A Comparative Analysis of Black Power and #BlackLivesMatter

This essay delves into a comparative analysis of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and the modern #BlackLivesMatter movement. It examines the similarities and differences in the issues faced by proponents of both movements, such as racial inequality, police brutality, and the fight for civil rights. The essay explores the tactics employed, including political activism, community organizing, and the use of social media. It also investigates the public responses to each movement during their respective eras, shedding light on the progress made in racial equality in America. The analysis includes a discussion of key figures, historical context, and the impact of these movements on American society, drawing from sources such as academic journals, books, and documentaries. The essay concludes with a reflection on the legacy of these movements and their ongoing relevance in the fight for racial justice.

Running head: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
African American History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The racial abuse has always been one of the greatest curses on the American soil. This
paper will look to identify the various differences and similarities between the two important
movements that occurred in America to save the lives of black people residing in the country.
The most important movements are Black Power movement and #BlackLivesMatter. The
similarities and differences between two movements and its contribution in racial progress will
be discussed in this paper.
In the words of the critics, the Black Power movement was one such that gave the energy
to all the black people living in America so they could progress and grab their position in the
American culture (Bell, 2014). This great movement had begun in the country in the 1960s and
1970s. The derivation of the name of this movement has different opinions. Some people believe
that this name had been derived from the non-fictional work of Richard Wright named Black
Power. This book had been published in the year 1954. Some important changes had been
initiated during this movement. Some important issues had been included in this context like
securing diversity and inclusion in the country, providing the opportunities of health and
education to all the black people, allowing them to participate in the election process and many
others (Ogbar, 2019).
The participation of the minority sections of the country had also been permitted in the
United States as well. The streams of social thinking had completely been changed during these
years (Bell, 2014). The black people in the society got their recognition that they deserved. Some
critics have commented on the nature of the Black Power movement as a completely narcissistic
movement. The people that went on with this revolution were very proud of being black. This
movement was a slap in the face of the people that thought white color represented good and
black signified the evil. The main purpose of the proponents of this revolution was to spread the

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message that both white and black people could live harmoniously in the society (Andrews,
2014). Mainly the proponents of these movements had focused themselves in getting the
powerful political posts like mayors or government posts like police chiefs. Thus they wanted to
create their influence on the rest of their community through implementing the voting rights.
On the other hand, the very recent movement that triggered the rights for black people in
the society is #BlackLivesMatter. It must be said in this context that this movement was not all
properly organized. The policies for this #BlackLivesMatter movement were very loose and
people were unable to implement their actions (Taylor, 2016). This movement had been more
efficient in terms of attracting the attentions of common people. These issues had been raised by
Michael Alexander. The police of different states of the country had killed several unarmed
black people without any reason or due to some minor suspects. Moreover, most of these
incidents had been done without any prior notifications or evidence. This protest movement was
initiated in the past decade and the protestors took the advantage of the social media. The
network had begun to expand after the killing of black skinned unarmed teenager named Michael
Brown (Rickford, 2016). He was killed by a white skinned policeman at Ferguson in Missouri.
This slogan of Black Lives Matter had been the main influence over these people. All
communities belonging to the black lives had been influenced through this approach or protest
movement.
Both these movements had been very inspirational and influential in their respective eras
within the country. The #BlackLivesMatter movement took the help of the social media because
social media has become the main medium of communication between different regions of the
country. This movement has been able to raise the psychology of protesting and revolting against
the unjustified things in the society (Yang, 2016). The Black Power movement also gave way to

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the fact that people of the 1960s and 1970s had been greatly influenced by this protest movement
and almost all of them came to voice their opinions in support of equal rights both the white and
black skinned people of the society (Taylor, 2016).
In the concluding section, it can be said that the Black Power movement and
#BlackLivesMatter movement had been the most influential protest movements that had argued
for the similar rights in the society. The people also gave positive response because they wanted
to be a part of the American society and enjoy all the rights and facilities that white people
enjoyed.

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References List
Taylor, K. Y. (2016). From# BlackLivesMatter to black liberation. Haymarket Books.
Yang, G. (2016). Narrative agency in hashtag activism: The case of# BlackLivesMatter. Media
and Communication, 4(4), 13.
Bell, J. M. (2014). The Black power movement and American social work. Columbia University
Press.
Andrews, K. (2014). From the ‘Bad Nigger’to the ‘Good Nigga’: an unintended legacy of the
Black Power movement. Race & Class, 55(3), 22-37.
Ogbar, J. O. (2019). Black power: Radical politics and African American identity. Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Rickford, R. (2016, January). Black lives matter: Toward a modern practice of mass struggle.
In New Labor Forum (Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 34-42). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE
Publications.