Since the beginning of the Black man's time here in America, actually from the time he was first captured in Africa, placed in chains and forced onboard the first slave ship, he has searched for a means to restore himself to a place of power.

Down through the ages, many a Black man has attempted to find that elusive abstraction, some seeming to have come within a hand's grasp of it only to find that it had eluded even the greatest of Black minds. Invoking divine charge, many still seek it - Black Power. But, what is Black Power? Where does one find it? How does one seize and hold it? More importantly, how does one even recognize it when one is untrained to its form?

Let me begin to answer these questions first by explaining that I do not mean to convey any misogynistic undertones. My purpose is not to set at odds our most needed and, consequently, our only suitable ally, the Black Woman. I call upon the Black man because he, in turn, is the only suitable adversary to the current power broker, the White man. Let me demonstrate this point by quoting Middle Passage :

"As soon as an assortment of naked slaves was taken aboard a Guineaman, the men were shackled two by two, the right wrist and ankle of one to the left wrist and ankle of another. Then they were sent to the hold or, at the end of the eighteenth century, to the "house" that the sailors had built on deck. The women - usually regarded as fair prey for the sailors - and the children were allowed to wander by day almost anywhere on the vessel, though they spent the night between decks in other rooms than the men's. All the slaves were forced to sleep without covering on bare wooden floors, which were often constructed of unplanned boards. In a stormy passage the skin over the elbows might be work(ed) away to the bare bones." [1]

Atrocities and indignities aside yet not diminished, Black men, from the beginning, were never allowed to roam free. The white man always maintained constant armed guard over them. The Black man was the only one who possessed the ability to overthrow them.

Power is defined as ability to do or act. Another word for power is potential, and in almost every instance potential can be used in its stead. Therefore, the black man was the only one with the ability or potential to threaten the white man's power. He still is, both the only one who can raise an equal threat to the white man, and closely monitored, corralled, and even bound.

Is it any wonder that the Black man is the most imprisoned, murdered, unemployed and marginalized person in America? It is always preferable to have Sistagirl in the workplace than Bro'man. Sistagirl, unlike Bro'man, is no threat to white power. Further, Sistagirl is more prone to complete submission and even reliance on the white man for the express reason of absolute powerlessness of the Black man thanks to his condition. Even further still, the children of the Black man become the ward of the white power state, and the Black man is, again, powerless to counter.

So, to define Black Power is not an easy task. It means to look at the word from every angle, every perspective, and every usage, for even when the slogan Black Power experienced its most prolific currency it was routinely misspent. Reason being, those spending it never properly understood it as a concept or knew its value.

The phrase Black Power was first used, not by the fiery 1960's orator and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader Stokely Carmichael, but by the radical Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. He first used it at a 1965 Chicago rally, and further expounded on it during a commencement speech at Howard University in May 1966. Stokely, however, gave the slogan legs, but still it lacked a clear-cut definition.

Concerning Black Power, Carmichael said numerous things, to include these partial definitions: "a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, and to build a sense of community"; "The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take over. We been saying freedom for six years and we ain't got nothin'. What we gonna start saying now is Black Power!"; "we were never fighting for the right to integrate, we were fighting against white supremacy."; and "We are now engaged in a psychological struggle in this country about whether or not black people have the right to use the words they want to use without white people giving their sanction. We maintain the use of the words Black Power -- let them address themselves to that. We are not going to wait for white people to sanction Black Power."

These partial definitions help one to conceptualize the theme of Black Power - to grant oneself permission to assert oneself in the areas of self-definition, self-determination, self-expression, and self-actualization, and be black - but this too, only partially captures the essence of Black Power. I believe, as Harold Cruse advocates, that we must do a complete analysis of our history of being Black in America before we can fully understand what Black Power is. In his groundbreaking analytical work The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, Mr. Cruse says:

"Black Power slogans reveal the depth of unpreparedness and the lack of knowledge that go along with the eagerness of the new generation of spokesmen. The farther the Negro gets from his historical antecedents in time, the more tenuous become his conceptual ties, the emptier his social conceptions, the more superficial his visions. His one great and present hope is to know and understand his Afro-American history in the United States more profoundly. Failing that, and failing to create a new synthesis and social theory of action, he will suffer the historical fate described by the philosopher who warned that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." [2]

[1] From Daniel P Mannix & Malcolm Cowley, Black Cargoes, A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, pp. 104-7. Copyright © 1962 by Daniel P Mannix. Printed in Black Protest, 350 Years of History, Documents and Analysis, Copyright © 1962 by Joanne Grant, published by Random House
[2] The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, pg. 565 "Postscript on Black Power", by Harold Cruse, Copyright © 1967, published by Quill.

>>> Continued

© July 2005 By Dan Hardman

Brother Dan Hardman will be keeping the Black community informed on issues concerning the church and righteous living. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

To subscribe to Hardman's column join the Afromerica email list to receive new information as it is updated. Or E-mail D Hardman at: essaysfromchurch@edincorporated.com

Submit an article
Join the Mailing List
Join a Discussion

Afromerica: Where its all Black & white and some gray areas.

[TOP]     [BACK TO COLUMN]