HomeIntroduction to Black and Brown PowerIdeology

Ideology

For an movement to be successful, individuals must be able to rally behind a common cause and ideology to help in the collaborative efforts to achieve certain goals. Both the black and brown liberation movements employed a system of ideas and beliefs that served as the foundation to their struggle for equality.

Black Nationalism

The Program (or platform) of the Black Panther Party. The BPP program would later be amended many times over to include such issues as treatment of women.

Black Nationalism is an ongoing movement, which has existed long before the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Early sentiments of Black Nationalism echoed throughout society as early as the 1920’s, when Marcus Garvey, a black activist who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), in which he called for black Americans to become completely separate from white society in a “Back to Africa” movement. In the less extreme case, Black Nationalism, is an ideology that is implemented through the phrase “black power”. In other words, Black Nationalism would be the mindset and black power would be the practice. In its simplest sense, black nationalists were in favor of racial pride among black people, economic self-sufficiency, and black separatism. The ideology itself was birthed out of Black Americans shared reality which has been shaped by oppressive systems created and maintained through slavery. It is a way to unite a people that has been displaced and striped from the very essence of their true identities. The ideology itself is a way for black people to understand who they despite being a part of a society that has used social forces as a way to subordinate them.

A few things to note about Black Nationalism that made it so appealing was its call for self-defense and separatism. With the creation of SNCC and their forms of protest through freedom rides and sit-ins, many black activists began noticing that as black people continued to push for their fundamental rights, white people began to push back, and white resistance became increasingly more violent than before. In other words, non-violence had seen its end. Embracing the notion of self-defense is not to be mistaken with senseless violence. It the implementation of the right to protect oneself not just against harm, but against oppressive systems, and barriers to racial equality. It is the being dedicated to the cause of black liberation, and achieving it by any means necessary.

Black Nationalism also seeks to promote voluntary separation, whether through cultural means, physical means, or psychological means. In comparison to traditional civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Black Nationalists believed that the only way for Black Americans to understand their full potential in America is to become its own separate entity dependent on each other and not the government which seeks to oppress them. As a result, the notions of interracial activism as seen throughout SNCC, began diminishing. As a form of protest, when Stokely Carmichael became national chairman of SNCC in 1966, he made it clear that white members would no longer be warmly accepted. In its essence, Black Nationalism was not an attack against white people, rather it was a way for black people to take control of their own fate, in their own way.

Resistance in Black Nationalism

With any form of protest against the status-quo comes resistance. As the black and brown liberation movements began to nationalize themselves, both the government and many white Americans began an intensive fight against their cause. The resistance often times not only became violent, but also deadly.

Sample of an FBI document on the BPP

As Black Nationalism and its rallying cry of black power became popular, it caught the attention of the FBI and was an easy target for white backlash. To explain the upsurge in surveillance, it must be noted: throughout the nation, especially in the North East, rioting found it place in cities such as Detroit, in which a major riot occurred in 1967, as well as Newark who saw a deadly riot in 1967, and Los Angeles, in which a significant riot known as the Watts Riots took place in the summer of 1965. The media, painted Black Nationalism and black power as the cause for the upsurge in rioting activity. Be that as it may, what was called a riot, was actually an expressive form of frustration, in which Black Americans could no longer tolerate second class citizenship. As a result, white Americans saw Black Power as a nuisance, because they believed it was the cause of the civil unrest seen in black neighborhoods across major northern urban centers, and not systematic oppression and poverty. In a protest to the riots, northern whites began protesting against Black Nationalism, and they had the help of both the FBI and local police forces. Arrests of black people branded as “radicals” increased. Anyone that appeared to be menaces were harassed, and in most cases experienced police brutality. Black Nationalism ruffled the feathers of “positive race relations” and invoked the strongest reaction ever seen by white citizens. Politicians and other government officials began speaking out as well, because the civil unrest disrupted regular business and voting patterns. Black Nationalism took the brunt of the blame, because it was branded as the barrier to racial progress. Black Nationalism did not cause negative race relations, rather it brought them to the surface, forcing the nation to deal with its problem of systematic oppression, racism and the poor living conditions of black people. Indeed, white backlash began long before the implementation of black power. It began when black people began demanding their freedom from chattel slavery.

Video Link: Black Power, White Backlash

Continuing, the FBI found its way into the movement through a program entitled COINTELPRO, or the Counterintelligence program, created in 1956. Initially, the program was designed to stop suspicious activities relating to communism. However, as Black Nationalism began making its mark across the nation, the FBI found a particular interest in the Black Panther Party. Through wiretapping, illegal surveillance, and other illegal methods to impede the first amendment rights of Black Panther activists, their tactics were simple: discredit the movement by arresting Black Panther activists on inflated crimes, which of course were politically motivated, branding them as leftist extremists and terrorists. The FBI painted the Black Panther Party as an organization seeking to overthrow the government through the use of violence. Black Panther members such as Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale were arrested on charges of murder, others were forced into exile, such as Assata Shakur, and some such as Huey P. Newton and Fred Hampton were brutally murdered. The FBI single-handedly destroyed the Black Panther Party, and succeeded at diminishing their role in society, to a simple “terrorist” group. The organization’s motives went beyond just “advocating” for violence. They dedicated themselves to the community, and even created a Free Breakfast Program to help children who were not able to eat before school. Although their tactics were scolded by the nation years later , the FBI  succeeded in the takedown of the Black Panther Party’s prominent leaders, crumbling the organization, until it officially dismantled in 1982.

Chicano Movement

Raza Unida Chapters Map

Source: Washington University

Brown Berets

Brown Berets were one of the most powerful organizations affiliated with the Chicano liberation movement. They originated out of a youth group originally called Young Citizens for Community Action and later Young Chicanos for Community Action. The brown beret hat was intended to serve as a symbol of cultural pride and the fight against racial injustice. Brown Berets focused on issues such as police brutality, racist school conditions, and the land movement in New Mexico. Brown Berets were responsible for Chicano walkouts throughout east Los Angeles. Their ideology was based on self-determination for Chicanos and reclaiming control over their lives. Brown Berets frequently worked with groups such as the Black Panther Party. Growing the have fourteen chapters in the Southwest, the Los Angeles Police Department infiltrated and arrested leaders in the organization. The original group officially disbanded in 1972.

Chicano Moratorium

The Chicano Moratorium was the non-violent, peaceful protest for the Chicanos fighting and dying at disproportionate number compared to any ethnicity at the time. Two particular accounts of the events provide an empathic look to the mindset of the Chicanos as well as what the Chicano Moratorium meant for the overall Chicano Movement. Our first account is from Herman Baca, a San Diego attendee of the Chicano Moratorium, who describes the day in specific detail and the horrors that he personally witnessed.

Link and Transcript of Baca’s account of the event.

Scholar Sybil Venegas speaks on the assassination of Ruben Salazar in the Silver Dollar Cafe, a moment exempt from Herman Baca’s account. She talks about the significance behind the Chicano Moratorium in terms of why this protest was taking place, and finishes the video with the Chicano realization that non-violence was reaching its peak effectiveness and a new form of protest was needed to combat the actions of police officers and other agitated, white civilians.

Works Cited

Angela Davis on revolution and violence: Nora Ekard. “Angela Davis on Violence and Revolution”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HnDONDvJVE&t=88s . Youtube.com. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim. July 26, 2015. Accessed March 31, 2017.

“Black Nationalism”. Britannica. July 1, 2008. Accessed April 4, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/black-nationalism

“Black Nationalism and the Call for Black Power”. Rcgd.isr.umich.edu. N/A. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/prba/perspectives/fall1999/asmallwood.pdf

“The Black Panther Party”. Alanna Birmingham Hidden Stories. N/A. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://alannabirminghamhiddenhistories.weebly.com/cointelpro.html

“Black Power-White Backlash: 150 Years of Struggle for National Liberation and Socialism”. Global Research. February 28, 2016. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://www.globalresearch.ca/black-power-white-backlash-150-years-of-struggle-for-national-liberation-and-socialism/5510800

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“Celebrate the Anniversary of the Foundation of the Black Panther Party.” The Red Phoenix ALP. October 15, 2011. Accessed April 5, 2017. https://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/10/15/celebrate-the-anniversary-of-the-foundation-of-the-black-panther-party/

“Cointelpro”. The FBI. N/A. Accessed April 5, 2017. https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro

“The Great Society and the Drive for Black Equality”. Digital History. 2016. Accessed April 1, 2017. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3329

“How the 1960’s Riots Hurt African-Americans”. The National Bureau of Economic Research. N/A. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://www.nber.org/digest/sep04/w10243.html

MALCOLMSREVENGE. “Malcolm X Kills Uncle Toms like A Beast”.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93XHuPm9IUI . Youtube.com. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim. August 24, 2015. Accessed March 31, 2017.

“Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association”. Nationalhumanitiescenter. October 2000. Accessed April 5. 2017. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/garvey.htm

“Martin Luther King Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle”. Kingencyclopedia.stanford. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_black_nationalism/index.html

PBS. “Free Breakfast Program”. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/free-breakfast-program/. PBS. Independent Television. Accessed April 5, 2017

“Stokely Carmichael”. History. 2009. Accessed April 5, 2017. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/stokely-carmichael