raga Eight

The New Militancy . . .

What It Means
For The Nation

Ed. Notel The following rm
port was written by John
Phillips, a former Griunell
student. Phillips recently
spent two months in Selma,
Alabama as a reporter -
photographer for the South-
on. Courier. The Courier was
organized by a group of Har-
vard students last year to
cover southem racial news.

By JOHN PHILLIPS

During die Student Non-vlo~
lent Coordinating Committee’s
(SNCC) summer project of 1964
in Mississippi many Northern-
ors flooded the state, helping
with voter registration drives
and teaching in freedom
schools. when the majority or
the outsiders lelt the state at
the end of the summer the
Negroes were left completely
confused and essentially with-
out leadership.

Once again the Negro had
been taken care of by the
While man. SNCC decided that
the time had come to begin

compensating for the hundreds
of years that the Negro was
told that he couldn’t do any-
thing ior himself. It was time
for the Negro to begin having
pride in himself. This is the
concept of “black power," al-
though Lhe phrase itself was
coined by Stokely Carmichael,
chairman or SNCC, only a low
months ago during the More
dith Mississippi March no em—
phasize the potential of the Neg-
roe vote,

The recent controversy over

Black Power In Chicago

BLACK POWER was conceived b

Carmichael’s phrase has re-
volved around the precise in-
terpretation of “black power,"
Strictly speaking, the power
Carmichael originally had in
mind was political power.

Carmichael to Lawndes

Carmichael came to Lowndes
County, Alabama just after the
Selma March of ’65. Alriog with
other SNCC staff workers he
encouraged the development or
the Lowndes County Freedom
Organization (Black Panther)
political party. Lowndes is the
most poverty stricken of all
Alabama counties with an 80
per cent Negro population re-
ceiving a median ramily in-
come one iourth that of the
white population Until last
year not a single Negro had
ever registered to vote, Ninety
white families own 9|) per cent
at the land. While the major-
ity of the whites live in virtual
luxury, the majority of the
Negroes live in dire poverty
which in some areas of the
county achieves a level as low
as any to he found in our
country.

Showcase of Democracy

The Lowndes County Free-
dom organization is virtually
assured of success in its bid
to elect its representatives to
the major county offices in
November. These offices in
clude Sheriff, tax assessor and
seats on the school board. The
candidates are farmers and
housewwes. The grass roots
leadership and community
spirit that made this all pos-
sible constitute a showcase of
democratic process which is
remarkable to observe. The
spirit, courage, and uneducated
Wisdom that have been evi-
denced in Lowndes County by
many local Negroes during the
last year. in the face or a

SCARLET AND BLACK

completely oppressive while
power structure on every lev-
e1, will probably become
legend in American history.
Even more important, it will
become legend in American
Negro culture. Only by having
their entire county gerryman-
dered out of existence by 60%
ernor Wallace can the Black
Panthers be stopped from ob-
taining political and financial
control at Lowndes. Ten other
counties iu Alabama have a
majority oi Negroes oi voting
age and those which don't have
a majority could pooenlially con-
tain powerful blocks of Negro
votes for bargaining purposes.
The difference with Lowndes is
that its residents were organ-
ized out of their former tear
and into a black political pow-
er structure.

More Than Political Power

The story of black power in
Lowndes County is impressive
enough of itself, but practically
speaking black power is more
than simply political power.
Says Carmichael, “It's amazing
to see what those two words
did to White America. Black
people can and should develop
what we have in our own neigh-
borhood and make it good and
make it beautiful. It's time [or
some psychological equality.
To a Negro, faith in himseli plun
power equals black power."

Whatever its original inten-
tion the note of black power is
presently in tune with the tenor
of nearly every Negro organiza-
tion that actively or passively
allows itself to think in terms of
a Negro revolution in America.
in a sense the phrase black
power marks an ever-increasing
distinction between the civil
rights movement in the Uulted
States and the larger Negro
revolution. Ask any white and

y Carmichael as a rallying call in the quest for political

power for southern Negroes. The call at block power in recently been taken up in
northern other at . slogan for a new ”violent sell-defense mililancy". Many observers

feel that this will lead to the and of the non

iiced by groups like sch.

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Friday September 9, l9“

 

 

STOKELY CARMICHAEL, Chairman of SNCC. tussle;
with children while urging rural lowndes County, Ala.
home residents to support the Black Panther Party, The
Black Panthers seek political controluf the county in the

coming November elections.

former SNCC worker about that
distinction. He’ll understand it
well.

A Negro must have faith in
himself plus power and L‘hat’s
black power. Where do militant
demonstrations and riots in
Northern ghettos fit in to this
statement? Carmichael scoffs at
the comment that he tries to
stir up tension, trouble, and
riots. He says that the tension
is already there, especially in
cities, and for good reason. He
goes on, “The tragedy is that
last year's riots were so unor-
ganized that the leaders weren't
able to use them to get some
01' the things they needed."

Respect Essential

The fact that so many people
disapprove of the term black
power is to SNCC beautifully
ironic testimony to its validity
and effectiveness as a slogan,
In the South and North alike an
element essential to progress
in the Negro revolution is not
only respect of Negroes for
themselves but respect of the
white man for the Negro. An
element crucial to this respect
is fear. The Negro must have
the potential pl striking tear in
the white World as the white
man has struck fear tor so long
in the world or the Negro.

To give this respect substance
it is necessary tor the Negro
to prove his “black power pl)<
tential" whether it be in terms
of political and economic power
in the cities. Initial demonstra<
tinns ui lhis power must or
necessity he exaggerated just
as the unleashing of atomic
power upon Hiroshima might be
considered to have been an ex-
aggerated but necessary display
oi power. A certain amount of
violence now may well he the
price of avoiding much greater

ilviolence later Negroex in As

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merica have been so grossly
mistreated that until recent
times they were in a kind of
shock which whites commonly
termed apathy and ignorance.
That's wearing on now. The
sooner white America wakes up
to this newly expanding power,
the sooner racial violence will
disappear. This doesn't mean
bigger and better police forces
It means eliminating every as‘
pect of a caste system in the
United States through every
means and resource available.
If white America, which con-
trols the vast majority or A-
merica's political and eoonnmis
power. doesn't assume this task
voluntarily, it will soon become
a dire necessity. The only alter-
native will be to operate Ameri-
ca as a police state so as to
brutally suppress what are only
symptoms or a disease that ev-
ery minute delves deeper into
the consciousness of large num-
bers of Americans.

Violence Needed

A Chicago juvenile gang lead-
er who has Worked with Dr,
King a nd his organization
(SCLC) during the past row
months made the Comment
that, “Dr. King made a lot of
demands but he didn’t really
get anywhere until we broke a
few windows." [It the evolulion
oi the Negro movement in
America the relatively quiet
and peaceful demonstrations at
the past decade are becoming
outmoded. They're geltin g
bogged down in a nonviolent
idealism that doesn't make any
Sense in terms oi the basic laws
or sell - detouse, self . preserva-
tion, and sellesteem.

The cry oi the demonstrator
must rise with its listener in
mind, and echo with an inten-
sity relative to the degree and

“BLACK POWER"«
(Continued on Page 12)

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