Black Power
Chapters that reference this topic include:
Chapter 8: "Intermediate School 201: Race, Space, and Modern Architecture in Harlem" by Marta Gutman
Chapter 9: "Black Power as Educational Renaissance: The Harlem Landscape" by Russell Rickford
“Black Power!: The Movement, The Legacy” Exhibit and Resource Guide
This exhibit from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center provides an introduction to the Black Power movement, including its organizations, leaders, and activities. This accompanying resource guide suggests books, videos, recordings, and other electronic resources to explore for more information.
“The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change”
The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s post provides an introduction to the Black Panther Party. It includes videos and primary sources from the Black Panther Party’s history, and discusses its range of commitments including militant protest, radical social change, and social reforms to address hunger and improve education and housing.
“Unite for a School Boycott!” (1966)
This 1966 flyer from the New York Black Panther Party called for a school boycott in Harlem, with demands for Black principals in all Central Harlem schools, the teaching of African and African American history, and other improvements for quality education in Harlem. This was one of many ways that the Black Panther Party engaged in education and social reform, also including leading educational activities, providing free breakfasts for school children, and supporting other school protests. For more on the New York branch of the Black Panther Party, see this Amsterdam News article from the 50th anniversary of the founding of the party’s second iteration.
“Mae Mallory: Forgotten Black Power Intellectual” (2016)
Ashley Farmer’s article in Black Perspectives tells the story of Mae Mallory, one of the “Harlem Nine,” a group of mothers who brought a lawsuit against the Board of Education for zoning policies that enforced segregated, inferior schools for Black children. They also held a 162-day boycott of three junior high schools. Farmer includes this event alongside Mallory’s long history of militant, radical activism.
Audley “Queen Mother” Moore Oral History and Black Perspectives Blog Series (2019)
Audley “Queen Mother” Moore was a Black Nationalist leader, with a history of activism for tenants rights, socialist, and reparations movements. In the 1960s, Moore worked to establish an independent school on her estate “Mount Addis Ababa” in upstate New York. She envisioned an education “totally embracing the cultural, educational and industrial needs” of its Black students. The school never opened, but schoolchildren did visit for special activities.
“On Black Aesthetics: The Black Arts Movement” (2016)
The Black Arts Theater/School was founded by LeRoi Jones, later named Amiri Baraka, in 1965. The organization sponsored plays and exhibits for the Black community of Harlem and offered classes with leading Black artists. It contributed to the formation of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s, which grew alongside the Black Power Movement. This post from the New York Public Library introduces the Black Arts Movement, and links at the bottom to a digital exhibit called “Ready for the Revolution: Education, Arts, and Aesthetics of the Black Power Movement.”
Photograph of Malcolm X (1952-1959)
Malcolm X was a Black Nationalist leader in Harlem who led the Nation of Islam and founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity in the 1960s. During his life, and particularly after his assassination in 1965, Malcolm X influenced the grassroots educational spaces in Harlem that chapter 9 author Russell Rickford calls “a tremendous wellspring of militant energy.” This portrait is part of the digital collection of the New York Public Library.
Organization of Afro-American Unity Inc. Aims and Objectives (1964)
Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) in 1964, after he split from the Nation of Islam. Rooted in principles of Pan-Africanism and human rights, the OAAU started a weekly Liberation School at the Hotel Theresa on 125th Street in Harlem, which held free classes for children and adults. The organization’s objectives are detailed in this pamphlet from 1964.
“Barbara Wilson-Brooks’ Harlem Community”
Select “Barbara Wilson-Brooks’ Harlem Community” from the Harlem Education History Project exhibit page. In this exhibit, Nina Wasserman shares the account of an IS 201 student, Barbara Wilson-Brooks, who describes her experience at the school and of her life in Harlem. She talks about the lessons about Black Power and Black history she received at IS 201 in the 1970s. The exhibit includes oral history clips and a link to Wilson-Brooks’ complete oral history interview.