Essay
Essay Black Consciousness (Pols2021)
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- University Of The Witwatersrand (wits)
Essay Black Consciousness (Pols2021)
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Student Number: 2426911Surname: Chauke
Name: Tintswalo Ayanda Onthatile
Course Name: Black Consciousness and the Politics of Anti-Racism
Course Code: POLS2021A
Task: Assignment 1: Film Review
Lecturer: Dr. Siphiwe Dube
Date: 15 August 2023
, 1 INTRODUCTION
In one of her blog articles Zuma Ndlovu (2011), provides a comprehensive overview of her
first encounter with what is now referred to as Black Consciousness. She outlines that she
was introduced to this doctrine through the meritorious Steve Biko’s “I write what I like”
piece, where he defined black consciousness as a movement that “seeks to demonstrate the
lie that black is an aberration from the ‘normal’ which is white”. Biko (1971, 1) goes on to
say that “it is a manifestation of a new realisation that by seeking to run away from
themselves and to emulate the white man, blacks are insulting the intelligence of whoever
created their black”. Black consciousness to him goes hand in hand with the Pan-Africanist
perspective where these doctrines or movements rather, “seek to infuse the black
community within a new found pride, in themselves” restoring the dignity of their
blackness in all facets including culture, value systems, efforts, religion and their overall
perception of life.” (Biko 1971, 1)
A large part of the Black Consciousness discourse is centred around the doctrine of “black
power”. There has been a plethora of contributions to what this term entails, or rather what
it meant to people of colour in and out of Africa, mainly in the United States at different
times; the likes of Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jnr. and Angela
Davis. Using several readings and information from the documentary film titled “The Black
Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975 (2011)”, this essay seeks to explore the different definitions
of black power by the above mentioned activists and authors, juxtaposing their influences
on the Black Power Movement. It will further elucidate how Black Power is related to Pan-
Africanism, and the ways the film and readings illustrate Black Power’s response to some
of the claims of Scientific Racism. Finally, it will indicate the ways in which Black Power
is constructed as more than just about Black Power in America.
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