Also American

Curriculum unit

Malcolm X & the Black Power Movement

The other current of the freedom struggle — self-determination, self-defense, and Black pride — from Malcolm X to the Black Panther Party.

Unit objectives

Students contrast the philosophies of nonviolent integration and Black Power, and analyze the rise, programs, and suppression of the Black Power movement.

  1. Lesson 1 · 1 class period

    Two currents of the struggle

    Objectives

    Contrast nonviolent integration with the philosophy of self-determination and self-defense.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; "The Ballot or the Bullet"; Malcolm X biography.

    Compare the strategies of the early Civil Rights Movement with Malcolm X's call for Black pride, self-defense, and self-determination.

    Teach from these moments
    1. August 28, 1963
      The March on Washington

      250,000 gather as Dr. King delivers "I Have a Dream," pressing for jobs and freedom.

    2. February 21, 1965
      Malcolm X assassinated

      The revolutionary leader is killed in Harlem, having reshaped Black political consciousness.

    Discussion questions

    Where did King and Malcolm X agree and differ? Why did each approach appeal to different people?

  2. Lesson 2 · 1–2 class periods

    The rise of Black Power

    Objectives

    Explain how and why the movement turned toward Black Power after 1965.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; the Black Power theme; Crash Course #38–39.

    Trace the turn from SNCC to Stokely Carmichael's 1966 cry of "Black Power," and the founding of the Black Panther Party.

    Teach from these moments
    1. August 11, 1965
      The Watts uprising

      Six days of unrest in Los Angeles expose Northern racial inequality.

    2. June 16, 1966
      The call for "Black Power"

      Stokely Carmichael popularizes the slogan during the Meredith March.

    Discussion questions

    What made younger activists impatient with nonviolence? What did "Black Power" actually mean?

  3. Lesson 3 · 1 class period

    The Panthers and the backlash

    Objectives

    Analyze the Black Panther Party's programs and the state response to them.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; "All Power to the People"; the killing of Fred Hampton.

    Study the Panthers' survival programs and Ten-Point Program alongside COINTELPRO and the 1969 killing of Fred Hampton.

    Teach from these moments
    1. October 15, 1966
      The Black Panther Party is founded

      Huey Newton and Bobby Seale form the party for self-defense and community programs.

    2. December 4, 1969
      COINTELPRO and the killing of Fred Hampton

      Chicago police, acting on FBI COINTELPRO intelligence, kill the 21-year-old Black Panther leader in his bed.

    Discussion questions

    Were the Panthers a threat or a service organization — or both? How did the state respond, and why?