“The Black Power Movement was very broad, (and should perhaps be more accurately described as the Black Power Movements) and aimed to express a new racial consciousness among black people in the United States. The Movement had various meanings and interpretations. Significant aspects included the following:
- Racial dignity and self-reliance. This meant freedom from white authority in both economics and politics.
- An emphasis on cultural heritage, history and black identity. This was referred to as Black Consciousness. Musicians sang phrases like James Brown’s “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud”.
- The recognition that standards of beauty and self-esteem were part of power relations.
- The necessity for black people to define the world in their own terms. At times this included a call for a revolutionary political struggle to reject racism and imperialism in the United States”
(See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/forms-civil-society-protest-1960s-and-1970s-grade-12#sthash.wLgF6nII.dpuf)
My School History 