Andrew Albrecht

Professor Padgett
English 101
4 November 2015
The Influence of Historical and Cultural Context

Some of the most powerful speeches in history have had their text shaped by the
historical and cultural context in which they were written. Duties of American
Citizenship by Theodore Roosevelt and We Shall Fight on the Beaches by Winston
Churchill, arguably two of the most profound speeches ever given, are just two examples
of speeches throughout history that were influenced by the setting in which they were
given. A speech given by U.S. civil-rights activist Stokely Carmichael titled Black
Power exemplifies one of these speeches as well as its writing was shaped by the
American civil rights movement. This speech, given at UC Berkley in October 1966 to a
mostly white audience, is reflective of Carmichaels transition from nonviolent
integrationist politics to the politics surrounding black power and is definitely one of the
most powerful speeches from that time period. In this speech he addresses the necessity
for people to recognize and fight to change the inherently domineering nature of social
institutions in order to bring an end to oppression. The historical and cultural context of
the American civil rights movement, mainly the acts of violence against African
American advocates, influenced the way that Black Power was written.
Stokely Carmichael was born on June 29th, 1941 in Trinidad and immigrated to
New York City at the age of 11. One night in high school while watching television

Carmichael saw footage of a sit-in and, despite being aware of the American civil rights
movement for years, felt compelled for the first time to join the struggle. At first he
played a minor role in the movement but soon took on a much larger role by participating
in the Freedom Rides, founding the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, and
eventually becoming the national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee. The SNCC was one of the most important organizations of the American
civil rights movement, playing a major role in the sit-ins, freedom rides, and more. While
Carmichael followed the philosophy of nonviolent resistance, exemplified by Martin
Luther King Jr., during his early participation in the movement he largely lost faith in that
way of thinking by the time he was elected national chairman of the SNCC.
The main reason for his loss of faith in nonviolent resistance was a direct result of
violence taken against African Americans who took on nonviolent roles in the American
civil rights movement. Of the many acts of violence that took place against African
Americans taking part in nonviolent resistance prior to Carmichaels Black Power
speech, the murders of Reverend George Lee and Lamar Smith were among the worst.
Reverend George Lee was shot and killed in 1955 after urging African Americans in the
Mississippi Delta to vote while Lamar Smith was shot in cold blood after encouraging his
African American peers to vote as well. Even though both of these cases could have been
solved most likely, the authorities failed to charge a single person in either murder. These
acts of violence and all of the others led up to the most important act of violence in regard
to the influence had on Carmichaels speech. This act of violence was the shooting of
James Meredith during his one-man March Against Fear. In response to this violent act
Carmichael and many of his peers vowed to complete the march in Merediths name

which led to their arrest in Greenwood, Mississippi. It was upon his release from jail that
Stokely Carmichael, a man who used to adhere strongly to the philosophy of nonviolent
resistance but had now lost almost all faith in the belief, delivered his Black Power
speech.
All of the violent acts against people who took part in nonviolent resistance that
took place over the years prior to Carmichaels speech led to his philosophy on how to
take on the American civil rights movement change from nonviolent resistance to self
defense and in result, shaped the text of Black Power. One way that the violent acts
against African American nonviolent resistance advocates influenced the way
Carmichaels speech was written was the use of snarky comments in the speech. When he
still believed in nonviolent resistance Carmichael never would have incorporated snarky
comments such as, Im going to run for President of the United States (Carmichael
248) but since he lost that belief due to being fed up with all of the violent acts taking
place he did incorporate comments like this one. The acts of violence also affected the
way the text was written because Carmichael writes the entire speech with the topic of
black power. Before all of the violent acts during the American civil rights movement
took place Carmichael would have never given a speech on black power or even have
addressed the topic but due to his new belief in self defense he wrote this entire speech on
the topic and quoted the saying, move over, or were going to move on over you
(Carmichael 260) in reference to the idea that if white people didnt overcome their
racism then African Americans would adhere to the ideas of black power. One last way
that the violent acts against African American nonviolent resistance advocates shaped the
text of Carmichaels speech was his clear rejection of the teachings and style of Martin

Luther King Jr. When Carmichael first joined the movement he was in full support of Dr.
Kings teachings and style but after being witness to so many violent acts he wrote in this
speech about things that Dr. King would not support his speech being about black power.
Black Power was shaped in a variety of ways as a result of violent acts against African
American advocates of nonviolent resistance.
The violent acts that took place during the American civil rights movement
against people of color who supported nonviolent resistance clearly shaped the text of
Stokely Carmichaels Black Power speech. This speech was one of the most powerful
speeches given during the movement as a result of Carmichaels change in philosophy
from nonviolent resistance to self defense and is truly representative of how much of an
affect context has on a speech. Black Power is just one of the many great speeches
given in history that have had their writing shaped by the historical and cultural context
in which they were written.

Works Cited Page

"Black Power" Speech (28 July 1966, by Stokely Carmichael). Dictionary of American
History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 3 Nov. 2015. http://encyclopedia.com

On Violence and Nonviolence: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. Mississippi

History Now. 2000. Mshistory.k12.ms.us. 3 Nov. 2015. http://mshistory.k12.ms.us

Stokely Carmichael. A&E Networks. 2015. History.com. 3 Nov. 2015.

http://history.com

USC Columbia Department of English. The Carolina Reader. Plymouth: Hayden-Mcneil

Publishing, 2015. Print.