HIUS 200 - Black Power Movement in America

Tracing the quest of black women and men for political, economic, and cultural power from the 1960’s to the present, this course examines the collective effort of African Americans to eradicate what philosopher Cornel West refers to as the ‘pervasive evil of unjustified suffering and unnecessary social misery in our world.’ Attention will be given to debates in the black intellectual community over the best way to deal with the economic consequences of white supremacy and global capitalism, the usefulness of armed self-defense as a weapon in the fight against racial injustice, and the problem of sexism within the black liberation movement.