Carmichael, Stokely (1941-1998), was a spokesperson for the doctrine of Black Power. This doctrine urged African Americans to gain political and economic control of their own communities. It also urged them to form their own standards and reject the values of white America. It rejected complete nonviolence and called for African Americans to meet violence with violence.
Carmichael was born on June 29, 1941, in Trinidad, in the West Indies. He grew up in New York City’s Harlem area and graduated from Howard University in 1964. While in college, he led protests and helped teach African Americans in the South how to register and vote. In 1966, he became chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a civil rights group he had helped form. Under his leadership, SNCC moved toward Black Power ideals. Carmichael left SNCC in 1968, and became prime minister of the Black Panther Party, a militant Black Power group. He resigned in 1969. He and Charles Hamilton wrote Black Power (1967). In 1969, Carmichael moved to the African nation of Guinea. In 1979, he changed his name to Kwame Ture. He died on Nov. 15, 1998.
