human level of endeavor, wherein mankind can establish a utopian society divested of brute force and violence. The irony of this great dream is that if it is at all possible, it is possible only through the medium of violence. It is possible only through Revolution. (USA 326)The inevitability of rage exploding is both realized and apparent as never before.Black Power, advocating -- screaming for -- revolution and violence, dominates the forefront of black-rage demonstration. It is important to understand, however, that the whole idea of Black Power and Black Pride originated, not as a venting of rage to cause people to rise up in anger, but rather to provide self worth and a realization that as humans, blacks must demand comparable treatment. Nonetheless, this seed of innocence soon produces a channel for rage. In his 1967 speech The Meaning of Black Power, Franklin Florence defines Black Power as an active attitude. He proclaims, And I say tonight, freedom and justice are not gifts -- you must take them -- rise up, you mighty black people -- organize and take power (165). Indeed, Black Power encompassed a wide variety of thought and rhetoric during the Civil Rights Movement. Leroi Jones, recalling the separatist philosophy of Garvey, exclaims, Black Power cannot exist WITHIN white power. Continuing, he proclaims, One or the other. There can only be one or the other. They might exist side by side as separate entities, but never in the same space. Never. They are mutually exclusive (138). The decision, according to some, has to be made as to which one will prevail. (Recall that Garvey determined that equality can never be ensured for blacks as long as a white majority exists in America.) Others recount the thought of rising to racially dominate. In How White Power Whitewashes Black Power, Nathan Hare explains that Black Power means the exercise of influence over the behavior of White oppressors to the benefit of blacks -...
