On Black Power Politics and Political Change

Authored by civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (known today as Kwame Ture) and political scientist Charles V. Hamilton, the 1967 book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America was a seminal work in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It addressed systemic impediments to greater involvement by black communities in the American political process and discussed efforts to reform existing power structures.

“Black Power at 50,” a scholarly conference to celebrate the book’s 50th anniversary, sought to address directly the resurfacing of institutional racism in American society and politics today. Among other things, participating scholars discussed the dual agenda of civil rights movements— to advocate for inclusion in society while seeking proactive steps to address the separate and specific problems faced by the black community.

The conference honored both Hamilton, who is the W. S. Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government and Political Science at Columbia University, and his wife, the late Dona Cooper Hamilton. Hamilton said his wife’s care, love, and criticism always informed and shaped his work, he said, and continues to do so today.

In his October 20 keynote address, entitled “Taking Democracy Seriously: Black Power Politics Coping with Political Change,” Hamilton noted the impact of the openness of the Black Power movement when it began.

“I came to understand that [the term] Black Power was not ours to keep, or to define,” he said. “It was a slogan, a rallying cry.”

The open form which the movement took was key to its effect, Hamilton said. He cited a quote by fellow political scientist Samuel Huntington suggesting that to campaign for black power was a dead-end street, but to work towards equal rights was to open doors.

Hamilton discussed efforts in the 1950s to expand the reach of the Social Security Act to include more African Americans. He said blacks who had been excluded because of their employment as agricultural laborers or domestic workers just wanted access to the same system as other Americans.

He concluded by calling for more effective coalition alliances between blacks and whites to create de-racialized solutions on issues that cross socioeconomic boundaries.

Hamilton’s address was accompanied by commentary from scholars Michael Dawson of the University of Chicago, Dianne Pinderhughes of the University of Notre Dame, and Nikhil Pal Singh of New York University.

Dawson commented on the relevance of Black Power today, asserting that while the theory is useful for looking at today’s issues, activists also need to create their own paths forward. He emphasized the need to study the connection between race dynamics and changes in capitalism, and called for activists and academics to work for the liberation of not only blacks, but all those dominated by systems of aggression.

Pinderhughes spoke to the influence of Donald Trump’s platform and viewpoints on minority groups in the United States, asking the audience to consider what will happen once the election is over.

Singh discussed the complexity of racial inequality, touching on its historical, systemic, and lived components, and asked the audience to think beyond a binary view, recognizing that racial politics are present throughout our social and economic lives.

Hamilton and the three panelists raised important questions regarding how Black Power relates to the multiple and complicated issues regarding race relations in the United States today, setting the stage for rich discussion in the conference sessions that followed the next day.

— Kasumi Takahashi MPA ’17