199 - Thematic Session. Rethinking Black Power Movement Outcomes

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the first documented use of the term “Black Power”. Little scholarship exists that documents the activities or outcomes of the Black Power Movement. While some claim it had positive cultural identity outcomes, it is often deemed a violent movement that interfered with Black mainstream progress, and had little long-term political or broader social influence. Recently, scholars have chronicled the emergence and consequences of the movement that challenge these predominant understandings. The proposed panel will include Joshua Bloom, whose recent book, Black against Empire, provides a comprehensive account of the Black Panther Party beyond its role as the radical flank following on the heels of a waning civil rights movement. The author of Body and Soul, Alondra Nelson, will add a richly nuanced discussion of the Black Panther Party’s health activism that tackled racism in the medical establishment and led to free community health centers. Joyce Bell’s recent book, The Black Power Movement and American Social Work, shows how the ideology and strategies of the Black Power Movement spilled over to influence the National Association of Black Social Workers and served to shape public policies governing the adoption of Black children by non-Blacks. The discussant will be Andreana Clay, author of The Hip-Hop Generation Fights Back: Youth, Activism and Post-Civil Rights Politics.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Belinda Robnett, University of California-Irvine

Presider

• Fabio Rojas, Indiana University

Panelists

• Joshua Bloom, University of Pittsburgh

• Alondra Nelson, Columbia University

• Joyce Bell, University of Pittsburgh

Discussant

• Andreana L. Clay, San Francisco State University