Carmichael, Stokely (1941–1998)

Trinidad-born US civil-rights activist. He coined the term Black Power. As leader of the Black Panthers (1967–69), he demanded black liberation rather than integration, and called for armed revolution. He then moved to Guinea, changed his name, and worked for the Pan-African movement.

Although born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Carmichael was educated in the USA. He took part in civil-rights demonstrations from 1961 and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1964, organizing volunteers to teach southern blacks to read and to help them to register for the vote. He was president 1966–67 of the SNCC when it became the radical wing of the civil-rights movement after the murder of Malcolm X. He left the Black Panthers in 1969 when they decided to cooperate with white radicals.