Black Power in the 1960s

The Black Power Movement of the 1960s sharply delineated the utter failure, 100 years after the end of the Civil War, to create a nation in which African Americans achieved full civil standing. Activism flourished in the arts, as in the works of James Baldwin and Amiri Baraka and in popular culture – music and film.  Baraka’s image “It’s just a matter of time,” from his book In Our Terribleness, is displayed here. The political arm of the movement was led by the formation of the Black Panther Party founded by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton. While the approaches of the Panthers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X differed widely, each were revolutionary in their own way and taken together achieved broad popular appeal.

Baraka, Amiri, and Fundi. In Our Terribleness: (some Elements and Meaning in Black Style). Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call # PS3552.A583 I5.  

Above: Photograph by Fundi, “It’s Just a matter of Time, the heat’s on, “ p. 157-158, from Baraka, Amiri, and Fundi. In Our Terribleness.

The more we know about the US government responses to the Black Power movements, particularly from the FBI under director J. Edgar Hoover, the more we see the shameful efforts to deprive Blacks of their civil rights – the forged letters regarding Dr. King, the reprehensible murder of rising activist leader, Fred Hampton, and the relentless stalking of Angela Y. Davis. Black Power leaves a legacy of activism found today in the Black Lives Matter movement, “Say Her Name,” focused on police brutality against Black women, as well as a cultural renaissance of Black artists, writers, and film makers. Social transformation can be excruciatingly painful in a nation in which the legacy of racial oppression runs so wide and deep. Resistance means an abiding struggle.  

Cleaver, Eldridge, Minister of Information. Revolution and Education. [United States] : [Black Panther Party],  [196–]. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #LC71 .C555 1960.

Malcolm X and Jack Barnes. Malcolm X Talks to Young People. New York, N.Y: Young Socialist, 1966. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #E185.61 .L584 1966.

Lester, Julius. Revolutionary Notes. New York: R.W. Baron, 1969. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #JC328 .L48. 

King, Martin L. Speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., About the War in Vietnam. New York: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, 1969. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #DS559.62.U6 K56 1969

Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: the story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. London : Hutchinson, 1970. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #E185.615 .S37.

Ginzburg, Ralph. 100 Years of Lynchings. New York: Lancer Books, 1962. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call #HV6464 .G5

Jackson, George. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. New York: Coward-McCann, 1970. Alan Sussman Rare Book Collection at the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Call # HV9468 .J3.

Left: “John Cluchette, George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo.” Photo by Dan O’Neil. Right: “George Jackson, Angela Davis.” (Wide World Press). From Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.

In an interview with the New York Times in 1980, James Baldwin remarked that Giovanni’s Room was “not so much about homosexuality, it is what happens if you are so afraid that you finally cannot love anybody.” In art and life, Baldwin confronted discrimination based on race and sexuality. One of the finest writers of the 20th century, Baldwin’s words are given new life in Raoul Peck’s award winning 2015 film, I Am Not Your Negro.

Giovanni’s Room; A Novel, James Baldwin, New York : Dial Press, 1956. Call # PS3552.A45 G55 1956.