Black Power Movement (Nationalism) Research Paper

Black Power Movement (Nationalism) - Research Paper Example The society appeared less concerned about these issues and it dawned on majority of African Americans that nothing would come on silver plate. There was need for persistence in form of struggle, which saw some advocate for non-violent means while radical African Americans advocated for ‘all’ possible means, whichever form to reclaim African identity1. Black power movement (BPM) therefore became one of the avenues African Americans pursued their economic, political, social, and cultural recognition2. Largely based on its principles, The Black Power Movement agitated for racial pride, self-determination, economic independence, and social equality, and this was to be through creation of black political and cultural institutions. The Black Power Movement, especially the Black Nationalism is of interest to this study, and effort will be made in studying its origin, development, activities, pioneers, and also its success and failures. African American as victims of oppression African Americans’ history in USA has for a long time been bracketed with aspects of oppression, discrimination, and prejudice. African Americans, for a long time since the days of slavery, Civil War, to Civil Rights Movements, have been isolated and sidelined from the main sources of economy, political, social, and cultural aspects and as a result, African Americans identity in major American social institutions has been portrayed as of ‘strangers’. Andrew P. Smallwood observes that African American history has for a long time reflected struggle of minority people in an oppressive society struggling to win over negative social forces, which unfortunately have remained alive since the pre-slavery period all the way to post-slavery world3. According to the scholar, for a long time, African Americans have been victims of negative and prejudicial laws and social values and beliefs and as a result, African Americans’ struggle has adopted numerous alternatives of fighting these vices. In the same perspectives, Jeffrey G. Ogbar observes that for a long time, and as early as when African Americans arrived in USA, America appeared to be a country with huge cultural investment in attempts to construct and establish white supremacy. Moreover, the aim for such construction for ages has remained giving whites’ exclusive access to wide range of social, political, and economic opportunities in order to affirm Black inferiority4. It is sad to note that African Americans, in all aspects and angles of life, remained victims of incessant attacks against their humanity, which was reflected at federal, state, and local levels, and laws and customs were created and enacted, tending to push African Americans into the social doldrums of American citizenship. In an ironic gesture, Africans Americans for a long time resided in a country that prided itself and celebrated freedom, democracy, and equality, but for African Americans, life remained frustra ting and hopeless, as majority of them were excluded from major social institutions and processes. Everywhere one could move, African Americans identity had become an alien that everybody ascribed to the white supremacy was supposed to trample upon. In the media, legal, education, government, and so on, African Americans had a ‘sealed’ case-of exclusion, isolation, prejudice, mockery, and total discrimination and nothing could change this. The situation