Black Nationalism: The Black Panther's Ten Point Movement

Register to read the introduction… Black Nationalism is a political and social movement that originated in the 1850's. Black Nationalism was made most popular by Marcus Garvey in the 1920's among African Americans in the United States. Black Nationalism is defined as, "The belief that black people share a common destiny, and have had a common experience: slavery, oppression, colonialism, and exploitation." Racial unity is the most basic form of Black Nationalism. It is simply a feeling that black people, because of their common descent, color, and condition should act in unison. Nationalists seek to control their own destiny, to resist the destructive constricting tentacles of Anglo American cultural hegemony. Nationalists have a clearly defined consciousness that blacks differ from all other Americans. Community mindedness, feelings of spiritual affinity, a sense of common destiny and responsibility, and a stress on brotherhood and spiritual devotion have generally marked Black Nationalists thought#. The Black Panthers spread the belief of Black Nationalism throughout African American communities. Unity began to become more predominant and together African Americans became a stronger force. The Black Panther's effectively created an era of Black Nationalism in the United States during the 1960's and 1970's. The Black Panther created a Ten-Point program that they addressed the government with. These points were problems that existed in the black community because of racial oppression. The Black Panthers issued the Ten-Point Program as a set of demands that they needed to see changed. The Ten-Point Program reads as …show more content…
The Black Panther Party was the first movement to apply force to the change in the condition of the black community. The Party fed off of previous Black Nationalist such as Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. The Panthers however, assembled as a militant group that eventually grew into 2,000 members# . The Black Panthers used force to project the power of the black community. Through this power the Panthers sought to bring about change in the problems that existed. The spread of the Black Nationalist belief unified African Americans across the nation to bring about change. The Ten-Point Program was a list of the platforms that the Panthers felt that they needed to change within the black community. The Black Panthers sought out to protect the community from police harassment and brutality and serve the communities that were poverty stricken and needed support. The Black Panther party was the biggest threat to the internal security of our nation. This showed the potential power African Americans could have in the United States if unified. Much of the unity and strength that African Americans have now was due to the Black Nationalist movement that the Black Panthers carried out. The Black Panthers have paved the way for many organizations that promote unity and strength among African Americans such as the NAACP. As a people African Americans although smaller, still have racial obstacles to get passed even in today's society. We must pay homage to the Black Panther Party for showing us how much power we could potentially have and how much change we could potentially make through unity in this day and