More than Matter
When the first slave was taken from the shores of Africa, their dignity, pride, and cultural values were stripped from them as they were reduced to being less than a human being. This loss of identity not only shaped the mindsets of the people enduring slavery, but also laid the foundation by which African Amercian culture would be built upon. Though there are no longer shackles around our ankles, systematic oppression has become the new form of slavery and is the mechanism by which black communities have fallen victim to destruction. Broken families, poverty, drug abuse, and police brutality have become the norm in our communities and act as our modern day shackles. In order to combat the systematic oppression that continues to reek havoc on our communities, movements have been created to fight back against the forces that hold us captive.
These movements adapted for the era in which they took place, but oftentimes find themselves reflecting each other on their journey of reaching the ultimate goal of equality. The Black Power movement and Black Lives Matter movement are two social justice organization that create an accurate representation of how the methods of achieving equality have had to change in response to the eras in which they took place.
Both movements allowed people to join together in attempts to stand against the injustice black people face, but they did so in very different ways. The Black Power movement began in the 1960’s and ended in the 1980’s while the Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 and is currently picking up even more momentum with the current world events that have recently transpired.
The BLM movement has proven itself to be more effective than the Black Power movement was at creating change, but if both organizations were working toward the same goal, why has the current movement proven to be more productive than its predecessor? The answer is simple.
One movement chose to evoke change through strength, and the other through sympathy.
The Black Power movement was truly a force to be reckoned with. It was all about creating a sense of pride for the black community and making its members aware that they had the strength to overthrow the powers responsible for holding them at a lower quality of life. The movement was inspired by the principles of determination and racial pride set by Malcom X and gave black people strength by enlightening them to the mindset that they can control the treatment they receive by taking responsibility for the actions.
The Black Lives Matter movement is the current movement that is bringing about change for the black community. Unlike the Black Power movement that was mainly about educating the black community and educating people about their true worth, the Black Lives Matter movement prioritizes educating all people and bringing people of all races together to unify for change.
The reason for this difference between the two movements could lie in the technological advances that weren’t there during the era of the Black Power movement.
The nature of social media has majorly contributed to the effectiveness of the BLM movement because of how easy it is for people to access information. With sites such as facebook, instagram, and twitter, the organization can effortlessly assemble protests, educate, and unite its audience. If it were not for social media, Black Lives Matter would not be the powerful body that it is today. In fact, BLM was founded in 2013, but became very popular in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem and his actions went viral on the internet.
Though Colin’s act of kneeling shocked many, this was not the first time such a display of strength was exhibited in the sports realm.
During the 1968 Olympics, two black athletes named Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fist during the medal ceremony as the Star Spangled Banner played. Their black gloved fist represented the unity between oppressed black people and their stand against inequality in the United States. Their actions resulted in them receiving an immense amount of backlash and ultimately led to them being expelled from the Olympics. Interestingly enough, Colin Kaepernick received the exact same treatment as he was kicked out of the NFL and still has not been able to play the game he loves to this day. The events are similar because in both situations, the athlete’s demonstrations were misconstrued as hate when it was truly just a cry for freedom.
In both scenarios, all the athletes involved used their rights awarded to them through the constitution and peacefully demonstrated for the injustice they saw in America. Why was such a small gesture responded to with such big reactions? It is because knowledgable and empowered black people are an extremely scary site to see in a society that created a system to make black people the exact opposite; weak and ignorant.
During times of slavery the black man was made to seem feeble in front of his family. He had no control over his family being separated from him. He had no power to stop the lashes that would scar the backs of his people for generations. He had no ability to stop his master from raping his women.
The leaders of our families were systematically constructed to be weak, but this was all in an effort to make sure the black man never realizes his true power. When Colin, Tommie, and John stand firmly in their position as strong black kings, the creators of our unjust society feel a tremor run down their spines.
While Tommie Smith and John Carlos were ostracized from society and deemed disgraceful, Colin Kaepernick became the face of the movement that is currently inspiring millions. With the events that took place within the past few months, there are talks that he might find himself back on the field when the NFL season returns. This is because a lot of people are finally seeing and understanding the reason why he went against the grain and kneeled all those years ago. Unfortunately for Tommie and Carlos who did not have the advantage of social media, the same can not be said. The reason for this is because of the amount of people that are able to support the Black Lives Matter movement in comparison to the Black Power movement.
The level of appeal each movement projects is also a factor for how effective they are with causing change. By analyzing their slogans and the ideals that are at the forefront of their movements, we can gain a better understanding as to why one movement is more popular than the other.
The Black Power movement was all about strictly empowering the black community. Their slogan was meant to spark pride for black people in America during the time where they were facing severe civil rights issues. This worked for many people as they were given knowledge about their true history and how a system was built against them. The downside to this approach was that by only focusing their message toward black people, it played a part in excluding other races from joining the movement. This showed to be problematic because as the Black Panther’s leaders began being killed, there was not enough strength to keep the black community united and progressing toward demanding change.
Unlike the Black Power movement, Black Lives Matter is about being inclusive and inherently strives to make a difference for minority groups facing discrimination in the United States. An example of this would be how the LGBTQ community have found themselves being an extremely active part of the movement and demand change for their community in addition to the black community. This is powerful because when there is more unity, voices grow louder so that they must be heard.
The tone of the slogans also play a major role in the successfulness of each movement as well. While the slogan “Black Power” exudes strength and is meant to channel dignity, the slogan “Black Lives Matter” exudes solicitude and is meant to channel sympathy. Black Lives Matter is far more accepted by society because it demands pity while the Black Power projects something that white America has historically been proven to fear; black strength.
The Black Lives Matter movement will prove to be more effective than the Black Power movement because an oppressive society can stand to tolerate a perspective of pity on the black community rather than one of strength. Black Lives Matter is a movement that is needed in this day and age because of how effective it is at uniting people through its social media use and how inclusive it is for all people. It will bring about more change than the Black Power movement because of its capability of appealing to people outside the black community while also not being viewed as a threat like the Black Power movement was. Only time will tell if the Black Lives Matter movement’s inclusive nature will dilute the potency of change being brought to the black community.
Works Cited
Black Power. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power
Blakemore, E. (2018, February 22). How the Black Power Protest at the 1968 Olympics Killed Careers. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.history.com/news/1968-mexico-city-olympics-black-power-protest-backlash
Buchanan, L., Bui, Q., & Patel, J. (2020, July 03). Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
Written By Tadd Haislop @taddhaislop, Written By Tadd Haislop, By, W., & Haislop, T. (2020, June 09). Colin Kaepernick kneeling timeline: How protests during the national anthem started a movement in the NFL. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/colin-kaepernick-kneeling-protests-timeline/xktu6ka4diva1s5jxaylrcsse
