Stokely Carmichael: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:57, 18 May 2006

Revision as of 03:03, 23 May 2006

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[[Image:Stokely Carmichael 1967.jpg|frame|Carmichael amidst a demonstration near the [[United States Capitol]] protesting the [[House of Representatives]]' action denying Rep. [[Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.]], his seat, 1967.]]

'''Stokely Carmichael''' ([[June 29]], [[1941]] – [[November 15]], [[1998]]), also known as '''Kwame Ture''', was a [[Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidadian]]-[[United States|American]] black activist and leader of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]](SNCC) and the [[Black Panther Party]]. He later became a black [[separatist]] and a [[Pan-African]]ist.

Born in [[Port of Spain]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], Carmichael moved with his family to [[New York]] when he was eleven. He went to [[Howard University]] and joined the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC). In his first year at the university he participated in the [[Freedom Rides]] of the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE) and was arrested, spending time in jail. He would go on to be arrested many times, losing count at 32.

HeAfter having helped organize voting rights drives in [[Mississippi]] in [[1964]], in [[Selma]] in [[1965]], and in [[Lowndes County, Alabama]] in [[1966]], he became chair of SNCC in 1966, taking over from [[John Lewis (politician)|John Lewis]]. A few weeks after Carmichael took over SNCC, [[James Meredith]] was shot by a sniper during his solitary "[[March Against Fear]]". Carmichael joined [[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.]], [[Floyd McKissick]], and others to continue Meredith's march. He was arrested during the march; on his release he gave his "[[Black Power]]" speech, using that phrase to urge [[black pride]] and independence:

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In 1967, Carmichael stepped down from leadership of SNCC. He and [[Charles V. Hamilton]] wrote the book, ''Black Power'' (1967). He joined the Black Panther Party and became a strong critic of the [[Vietnam War]]. He traveled to [[North Vietnam]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], and [[Cuba]]. Carmichael was made an honorary prime minister of the Black Panthers in 1968.

In 1969, Carmichael and his then -wife, the [[South Africa|South African]] singer, [[Miriam Makeba]], moved to [[Guinea]], in [[West Africa]], and he became an aide to Guinean [[Prime Minister|prime minister]], [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]]. There, in 1971, he wrote the book, ''Stokely Speaks: Black Power Back to Pan-Africanism''. This book expounds an explicitly [[socialism|socialist]], [[Pan-Africanism|Pan-African]] vision, which he retained for the rest of his life. In 1978, he changed his name to Kwame Ture to honor African leaders [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]].

He died of [[prostate cancer]] at the age of 57 in [[Conakry]], [[Guinea]].