Pan-Africanism and Black Power Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Pan-Africanism, the evolution of the Black Power movement, its key organizations, speeches, leadership, and the history and legacy of the Black Panther Party.

Richard Wright

The American writer who used the term 'Black Power' in 1954 in a book documenting his 1953 visit to Ghana.

March Against Fear

A 1966 civil rights march from Memphis to Jackson (about 200 miles) initiated by James Meredith, which thousands joined after Meredith was shot and wounded on its second day.

James Meredith

The first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi on October 1, 1962, who later initiated the March Against Fear on June 6, 1966.

Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)

The Trinidad-born activist and SNCC leader who popularized the political slogan 'Black Power' during a speech on June 16, 1966; he later adopted the name Kwame Ture in 1978 and led the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party.

Black Power (Broad Definition)

The demand by the Black community for control and self-determination.

Black Power vs. black power

A conceptual distinction where capitalized 'Black Power' denotes the formal movement, organizations, and self-identified advocates, while lowercase 'black power' refers to community-level struggles for local self-control and empowerment.

1967 Newark Black Power Conference

A formal conference held in Newark, New Jersey, in July 1967 that issued a manifesto demanding $500\text{ million}$ from white, capitalist America for reparations.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives

A regional cooperative and land-assistance organization formed to support Black farmers that grew to over 100,000 members.

Peniel E. Joseph

A scholar who argues that Black Power's impact on American democracy remains undertheorized despite encompassing nearly every facet of African American political life in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Republic of New Africa (RNA)

A Black nationalist organization founded in Detroit in 1968 by Chokwe Lumumba and Imari Obedele that demanded five southern states for an independent Black nation.

US (United Slaves)

A Los Angeles-based cultural nationalist organization led by Maulana Ron Karenga that engaged in sharp conflict with the Black Panthers and created the holiday Kwanzaa.

Congress of African People (CAP)

An organization founded by writer Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) out of the Black Arts Movement in New Jersey that later underwent an ideological shift to become a Marxist-communist group.

League of Revolutionary Black Workers

A Detroit-based organization operating under collective leadership that emerged from the labor struggles of Black auto factory workers and focused on working-class liberation and labor rights.

Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM)

A Black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary group founded in 1962 by Max Stanford (later Muhammad Ahmad) aimed at organizing an urban revolutionary vanguard.

World Community of Islam

The name given to the Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad died and his son Warith took over leadership, shifting the organization toward mainstream Islam and admitting white members.

Organization of African American Unity (OAAU)

A Pan-Africanist group established by Malcolm X in 1964 following his departure from the Nation of Islam, modeled after the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

"The Ballot or the Bullet"

A landmark speech delivered by Malcolm X on April 12, 1964, at King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, urging Black Americans to focus on human rights and tactical political engagement.

"By Any Means Necessary" Speech

A speech delivered by Malcolm X on June 28, 1964, at the Audubon Ballroom following his return from Mecca and Africa, in which he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and called for strategic Black political action.

Black Consciousness Movement (BCM)

A South African political movement led by Stephen Biko that advocated for a Black-ruled nation and Black psychological liberation over the integrationist policies of the ANC and SACP.

COINTELPRO

The FBI's covert Counter-Intelligence Program led by J. Edgar Hoover that targeted, surveilled, and infiltrated civil rights and Black Power organizations to undermine the movement.

Black Panther Party for Self-Defense

A revolutionary socialist organization founded in Oakland, California, in the fall of 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale to protect Black communities from police brutality.

Lowndes County Freedom Organization

An independent political party established in Alabama in 1965 whose black panther ballot symbol was adopted by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale for the Black Panther Party.

Huey P. Newton

Co-founder of the Black Panther Party born in Oak Grove, Louisiana, who advocated for Black studies curricula at Merritt College and served as the party's Minister of Defense.

Bobby Seale

Military veteran and co-founder/chairman of the Black Panther Party who ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, finishing with 30% of the vote.

Bobby Hutton

The first official recruit and treasurer of the Black Panther Party, who joined at age 15 and was later killed by police in 1968.

Elaine Brown

A Black Panther leader who assumed the party's chairmanship in 1974, ran for Oakland City Council, and managed the winning 1977 campaign of Lionel Wilson, Oakland's first Black mayor.

Ten Point Program

The foundational manifesto of the Black Panther Party detailing demands including land, housing, education, exemption from military service, and an immediate end to police brutality and murder.

Survival Programs (BPP)

Community assistance initiatives organized by the Black Panther Party, including Free Breakfast for Children, healthcare clinics, sickle-cell anemia screening, and busing to prisons.

Eldridge Cleaver

The author and BPP Minister of Information who joined the party in 1967, led its militant East Coast faction during the party split, and later shifted toward far-right politics.

Fred Hampton and Mark Clark

Illinois Black Panther Party leaders assassinated by Chicago police during a raid coordinated with the FBI's COINTELPRO in December 1969.