Dylan Rivera

Professor Yerkes

English

February 24 2017

Black Power and Stokely Carmichael

Stokely Carmichael remains a great orator from the Civil Rights Movement, yet deserves

more credit than he currently has today. Carmichael was focused on the civil rights of black

Americans in the United States and called for a rise of “Black Power”. His proposition was met with

opposition from many people who he regarded as fearful. At his 1966 Speech at UC Berkeley,

Carmichael advocated for Black Power as an effective means of liberating African Americans from

oppression by stroking his audience’s ego, connecting his persona to a greater movement, and igniting

a sense of anger at the stark reality of inequality that society faced at the time.

Carmichael first entices his audience by addressing their need for validation and connecting it

to his purpose. At the start of the excerpt, Carmichael argues that there are misconceptions about the

term “Black Power” and that many people need to get past the premise that black is bad. To make this

point, Carmichael appeals to his audience’s sense of intelligence and social consciousness by

acknowledging they are a “university crowd” that is familiar with logic. If a major premise is

“Anything all black is bad” and Carmichael is “all black” people will come to the conclusion that

Carmichael is a bad person. However, they would immediately realize this cannot be true as

Carmichael has already essentially stroked their ego and social standing by stating their nature as a

university crowd. This makes them believe that there is no way he could actually be a bad person, and

therefore come to the conclusion that the premise is false - all which relies on Carmichael's

impression of himself that he had given up to that point.

To further enhance his message, Carmichael connects his well-respected persona to his cause.

He appeals to the audience’s sense of pride - or even guilt - by proclaiming “I am all black and I’m all

good, dig it.” Those in his audience may react by believing that he truly is one of them, not a separate
type of human that doesn’t understand them. The lighthearted voice he uses to convey these words

soothes his audience and neutralizes any misconception that he is not a relatable person. Those who

may have considered him to be distinctly different from a different mindset now saw him as an equal,

and reaffirmed those who already saw him on their level. Carmichael’s attempt to put him on the level

of the university crowd solidified his message and opened his audience’s ears to believing in the value

of black power.

Towards the end of the excerpt, Carmichael says essentially how the black community is fed

up trying to serve white people, using the term “stark raving mad” in order to express how he and

other black Americans feel. This directly taps into the minds of his audience as they feel how angry he

is through the intensifiers used on the emotion of anger. They can connect with his anger and pity this

man who has already established a connection with the audience earlier in his speech. Additionally,

Carmichael sympathizes with his audience when he speaks of the compassion of Martin Luther King

Jr., saying he is a man America needs. However, he pitches him against President Lyndon B. Johnson

by saying “Martin, baby, you got a long way to go.” This unites the audience against a common

enemy (Lyndon B. Johnson) since he is against the respected compassion of MLK. This aspect makes

people sympathize with his cause.

Carmichael thus proves his point of promoting black power as the answer to discrimination

by appealing to the audience’s sense of self-worth, attaching his belief in black power to himself, and

using anger as a reason to choose black power through a variety of rhetorical devices. Looking back at

Carmichael’s speech allows us to reflect on how the power of language can be used to fuel great

social movements. Today, when looking back at Carmichael’s successful speech, we can apply

similar strategies to furthering our own messages to others.

Kennedy Inaugural Address

As one of the most influential people in the world, a moving speech was necessary to be made

by him. At one of the ferocious heights of the Cold War, American President John F. Kennedy proved

himself to be a skillful speaker in his 1961 Inaugural Address with a message of unity across the

globe. Kennedy used parallel structure at one point to define his poetic purpose.
 Parallel structure was an essential aspect of Kennedy’s rhetorical strategy. Using the method

of parallel structure he stated, “Let both sides explore what unites us instead of belaboring problems

which divide us.” Here, the president makes himself out to be a middleman between the two factions

of the Cold War, which makes him appear more rational and reasonable. He appeals to the virtue of

goodness, a respected value worldwide. This resembles a parent, who humans see as nurturers and do

not take side in arguments between their children. As a parent, Kennedy is always looking for the

greater good in the dispute, giving off an appeal to his listeners that he is the type of person that

people can trust for stability. Kennedy finishes this parallel structure with “Let both sides unite to

heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah - to “undo the heavy burdens… (and) let the

oppressed go free.” In this manner, he reveals a spiritual side of him, not attempting to speak to not

only Christians but also all American and foreign citizens. He sums up his devotion to freedom,

uniting everyone from both sides to pursue after what he sees as the common good humanity shares.

His ambitions come off as noble and non threatening, trying to bring everyone together to chase a

common dream that he stated. Ultimately, this is what his intention was - to bring everyone together

for the sake of righteousness, and that is what gives him the moral upper hand in the political arena.

Additionally, the President uses parallel structure again in a different area of his speech while

speaking to various groups of people. He begins addressing “To those old allies whose cultural and

spiritual origins we share…” and goes on to proclaim loyalty to these friends through a unity during

all times. Here he speaks to the allies of the United States and assures them that he will stand by them,

relieving them of any concerns they may have for his presidency. This comes off as cooperative and

goal oriented to allies around the world, which rallies them in this time of global conflict. All of this

further strengthens his image as a peace-broker and respected leader that can foster unity across the

world.

Finally, Kennedy finishes up this part of his parallel structure by recalling everyone as part of

his plan for unity. He announces “Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our

adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request…” and finishes by asking everyone to come together in

the name of global peace and prevent humanity from killing itself off. This powerful message affects

the entire global population, reminding that the consequences of not seeking the greater good will be
deadly for everyone. Again, Kennedy presents himself as a middleman bringing everyone together for

the sake of peace. This repetitive appeal he gives off is what unifies everyone and makes Kennedy

appear as a mature person who does not further his own personal agenda nor step on other people who

may be at odds with him.