Black Power

Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies.^[1] It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States.^[2] Most prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the movement emphasized racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests,^[3] advance black values,^[4].

"Black Power" expresses a range of political goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the establishment of separate social institutions and a self-sufficient economy (separatism). Not only did this "Black Power" movement encourage separatism, but it helped usher in black radical thought, and action against what was considered to be an elusive, yet visible higher power. The earliest known usage of the term is found in a 1954 book by Richard Wright titled Black Power.^[5] New York politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. used the term on May 29, 1966 during a baccalaureate address at Howard University: "To demand these God-given rights is to seek black power."^[6]