Was Black Power an Outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement

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The expression 'black power' first joined the lexicon of the civil rights movement during the Meredith March Against Fear in 1966, popularized by Stokely Charmichael, chairman of the Student Non violent Coordinating Committee who uttered a simple statement "What we need is Black Power". Crowds chanted the phrase as a slogan and movement began to form. However, in order to approach the question "was black power a natural outgrowth of the civil rights movement" we need to define what Black power truly is, and its connection with the Movement. Today, the term 'black power' almost seems quaint. Despite efforts to define it both then and today, "black power" rests in the American imagination through a series of iconic yet fleeting images covering the whole spectrum - from gun evoking black panthers to black-gloved sprinters at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The traditional iconography of black power captures the 'triumph and tragedy' of the period. However, given the traditional negative interpretation that black power is associated with; efforts to define it have largely been arbitrary. It would come as no surprise that black power is viewed as the 'evil twin' of the civil rights movement, a plethora of angry responses to the slow pace of the struggle of civil rights. It was only until recently perspective on the movement were shaped primarily by this. One can also define Black power in terms of organisations, specific figures, The most prominent being Malcolm X, and most importantly in terms of ideology - black power itself emphasized black self sufficiency and black nationalism, promoting itself as a black political self organisation. Black power was not just about asserting equal citizenship but it was about demanding specific identity among the black community. Discussing its relationship with the mainstream Civil rights Movement, the one obvious way it is seen as
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