Kwanzaa ni sikukuu ya utamaduni pendwa inayosherehekewa na amarekani-Waafrika na watu wengine wa diaspora sehemu mbalimbali duniani. Kwanzaa husherehekewa kwa siku saba toka Desemba tarehe 26 hadi Januari 1. Sherehe hiyo iliyotokana na vuguvugu la Wamarekani weusi kuenzi historia na utamaduni wao toka Afrika. Ilianzishwa mwaka 1966. Katika makala haya, tutaonyesha kwamba Kiswahili katika sherehe hiyo hakitumiki kama lugha ya mawasiliano, kinatumika kama lugha ya kuungana Wamarekani weusi na kuwakumbusha asili zao za kiafrika. Tutaangalia pia maoni mbali mbali ya Waafrika wanaojua Kiswahili na wanaoishi barani Afrika kuhusu sherehe hiyo. Tumeyachukua na tumeyachanganua maoni ya Waghana kwa sababu Ghana ilichaguliwa na watu wa diaspora na hasa na Warasta kama “nchi au ardhi ya rejeo”, kwa hivyo Waghana wanahusika sana na msukumo huu wa Wamarekani weusi.

Kwanzaa ni sikukuu ya utamaduni pendwa inayosherehekewa na amarekani-Waafrika na watu wengine wa diaspora sehemu mbalimbali duniani. Kwanzaa husherehekewa kwa siku saba toka Desemba tarehe 26 hadi Januari 1. Sherehe hiyo iliyotokana na vuguvugu la Wamarekani weusi kuenzi historia na utamaduni wao toka Afrika. Ilianzishwa mwaka 1966. Katika makala haya, tutaonyesha kwamba Kiswahili katika sherehe hiyo hakitumiki kama lugha ya mawasiliano, kinatumika kama lugha ya kuungana Wamarekani weusi na kuwakumbusha asili zao za kiafrika. Tutaangalia pia maoni mbali mbali ya Waafrika wanaojua Kiswahili na wanaoishi barani Afrika kuhusu sherehe hiyo. Tumeyachukua na tumeyachanganua maoni ya Waghana kwa sababu Ghana ilichaguliwa na watu wa diaspora na hasa na Warasta kama “nchi au ardhi ya rejeo”, kwa hivyo Waghana wanahusika sana na msukumo huu wa Wamarekani weusi.

The purpose of this thesis is to discover and assess the rhetorical methods employed by LeRoi Jones in the evolution of cultural black nationalism. First, the thesis concentrates on his ethos and philosophy. Second, it analyzes the cultural black nationalism organization in Newark, New Jersey. Third, it discusses the impact of LeRoi Jones on the black cultural nationalism movement. The conclusions drawn from this study reveal that LeRoi Jones was able to attract, maintain, and mold his followers, to build a sizable power base, and to adapt to several audiences simultaneously. Implications of the study are that because of his rigid requirements and a gradual change in ideology, LeRoi Jones is now losing ground as a leader.

Este trabalho analisa o pensamento e os projetos políticos de Stokely Carmichael, ativista e intelectual negro de origem caribenha engajado nos movimentos pelos Direitos Civis, Black Power e pan-africanista nos Estados Unidos e internacionalmente, entre os anos de 1966 e 1971. O objetivo é realizar uma leitura crítica das duas principais obras do ativista: o livro Black Power: The Politics of Liberation e a coletânea de discursos e artigos intitulada Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan-Africanism publicadas, respectivamente, em 1967 e 1971. No decorrer dos anos, a trajetória transnacional do ativista indica mudanças importantes no que diz respeito à sua ação e às suas crenças. Portanto, acompanhamos através dos seus escritos não apenas suas proposições o seu projeto político como os fundamentos para essas transformações pessoais que informaram seu ativismo político. Nesse sentido, trata-se de analisar as distintas maneiras pelas quais as identidades nacional e negra foram expressas pelo militante. / This work analyzes Stokely Carmichael\'s thought and political projects between 1966 and 1971. Carmichael was an activist and black intellectual engaged in the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Pan-African movements in the United States and abroad. The goal is to engage in a critical reading of the two main works published by Carmichael: Black Power: The Politics of Liberation and a collection of his speeches and articles entitled Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan- Africanism published, respectively, in 1967 and 1971. In the course of the years, the activist\'s trajectory reveals important changes regarding his actions and his beliefs. Therefore, we followed in his writings not only his propositions - i.e., his political project - but also the reasons behind these personal transformations which impacted his political activism. In this sense, this work also discussed the various ways through which national and black identities were expressed by the militant.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die vermeintliche Krise staatlicher Ordnung Ende der 1960er Jahre in den USA und die Reaktionen der staatlichen Institutionen auf den Angriff durch politische Gewalt anhand einer performanz- und erzähltheoretischen Analyse von zwei Gerichtsprozessen. Beide Verfahren gegen Ikonen der Black Power-Bewegung, People vs. Huey Newton ab 1968, People vs. Angela Davis ab 1970 wurden zu einem Brennpunkt der gesamtgesellschaftlichen Debatte um Gerechtigkeit und demokratische Grundrechte. Durch eine Analyse der Interaktion aller beteiligten Akteure vor Gericht, der vorgebrachten Narrative sowohl im Gerichtsssaal als auch in der Presse, durch die Solidaritätskomittees der Angeklagten weitergetragen, ist eine performative Rekonstruktion des amerikanischen Rechtsstaates und der amerikanischen Demokratie auszumachen. Diese wurde unter Begriffen wie dem „fair trial“ und der Beziehung zwischen afroamerikanischen Bürgern und der Polizei und der Fähigkeit des Strafjustizsystems, Gerechtigkeit für alle seine Bürger zu garantieren, verhandelt. In den Prozessen wurde der inhärente Rassismus in der amerikanischen Gesellschaft als größte Hürde zwischen der bisherigen Rechtspraxis und einem solchen neu verhandelten Verständnis von Gerechtigkeit identifiziert, die als solche angenommene weiße Normalität des Justizapparats wurde sichtbar gemacht und dekonstruiert. In der performativen Neukonstruktion und -deutung der Akteure vor Gericht verschob sich dieses bisherige Machtgefälle vor allem innerhalb des Gerichtssaals, indem die Kategorien Race, Class und Gender neu zueinander in Bezug gesetzt wurden und die Angeklagten eine Selbstbehauptung als gleichwertige Rechtssubjekte im spezifischen Raum des Gerichts erlangen konnten. Zudem etablierte sich ein Juryauswahlverfahren, welches Bias explizit anerkannte. Durch diese Entwicklung wurde das narrative wie performative ‚Bedrohungsszenario‛, was zuvor von staatlichen Akteuren öffentlich konstruiert worden war, ausgehebelt; ein von staatlicher Seite angestoßener Sicherheitsdiskurs konnte sich nicht gesamtgesellschaftlich durchsetzten. / By analyzing two court cases, this dissertation examines the perceived crisis of Democracy in the late 1960s in the United States and the reactions of state institutions to the attack by political violence. Both trials against icons of the Black Power movement, People v. Huey Newton in 1968, People v. Angela Davis beginning in 1970, became a focal point of the overall social debate on justice and basic democratic rights. An analysis of the interaction of all of the protagonists involved in court, the narratives that were brought forward in the courtroom and in the press, and the defendants' solidarity committees reveal a performative reconstruction of the American rule of law and American democracy. This was negotiated under concepts such as the "fair trial" and the relationship between African-American citizens and the police and the ability of the criminal justice system to guarantee justice for all its citizens. In the trials, the inherent racism in American society was identified as the greatest obstacle between previous legal practice and such a renegotiated understanding of justice, making visible and deconstructing the white normality of the judicial system assumed as such. In the performative re-construction and reinterpretation of the actors in court, categories such race, class, and gender shifted, allowing the Defendants to achieve self-assertion as equal legal subjects. In addition, a jury selection procedure was established that explicitly recognized bias. This development undermined the narrative and performative "threat" which had previously been publicly constructed by politicians, and a security discourse initiated by the state was not able to assert itself throughout society.

This study offers a rhetorical analysis of George Jackson’s Soledad Brother, informed by class critical and critical race theory. Recent rhetorical studies scholarship has taken up the problem of prisons, mass incarceration, and resultant issues of race, yet without paying attention to the nexus of black radicalism and criticisms of capital. This study views George Lester Jackson as a rhetorician in his own right and argues that his combination of critical race and class critical perspectives is an important move forward in the analysis of mass incarceration. Jackson is able to combine these ideas in a plain-writing style where he employs intimacy, distance, and the strategy of telling it like it is. He does this in epistolary form, calling forth a long tradition of persuasive public letter writing. At this study’s end, ideas of circulation re engaged to show the lines of influence Jackson has and may continue to have. Through rhetorical analysis of Soledad Brother, this study demonstrates the utility of uniting class critical criticism and critical race theory for rhetorical studies, and suggests further avenues of research consistent with this approach.

This dissertation explores the memories and motivations of women who helped mold Pan-African cultural nationalism through challenging, refining, and reshaping organizations influenced by Kawaida, the black liberation philosophy that gave rise to Kwanzaa. This study focuses on female advocates in the Us Organization, Committee for a Unified Newark and the Congress of African People, the East, and Ahidiana. Emphasizing the years 1965 through the mid-to-late 1980s, the work delves into the women’s developing sense of racial and gender consciousness against the backdrop of the Black Power Movement. The study contextualizes recollections of women within the groups’ growth and development, ultimately tracing the organizations’ weakening, demise, and influence on subsequent generations. It examines female advocates within the larger milieu of the Civil Rights Movement’s retrenchment and the rise of Black Power. The dissertation also considers the impact of resurgent African-American nationalism, global independence movements, concomitant Black Campus, Black Arts, and Black Studies Movements, and the groups’ struggles amidst state repression and rising conservatism. Employing oral history, womanist approaches, and primary documents, this work seeks to increase what is known about female Pan-African cultural nationalists. Scholarly literature and archival sources reflect a dearth of cultural-nationalist women’s voices in the historical record. Several organizational histories have included the women’s contributions, but do not substantially engage their backgrounds, motives, and reasoning. Although women were initially restricted to “complementary” roles as helpmates, they were important in shaping and sustaining Pan-African cultural-nationalist organizations by serving as key actors in food cooperatives, educational programs, mass communications pursuits, community enterprises, and political organizing. As female advocates grappled with sexism in Kawaida-influenced groups, they also developed literature, programs, and organizations that broadened the cultural-nationalist vision for ending oppression. Women particularly helped reformulate and modernize Pan-African cultural nationalism over time and space by resisting and redefining restrictive gender roles. As such, they left a legacy of “kazi leadership” focused on collectivity, a commitment to performing the sustained work of bringing about black freedom, and centering African and African-descended people’s ideas and experiences.

The dissertation examines the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), a Black Power attempt to build a black boycott of the 1968 US Olympic team that ultimately culminated in the infamous Black Power fists protest at the 1968 Olympics. The work challenges the historiography, which concludes that the OPHR was a failure because most black Olympic-caliber athletes participated in the 1968 games, by demonstrating that the foremost purpose of the OPHR was to raise public awareness of “institutionalized racism,” the accumulation of poverty and structural and cultural racism that continued to denigrate black life following landmark 1960s civil rights legislation. Additionally, the dissertation demonstrates that activist black athletes of the era were also protesting the lack of agency and discrimination traditionally forced upon blacks in integrated, yet white-controlled sports institutions. The dissertation argues that such movements for “dignity and humanity,” as progressive black activists of the 1960s termed it, were a significant component of the Black Power movement. The dissertation also examines the proliferation of the social belief that the accomplishments of blacks in white-controlled sports fostered black advancement and argues that the belief has origins in post-Reconstruction traditional black uplift ideology, which suggested that blacks who demonstrated “character” and “manliness” improved whites’ images of blacks, thus advancing the race. OPHR activists argued that the belief, axiomatic by 1968, was the foremost obstacle to attracting support for a black Olympic boycott. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of the competing meaning and representations of Smith and Carlos’s protest at the Olympics.

In response to stalled struggles for equal and integrated education by African American students, parents, teachers, and activists, Harlem in the late 1960s saw a number of independent schools emerge that drew inspiration and rhetoric from Black Power ideas. This dissertation investigated the reasons for these schools’ emergence in Harlem; what goals these institutions pursued; how they translated their goals, purposes, and ideas into pedagogical practices and curricula; and how these were adapted to the specific challenges faced by the schools by closely examining three such initiatives: West Harlem Liberation School; the storefront academies run by the New York Urban League; and West Side Street Academy, later renamed Academy for Black and Latin Education (ABLE). All of these schools incorporated values and ideas that were central to the philosophy of Black Power, such as an emphasis on self-determination, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, Black history, and cultural pride. However, the ways in which these core ideas of Black Power were interpreted and put into practice varied significantly between different initiatives, especially as they had to navigate daily necessities such as applying for funding or making compromises with corporate donors, foundations, or the New York City Board of Education. Thus, while some of these educational institutions explicitly pursued activist agendas—by positioning themselves as a means to pressure the public school system into fundamental change or by conceptualizing education explicitly as a tool for collectively dismantling systems of oppression—others came to favor approaches designed to uplift individual students rather than pursue more radical social change. While scholars have extensively studied the fights for desegregation and community control of public schools in Harlem and New York City, the establishment of these Black alternative educational initiatives outside of the public school system as an extension of the movement for quality and equitable education—and as a part of social justice movements, including the Black Power Movement, more broadly—has rarely been considered. These schools and their approaches also provide a unique lens through which to study and re-evaluate Black Power ideas: They reflect the diversity and contradictions of the movement, the different goals and avenues for change that activists within that movement envisioned, and how the theories and ideas of Black Power were translated into practice on the local level in specific issues.

This thesis examines Black Power in Jamaica, Trinidad, and The Bahamas, comparing and contrasting the ability of the movements to garner the support of the people in these different locales. The primary focus of this work is the Caribbean Black Power movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Detailed responses to the movements are presented as those responses relate to not only race, but also class, and the response of local political leadership to the presence and methods of the movements. Following a brief overview of the history of European colonialism and the drive of the colonized for independence from colonial powers, Black Power is studied in greater detail. In this thesis three issues are addressed that relate to the popularity of Black Power. The first is the impact of racial identity and ethnicity on the acceptance of Black Power. This is done through a comparison of Black Power in Jamaica, an independent country with a predominantly black population, and in Trinidad, an independent nation with a diverse population. The Bahamas provides an excellent comparison, as a colony with a large resident white population. The second issue is the political status of each country, and the effect of political status on the ability of Black Power to gain support and momentum. The status of the location as either an independent state, or a colonial state, may have had an impact on the success, or at least the stated objectives, of the Movement as it evolved in that locale. Lastly, issues of class are addressed through an examination of the impact of the economic status of the individual within the society, and then secondarily the overall economic conditions of the country at a given time.