Black beauty woke up and was killed.

Marger, Chapter 7
I can remember living in the heart of Brooklyn, New York City when ‘Black Power’ took root.
It was as if people suddenly realized, and then gave themselves permission, to speak out loud about the beauty of their uniqueness. In this chapter Harold Isaacs says of the well-known term ‘Black is Beautiful’…”In both its literal and its symbolic meanings, it became the password to a measure of self-acceptance by Black Americans that generations of earlier leaders and tribunes of the people had sought in vain to achieve.”
Measure is correct because that’s all it was for a time. Marger stresses this, but says it was due to the public being preoccupied with the Vietnam War. I agree, but only to an extent. The fact of the matter was, regardless to the war, black power, black pride, black autonomy, had to be killed.
What? A peoples that have been displaced, lied to, kept down, and starving for self-identity and finding a way to rise up and be heard. That wasn’t going to be tolerated! That awakened beauty had to be put back down. And so it was done, by what Marger refers to as the white power structure, but we all know as our illustrious government. The most courageous and visible leaders were eliminated. To cover the inflicted gaping wound a small band aid was offered in the form of small concessions to some communities. Specific and limited funds were increased for a few government programs and services.
What was sad is that so many people believed that the governments so called generosity were a direct achievement of the black power movement. The increase in black pride was the real achievement.
S. Ramos, Post #9