The fight towards African American equality in the United States took on many guises and was met by resistance by White Americans and the system every step of the way. The issue of resistance by authorities and Whites alike appears consistently throughout the episode titled “Power!” in the seminal Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) documentary Eyes on the Prize: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-1985. This chapter of the series essentially begins with the attempt by Carl Stokes, and his supporters, to become the first African American mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. African Americans living in Cleveland during this period represented 35 percent of the votes in the city and yet enjoyed little in the way of representation. The reaction my a mainly White-led city administration appears to have been to hire a significant number of recruits to the police roster, and indication of increasing White fright over the notion that a Black man could actually become the city’s next mayor. It would also seem that such fear was also about African American ascension towards power and equality, a notion that seems not to the liking of many Whites living in Cleveland at the time.

The second part of “Power!” concerns the Black Panther movement taking place in Oakland, California during the time. The Black Panther approach to the issue of inequality, especially as it pertained to relations with law enforcement and the prevailing power structure in Oakland and at the state Capital in Sacramento, was extremely antagonistic, with founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seals claiming their initial intent was in community support. Yet, while the Black Panthers did open community programs, primarily food programs, their relationship with authorities devolved to the point of open warfare, eventually leading to the deaths of party members and police alike. Newton would eventually be convicted of manslaughter, which was quickly overturned, making it seem as if the charges were either false, trumped-up, or the White establishment was beginning to acquiesce to the demands by African Americans or where increasingly concerned over potential Black reprisals. The Panthers appear to be credited as the originators of the term “Pig,” used to refer to the police. But, their use of derogatory terms was part of a larger strategy incorporating language and arts in a way that galvanized and stratified the public. The Black Panthers developed a 10-point program that was never fully realized, and in an interview Newton later admits that the party grew “much too rapidly”. But, the Panthers did manage to galvanize more radical forces within the African American movement during this period.

In New York City, a movement was underfoot to assert a stronger voice for African Americans and Latinos within the city’s school system. Early efforts would bring about the opening of a community-run education program in the Ocean-Hill Brownsville section. The promise of providing students within this community with a quality education would soon devolve as the city-wide teacher’s union would soon withdraw its support over concerns related to segregation. The situation over Ocean-Hill Brownsville would eventually worsen; as the community insisted complete autonomy over management of the school, the city and teacher’s union reacted in ways that appear to be a defense of the very system that had served the community quite badly; resorting to dirty politics by claiming community leadership was anti-Semitic. It would seem that Ocean-Hill Brownsville was somewhat ahead of its time both as a community-centered effort and from an educational standpoint as the curriculum appears to have moved somewhat away from a traditional standard-based curriculum. These two factors led to the eventual downfall of a program that looked quite promising during this period, and perhaps has never been achieved again in this country.

While the series never lacks in terms of it being both a compelling and informative experience, “Power!” is particularly striking because it seems quite easy to draw parallels between what was taking place during this particular period and what is now taking place in Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio (equally remarkable considering the Stokes election in the later 60s). In all instances there appears to be a real difference in perspectives about the nature of race relations in the respective communities and as a nation as a whole. The main issue for this writer has to do with a lack of communication and debate as it relates to the issue of race in this country. It has taken serious issues like those which occurred during the 60s, as well as the tragedies such as the ones that had occurred in Ferguson and Cleveland to bring the issue of race to the fore. Consequently, we again witness White denial and racism and perhaps a fear of bridging such a deep seeded issue that remains an institution. The country’s comfort level has been threatened, much in the same way as it was during the later 1960s, and the reaction by the system and its supporter has been to attempt to quash protestors throughout the country. However, what also seems evident is that many people, of all races and cultures, have recognized the nature of existing racism in this country and have been galvanized to at least attempt to do something about this woefully prevailing situation. The comparison drawn by Bobby Seal relating to police occupation of African American communities in relation to the ongoing military intervention in Viet Nam seems particularly relevant in terms of contemporary minority communities. Again, the similarity is quite striking and reflective of the nature of modern day policing in terms of racial profiling and the acceleration of arrests and incarceration, as well as the apparent use of deadly force, which has been focused primarily on African American males for decades.