BROADCASTS.com

Black Political Leaders                     

There are two talks on Black leadership, one on Political Leaders, one on Intellectual Leaders.  This is the talk on Political Leaders.   The focus is upon nine key leaders.  There are others who are worthy of inclusion. I thought of Rosa Parks, far more significant than the demeaning image as a simple woman with tired feet who sat down rather than stand. Parks was a defiant activist who moved to Detroit to keep from being assassinated.  Without her and others like her organizing car pools, the Montgomery Bus Boycott would have failed.  She organized women on the ground, and sparked a movement.  Her leadership was remarkable.  May I recommend that you consider reading Dark At the End of the Street, an amazing book on the role of women in the civil rights movement.  It will change your way of thinking.  And will help you see Rosa Parks in a totally different light. 

Note: I intentionally left out elected leaders, although some are very significant.  There are separate podcasts on Barack Obama, Vernon Jordan, and others.

Also Note:  There are two very good graphic-style biographies of John Lewis, the great civil rights leader and member of Congress.  One is called March, the other is called Run. 

Who are these leaders?   

Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and Black-rights activist,  who wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the best of the slave memoirs. 

Sojourner Truth, activist, feminist who wrote a memoir. 

Brooker T. Washington, who wrote Up From Slavery

W. E. B. Du Bois, a founder of the NAACP and author of The Souls of the Black Folks

Marcus Garvey and the United Negro Improvement Association

Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership  Conference.  The film Selma describes one of his critical marches. 

Malcolm X, originally  of the Nation of Islam. His Autobiography of Malcolm X  is a remarkable work.  There is also an excellent film entitled Malcolm X  starring Denzel Washington. 

Jesse Jackson, who was an ally of Martin Luther King and then formed his own organization. 

Louis Farrakhan  of the Nation of Islam.  My conference paper (“The Political Ideology of Louis Farrakhan”) is deposited in Deep Blue.  

Terms used:  Seneca Falls, Talented Tenth, Maroons, Black Nationalism, Black Star Line, Elijah Mohammed, Boston Latin High School, Calypso music, Fruit of Islam, J. Edgar Hoover, Paul Tillich, Rosa Parks, Southern Christian Leadership Conference/SCLC. 

The remarkable essay by Garvey that I call “Advice to Young People” is actually named “Intelligence, Education and Universal Knowledge.”  It is available on the internet.  If you read it, you will be glad you did.  ("Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden").