This is a study of the manifestations and permutations of the Black Power era principles and ideologies in New Orleans from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. By highlighting little-known and often neglected groups along with popular organizations, this work illuminates how these groups shaped and rethought the their objectives and tactics in the contested terrain of post-Civil Rights New Orleans. Making extensive use of archival resources, newspaper articles, memoirs, interviews, and secondary literature, “There are Some Bad Brothers and Sisters in New Orleans” focuses on the ways in which disparate organizations, groups, and individuals, wrestling with the highly fluid idea of Black Power, attempted to refashion the political and cultural landscape of the Crescent City. This dissertation contributes a more nuanced analysis of this famous city and continues the recent surge in Black Power Studies that emphasizes local examples of Black Power. This work tells the story of New Orleans; of shootouts and showdowns; liberation theater and war helicopters; schools and southern political rules. The central objective of this study is to provide a more complete and in-depth look at the major themes (Cultural Nationalism, Revolutionary Nationalism, Black Arts, student movements, political power, and independent education) of the Black Power era by calling attention to its distinctive but informative examples nurtured in the incomparable city of New Orleans. This dissertation argues that the roots of Black Power in New Orleans were shattered, disparate, and ad-hoc in nature. As such, its thrust failed to bear the social, cultural, economic, and political fruit hoped for by its advocates. / text

Abstract The ultimate goal in the South was to end segregation, but nationwide equal-rights were the common goal of all African-Americans. Nonviolent protests and over aggressive police departments became the norm within the African-American community. Understated in the history of the Civil Rights Era is the role of armed resistance and Black Nationalism. Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P. Newton, and Malcolm X were Black Nationalists that led the charge of Black Nationalism worldwide. The Deacons of Defense, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense transformed the social makeup of the country and became major causes of the militarization of police departments across the United States. Many police departments across America began to create SWAT teams and use military-style weaponry following an outbreak of riots and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In New Orleans, Louisiana, stand-offs and shoot-outs with Black Panther members warranted a call for military backup, but it was the acts of Mark James Robert Essex that totally militarized the New Orleans Police Department.