Product Description

In the 1960s, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party gave voice to many economically disadvantaged and politically isolated African Americans, especially outside the South. Though vilified as extremist and marginal, they were formidable agents of influence and change during the civil rights era and ultimately shaped the Black Power movement. In this fresh study, drawing on deep archival research and interviews with key participants, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar reconsiders the commingled stories of -- and popular reactions to -- the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, and mainstream civil rights leaders. Ogbar finds that many African Americans embraced the seemingly contradictory political agenda of desegregation and nationalism. Indeed, black nationalism was far more favorably received among African Americans than historians have previously acknowledged. Black Power reveals a civil rights movement in which the ideals of desegregation through nonviolence and black nationalism marched side by side.

Ogbar concludes that Black Power had more lasting cultural consequences among African Americans and others than did the civil rights movement, engendering minority pride and influencing the political, cultural, and religious spheres of mainstream African American life for the next three decades.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #546163 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Review

"The best account of the Black Panther Party in print... this is an outstanding work." -- Choice

"Jeffrey Ogbar's wonderfully evocative study greatly enhances our understanding of the Nation of Islam, the Black Panther Party, and the impact these groups had on Black Power era notions of self-love and collective identity. It is a welcome addition to the still-small body of scholarship which seeks to document the influence of African-American nationalist beliefs on contemporary culture and politics." -- William L. Van Deburg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of New Day in Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975

"Black Power is a distinct contribution to the new scholarship on the Black freedom movement. Ogbar is among the best of a new generation of imaginative and critical scholars, probing past assumptions and challenging old understandings of such groups as the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam. While Ogbar's analysis is bound to become the center of lively debates, his singular interpretation rests on sound research, including an impressive array of movement interviews." -- Komozi Woodard, Sarah Lawrence College, author of A Nation within a Nation: Amiri Baraka and Black Power Politics

"Will be a lasting contribution to the scholarship on the African American freedom struggle, on the ways in which gender and class are implicated in the construction of racial and ethnic identities, and on American race relations more generally." -- Brian Ward, University of Florida

"This book will be the standard-bearer on the subject for years to come." -- Judson L. Jeffries, Journal of American History

"An intriguing foray into a time and place in American history that has been visited far too infrequently by historians and others." -- Claude A. Clegg III, Journal of Southern History

"Black Power is an intellectual triumph... well organized." -- Rhetoric and Public Affairs

"An important contribution to the growing field of Black Power Studies." -- Journal of African American History

"Ambitious, challenging, and, ultimately, rewarding book." -- Patrick D. Jones, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"As an introduction to the history of black power and black nationalism in the mid-to-late twentieth century America, this book provides a valuable overview of the sources, central issues, and influences of those movements." -- Richard H. King, American Historical Review

Review

"Jeffrey Ogbar's wonderfully evocative study greatly enhances our understanding of the Nation of Islam, the Black Panther Party, and the impact these groups had on Black Power era notions of self-love and collective identity. It is a welcome addition to the still-small body of scholarship which seeks to document the influence of African-American nationalist beliefs on contemporary culture and politics." -- William L. Van Deburg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of New Day in Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975

About the Author

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is an associate professor of history at the University of Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Very insightful, however a little bit too glossy regarding the nature of radical black politics
I read this book because I was writing a paper in my Sociology class addressing the progression of the Civil Rights movement from one that supported equality within segregation (NAACP), to supporting integration (SCLC under MLK Jr) and eventually towards increased nationalism and pessimism about the reality of integration (the radicalization of MLK Jr, the popularity of the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party).

Growing up in a predominantly black neighborhood, I sensed an undercurrent of Black Nationalism. It definitely was not as it was during the 60's and 70's but it was still there. I especially saw the hip-hop movement as a sense of instilling pride in some blacks.

I searched and searched online for scholarly works that would tell me more about the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam. However, I came to realize that very little was written about it. Not many academics wrote those two organizations and when I did find something about them, their analysis was very simplistic, never telling me how these radical organizations emerged and what their appeal was. In addition, they never connected the long last consequences of radicalism on the Civil Rights Movements -- rather they dismiss these organizations as being the source of decline for the movement.

I initially previewed this book through Google Books and I found the author's analysis to be quite insightful. I especially enjoyed his analysis of how radical organizations interacted and affected more "legitimate" Civil Rights organizations such as the SCLC. He traces exactly how MLK Jr became more radical due the Black Panther's constant pessimism about the true of nature of integration (was it really plausible with instances of "white flight" and police brutality).

What would have made this book richer would be an explicit discussion on why the integrationist model was ultimately more successful for the movement rather than nationalist perspective. Ultimately, how did framing the movement differently affect movement success? Ogbar skirts around the issue but never truly addresses it head on.

I also think the book could have been improved if he emphasized a little more about some of the detrimental things the Black Panthers did for Black Americans. He mentions that the Black Panthers had a high recidivism rate -- but does not go into detail as to why except to say that they essentially glorified criminal behavior. I think that in addition to focusing on what they stood for (their politics on nationalism, Marxist beliefs, pessimism about the true nature of integration); more adequate discussion could be made of how the organization self-destructed due to this glorification of criminal behavior. Perhaps, he could pay more attention to how this was detrimental to black Americans, not just within the scope of the Civil Rights Movement.

Overall, I highly recommend this book if you want to understand the emergence and growth of the Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam. It is also insightful if you want to see how these radical organizations served a corrective to what the integrationist model truly accomplished.