincent discuss their research, which deals with the ways that musical expression has been integrated into the politics of Black freedom in different moments (and different musical styles, including the Black Panther Party's own funk band). 

Incognegro, Part II: How New York Law Enforcement Worked to Destroy Core

by L.E.J. Rachell

Ray Wood's memoir alleges that as a rookie NYPD detective he was coerced to act as an agent provocateur to convince members of New York's Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) chapters to commit crimes or other acts that would discredit and destroy the movement. The NYPD and FBI could clear the air by releasing their files on infiltration of Black-led organizations. 

For Many, an Afro isn’t Just a Hairstyle

Journalist Ernie Suggs reflects on how hairstyles reflected his own family's history, with backing from historians Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and Noliwe Rooks. 

How White Liberals Destroyed the 1970s’ Soul City

by Brentin Mock

The new book "Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia," by Seton Hall Law School professor Thomas Healy, explores the history of how and why Floyd McKissick’s experiment came to be, and its unceremonious end. 

American Democracy Is Only 55 Years Old—And Hanging by a Thread

Atlantic Editor Vann Newkirk examines the recent and imperiled history of American democracy since the Voting Rights Act, including by interviewing Charles Hamilton, co-author of the keystone book "Black Power." 

James E. Hinton’s Unseen Films Reframe the Black Power Movement

Hinton’s work as a cinematographer and filmmaker achieved a similar balance between taking in the grander sweep of history and considering the nature, appearance, manner, and presence of the individual people making it.

The Danger Of Depoliticising Black Power Activism

Both celebrities and consumer brands have appropriated the aesthetics of the Black Panther Party and other Black militants, without dealing with the substance of their politics. 

Revolution on Trial: Looking back at New Haven's Black Panthers at 50

The 50th anniversary of the polarising New Haven Nine trial has led to a group exhibition exploring racial injustice.

Stokely Carmichael Didn’t Deserve Bill Clinton’s Swipe During John Lewis’s Funeral

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

This mischaracterization of Carmichael serves a purpose. It allows people to dismiss his critique of America.

We Don’t Need Bill Clinton’s History Of Civil Rights

by Erik Loomis

Bill Clinton decided to use John Lewis’ funeral to take a shot at Stokely Carmichael. The last thing we need is whites to use such opportunities to tell histories of the civil rights movements that are used to make them feel comfortable.

The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Black Action Movement and the Way Forward

by Martin Halpern

Activists in today’s struggles against institutionalized racism and for black lives can benefit from studying a local victory of fifty years ago. In the spring of 1970, the Black Action Movement (BAM) at the University of Michigan led a thirteen-day strike that won a commitment to change by the university administration.