Stokely Carmichael in Civil Rights Movement: "Black Power" Era
Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) was a civil rights activist and national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1966 and 1967. He is credited with popularizing the term "Black Power."
In May 1966, SNCC elected Stokely Carmichael its national chairman. Accepting the position, Carmichael announced that the organization would no longer send white organizers into Black communities, and would move away from nonviolent strategies. One month later, Carmichael gave a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi in which he coined the term "Black Power," emphasizing race pride and Black autonomy over integration with white society.