) | the political and economic power of black Americans as a group, esp. such power used for achieving racial equality. |
| Black Power n. A movement among Black Americans emphasizing racial pride and social equality through the creation of Black political and cultural institutions: "Black Power . . . calls for black people to consolidate behind their own, so that they can bargain from a position of strength" (Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton). |
A movement that grew out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Black Power calls for independent development of political and social institutions for black people and emphasizes pride in black culture. In varying degrees, Black Power advocates called for the exclusion of whites from black civil rights organizations. Stokely Carmichael, one of the leaders of the movement and the head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), stated: “I am not going to beg the white man for anything I deserve. I'm going to take it.”
