Robert Sanders English 2342 (MW 11:30­2:00pm) Professor C. Robinson Research Essay “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority” (Ken 1). A management technique used by Ken Blanchard that is very much relevant in more aspects of management. By definition, management is the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. Meaning influence, the power to have an effect on something or someone, could be considered a management strategy. In the black community, leadership is often based off who's influencing the community rather than the authorities. This can be seen in large movements like The Black Power Movement, where those who were influencing and leading the black community, were fighting against the authority. This movement was widely supported during its time. However, how can one be sure if this method can be effective in terms of delivering a message, and promoting the movement? Since these movements are put in place to create change, it is reasonable to base the success of a movement off its impact on today's society. The methods used in the fight for social equality for those lacking political power and cultural institutions, popularized by The Black Power Movement, has been adopted and implemented by today’s hip­hop artist like Sean Combs, stage name Diddy; allowing the battle to be fought in a time where unity has become dwarfed by individuality. With black being the absence of hue and brightness, and bright being defined as intelligent and quick­witted. The African­American or black man was commonly suppressed by lack of education and economic stability. However, following The Civil Right Movement, the African­American community begin to seek more than rights. They were out to seek intelligence

and political power. This vicious attempt to lift the black community is known as The Black Power Movement. As many African­Americans begin to reject the patience and non­violent tactics displayed by Dr. Martin Luther King, they felt it was time to achieve their political power in a more aggressive manner, similar to the tactics displayed by Malcolm X, even if it meant the violent approach (Black 1). The assassination of Dr. King added fuel to the fire, giving blacks the urge to fight with equal force. Contrary to popular belief, members of The Black Power Movement wielded a very positive message. The message was simply, “We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community” (Newton 1.) The anger, and civil disobedience displayed in their manner derived from “tired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality and respect” (Natambu 182). The Black Panther Party was the epitome of The Black Power Movement. A party formed in Oakland, California, displayed civil rights in an unimaginable way. Carrying unconcealed weapons, the Panthers made it clear that they wanted to take control of their community and resist police brutality; adopting the coined phrase “Political power comes through the barrel of a gun” (Newton 1). In what is known as the Ten­Point Program, Black Panther Party leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale organized a platform offering a list of what the party wants and beliefs. Point one being power, point two being employment, point four being honest education, and point seven being an end to police brutality and murder of black people (Newton 1,2,4,7). The platform was put into action through campaigns, these campaigns called for members of The Black Panther Party to become actively involved in carrying out the wants and beliefs specified in the Ten­Point Program. Amongst these campaigns was the “Patrol the Pigs” Campaign. This campaign consisted of monitoring police activities in black

communities, allowing the Panthers to protect black citizens from the abuse of police power (Langeroodi).. Though the name of this campaign can be very disturbing, its purpose was extremely necessary. Things like referring to police as pigs, may make this campaign seem a bit misleading in its efforts of equality. However, the Panthers were able to highlight police power abuse and educate the black community, making them aware of their legal rights. Ignorance to these rights allowed blacks to be abused and mistreated. Malcolm X said, three weeks before his assassination “As far as I was concerned, the Panthers were 'baaaaaad.' The Party was more than bad; it was bodacious. The sheer audacity of walking onto the California Senate floor with rifles, demanding that Black people have the right to bear arms and the right to self­defense, made me sit back and take a long look at them” (Malcolm). Malcolm X, the spokesman for The Black Power Movement, event admitted particularly to disliking The Black Panthers methods. He found it beautiful being measured by their impact, but bad being measured by their methods. “Armed with guns, law books, and menacing bravado, the Black Panthers projected a militant swagger that made their threats of starting a violent revolution for black liberation seem plausible despite considerable evidence to the contrary” (Joseph 762). As the image of The Black Panther Party helped it gain leverage in its fight for equality, it may has also assisted in its demise. COunter INTELligence PROgram, also known as COINTELPRO, is to be blame for the downfall of The Black Panther Party. COINTELPRO is a program aimed at surveying infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations (Shakur A). A strategy many complain is illegal. This program used everything it could to destroy the black panthers; they blackmailed financial supporters of the Black Panther Party, fostered the feud between Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, that feud

that led to the death of Malcolm, and the arrest of many Black Panther Members. This kind of obstruction lead to the end of The Black Panther Party, it took away the representatives, and ultimately ruined the image of the movement (Shakur A). The Black Movement ended more than 30 years ago. In order for the movement to be successful or effective, the message delivered within the movement but been seen in today’s society. However, due to unreckonable change over the last 30 years, the message may not be getting across in today’s society. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it (Carr 1).” is the mentality that today’s society carry, It is even commonly recommended by college professors to take advantage of the shorter articles when writing research papers. The pressure college kids, even high school kids, feel in this generation is obvious from our lack of interest to learn something, but rather to do well in a class. We go to any lengths to achieve the highest possible grades. We will pull all­nighters, drink ample amounts of caffeine, cheat, and take unprescribed ADD pills.(Paasch) Therefore in college, students are not learning majority of the information, or the information is temporarily stored. Even as I type this paper now, in is simply an assignment, rather than a lesson I should pay grave attention to. This makes the message complicated to travel. It is uncommon for public speakers to rally and start marches and movements that would cause hundreds of thousands of people to miss work to stand for something. In many cases, events in today’s society are here today and gone tomorrow. As we see in many criminal, and civil rights cases across the world today.

There is only thing however that seems to be common across the black community today, Hip­Hop. “Hip­hop is the ghetto’s pain, sorrow, culture, music, and happiness” as stated by well known hip­hop artist, Tupac Shakur(Shakur T). Hip­hop is also commonly known as the genre for suppressed societies. Seemingly, everyone experiences a moment or segment of their life where they feel suppressed, and music being a tremendous help. People seem to resort to hip­hop. Hip­Hop is a genre that can educate you, make you dance, make you cry, and spark a riot all in the same album, allowing to attract attention and followers from all corners of the earth now. Idolization of hip­hop artist was an inevitable result of that trend. There artist were looked at as the representatives of hip­hop. Giving these artist so many followers, they may have enough power to “influence the public” (Clift), as showed in “Blacking Up”by Robert Clift. This made it possible for the black community have influence, and keep the message delivered in The Black Power Movement. Rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur Sean Combs, is a hip­hop artist well known for his wealth. Sean “Diddy” Combs is worth $700 million. All the music that Combs has made, all the acting roles he has play, and all the businesses he has created through his entrepreneurship, involved hip­hop and assisted him in gaining public power. Combs made an attempt to exercise his public power by founding the political service group Citizen Change. This group lead a campaign called “VOTE or DIE”. A campaign offering to convince young people to vote in the coming presidential elections in America (Diddy). Diddy promoted his slogan by saying he wanted young adults to understand how important it is to vote. He was inspired to start the campaign after being educated on how “the game works” (Diddy), he then learned of his voting power as well as the voting power of the younger generations. He knew that a spike in

youth voting could easily pull the election into the direction of candidate Barack Obama. Though his campaign and slogan had good intention, it was deeply criticized. Comedy Central's cartoon, South Park, even aired a parody teasing Combs' campaign. The parody showed Combs' chasing citizens threatening to execute his campaign in a literal sense. This kind of foolishness lead to this campaign not being a firm in influence. Though there was a spike in youth voting, it is not clear if that was a result of the VOTE or DIE campaign. Today the campaign still exist, however, it is not currently active. Though The Black Power Movement is over, hip­hop still make attempts to advocate the same message, that political power is the savior of the surpressed community. Judging by its existence in today's politics, The Black Power Movement can be considered a successful movement. The methods and messages taught within the movement obviously influenced children of that time, to adopt and implement those same methods and messages in today's society.

 Work Cited Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic . Atlantic Media Company, 01 July 2008. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Clift, Robert A., prod. "Blacking Up." Alexander Street Press . Alexander, VA, n.d. Television. "Diddy: VOTE or DIE." Female First, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Joseph, Peniel E. "The Black Power Movement: A State Of The Field." Journal Of American History 96.3 (2009): 751­776. Academic Search Complete . Web. 3 Dec. 2014. "Ken Blanchard Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. Langeroodi, Marnie. "Malcolm X, Black Power." The Arts and Humanity . Wordpress, 3 May 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. Malcolm X quoted in Juan Williams, Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954­1965 (New York: Viking Penguin, Inc., 1987), 262 Natambu, Kofi. Malcolm X (Critical Lives). Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2002. Print. Newton, Huey, and Bobby Seale. "WHAT WE WANT & WHAT WE BELIEVE." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Print. 11 Dec. 2014. Paasch, Ali. "The Art Of Getting By In College | The Odyssey." The Odyssey . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Shakur, Assata. "Www.AssataShakur.Com." The FBI's Covert Program To Destroy the Black Panther Party, Page 1, Hands Off Assata Campaign . Paul Wolf, 2002. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. Shakur, Tupac Quote from "In His Own Words." Interview by MTV. 13 Sept. 1997. Television.

"The Black Power Movement 1968­1980." In Search of African America: One Collector's Experience. An Exhibit at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum. Hoover Library, 17 Jan. 2004. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.