‘Black’ over ‘Negro’
The movement’s leaders said Black people had been trying to aspire to white ideals of what they should be. The Black Power Movement was the time for Blacks to set their own agenda, putting their needs and aspirations first. An early step, in fact, was the replacement of the word “Negro”— a word associated with the years of slavery and oppression — with “Black.”
Different From Civil Rights Movement
Carmichael emphasized that the Black Power Movement was similar to the Civil Rights Movement, but different. “For too many years, Black Americans marched and had their heads broken and got shot. … After years of this, we are at almost the same point — because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We cannot be expected any longer to march and have our heads broken in order to say to whites: come on, you’re nice guys. For you are not nice guys. We have found you out … This is what [Blacks] seek: control … [Black Power] means the creation of power bases from which Black people can work to change statewide or nationwide patterns of oppression through pressure from strength — instead of weakness.”
