The Black-Power Movement

The Black-Power Movement

The Black-Power Movement was basically social and also a political movement whose champions had strong beliefs in self-sufficiency, equality for all African Americans, and racial pride. The movement started with expressing ‘Black Power’ in 1966 with the leader of the SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee), Stokely, representing multiples of African American activists who were part of both the Black Power and the Civil-Rights movements (McGuire, 2010). The media had a huge role in African American movements during the era of racial discrimination in the US. The black media was actively involved in the protests against discrimination based on race and the transmission of information and statements for and regarding the African American community. The way the press portrayed the battle for African American freedom characterized its essence, accomplishments, and chronology in popular comprehension as well as memory. The media painted the Black-Power movement negatively leading to more protests to end racism.

The Black-Power movement is best explained by the use of the relative deprivation theory (Dion, 2014). The black people felt that they were deprived of their rights in the country. They felt entitled as citizens in the country. They felt that their white counterparts were given more privileges and positions of power. They believed that they deserved to enjoy equal rights and opportunities and hence this motivated the movement. The movement can be described as an NSM (new social movement) because it emerged during the mid-1960s and its goal was to stop racism by use of violent means. Most of the activists did not see non-violent movements as an appropriate way to fight racism. Desegregation was inadequate, and only by deconstructing white-power systems that space could be created for African American political voice to facilitate collective black power (McGuire, 2010).

Discussion Prompt 2

We are surrounded by all manners of technologies in our daily lives: personal tablets, phones, and laptops, and even behind-the-scenes technologies that further medicine, education, and science. With the rapid growth of technologies with the capability to beat the barriers of time as well as space (for instance aeroplanes, internet, and cars), many people perceive various tools as key to gaining knowledge about other cultures, maintaining and strengthening familial connections, communicating efficiently with other people, meeting people internationally, and assisting individuals to be more socially adapted. Nonetheless, various technological advancements, mostly social media, result in people getting overly distracted, highly distressed, and overly isolated. Most individuals are part of multiple relationships by the use of technology; however, the number of such connections leave individuals experiencing qualitative emptiness (Lovink, 2011). Evidently, technology has resulted in an extensive influence on what social relationships entail.

The utilization of social media platforms causes both positive as well as negative consequences. It is great for people to locate long-lost friends through social media, allowing them to re-connect. In today’s society, where individuals are now highly mobile and families, as well as friends, are mostly geographically apart, social media provides the convenience for them to stay in touch with one another. I have interacted with various people and gauging their use of technology in the day to day lives; I can say that some who resist embracing various technologies. Some of the older generations do not lie using social media because they believe it is meant for the younger generation. Other people believe that social media creates an infatuation, and it is better to connect with people close to them than those who are a world apart.

References

Dion, K. L. (2014). Responses to perceived discrimination and relative deprivation. In Relative deprivation and social comparison (pp. 171-192). Psychology Press.

Lovink, G. (2011). Networks without a cause: A critique of social media (p. 24). Cambridge: Polity.

McGuire, D. L. (2010). At the dark end of the street: black women, rape, and resistance–A new history of the civil rights movement from Rosa Parks to the rise of black power. Vintage.