No Name in the Street

The Algerian War, fought between 1954 and 1962, was a major decolonization war for Algeria’s independence from France. Algeria’s movement for independence started during the World War I and grew after World War II as Algerians claimed their autonomy and self-determination. In 1954, the Algerian National Liberation Front proclaimed war against France with the intention to establish a sovereign Algerian state. The war took place mainly in Algeria but its impact was evident in France, leading to several political crises. The brutality of the war cost France its international prestige and the government was unwilling to continue the war. In 1962, after a period of social upheaval, France signed Algeria’s independence.

As Baldwin notes in No Name in the Street, during the Algerian War, Algerians in France were subject to racism. The government used propaganda depicting immigrants as uncivilized to discredit the efforts of Algerian nationalist groups. It also incarcerated, murdered, and oppressed Algerian immigrants.

Black nationalism is sociopolitical movement and an ideology that gained momentum in the 1960s and the early 1970s. The movement emphasized the empowerment and self-determination of the African American community. Black nationalism posed an alternative to the ideology of integration within white American society and supported a Black cultural identity. Black nationalist leaders advocated for the creation of an independent Black nation. The movement also embraced the ideology of Pan-Africanism, which promoted the decolonization of Africa and the solidarity between the people of the African diaspora.

The Nation of Islam expressed ideas of Black nationalism emphasizing Black pride and manhood, particularly through Malcolm X. In the late 1960s, ideas of Black nationalism defined the Black Power movement and particularly Black Panther leaders like Stokely Carmichael.

The Black Panther Party, originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was an African American revolutionary and socialist party founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The party belongs to the era of the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The party’s goal was to battle police brutality, and it emphasized Black people’s right to defend themselves against racial and systemic violence. The party operated within Black neighborhoods to impede acts of police violence. The Black Panthers organized social and educational programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children, which sought to empower the Black community. The party also emphasized class issues at the heart of the racial struggle.

The party became a target for the FBI, which described it as a threat to domestic security. The Black Panther leaders were subject to constant policing, surveillance, and police intimidation. Several members of the Party were involved in violent confrontations with the police and were killed or wounded. The party gradually declined in the late 1970s.

Even though the Black Panthers projected a masculine image, women like Angela Davis were also involved with the party, challenging gender roles and promoting Black feminist politics.

The March on Washington in 1963 was one of the major nonviolent demonstrations during the civil rights movement. People of all races gathered in the nation’s capital to protest racial inequality and to demand civil rights for Black people. The event was organized by civil rights activists and remains one of the most emblematic moments in American history, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, calling for an end to racial discrimination and expressing his hopes for equality in the country’s future. Several music artists performed during the march, including Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

The march showed the increasing demand for civil rights and impacted national consciousness. The government subsequently passed a series of legislation that secured voting rights and banned discrimination.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 was a form of sociopolitical protest against the racial segregation of public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott began after Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a white man, violating segregation laws. The boycott sparked the rise of the civil rights movement in the South. In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that the racial discrimination of public transportation was unconstitutional.