The Black Power Movement During The Mid-Twentieth Century

When people of today’s society looks back and recall the Civil Rights Movement of the Nineteenths and 1960s, they think of Martin Luther King’s nonviolent protest. Moreover, people see the laws, Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that Congress passed, during the Johnson Administration, passed due to MLK and his efforts. However, when modern society reflects back on The Black power movement, during the mid-twentieth century, individual tend to view it negatively. For instance, in the text “The Black Power Movement, Democracy, and America in the King Years,” Black Power is described as being remembered as the civil rights era’s ruthless twin, an evil doppelganger that provoked a white backlash, engaged in thoughtless acts of violence and rampaging sexism and misogyny, and was brought to an end by its own self destructive rage” (Joseph).
For example, "the movement clearly lionized black men as hyper-macho leaders, fighters, and defenders of black people. and the bravado, militant rhetoric, and general character of Black Power were decidedly male-oriented “(Ogbar). Moreover, the because of the actions and the expressed beliefs of various Black power groups, the Black Power Movement is seen as extremely violent, anti-white, anti-establishment, and anti-law enforcement (Odlum). Although this all may be true, the Black Power movement, like the Civil Rights Movement, helped to improve the conditions of African-Americans in the United States. All and all, “the Black Power Movement ultimately redefined black identity and American society”