Stokely Carmichael: Self
Photos
Quotes
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Stokely Carmichael : When white America killed Dr. King last night, he declared war on us.
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Stokely Carmichael : I think Dr. King is a great man, full of compassion. He is full of mercy and he is, uh... very patient. He is a man who could accept the uncivilized behavior of white Americans, and their unceasing taunts; and still have in his heart forgiveness. Unfortunately, I am from a younger generation. I am not as patient as Dr. King, nor am I as merciful as Dr. King. And their unwillingness to deal with someone like Dr. King just means they have to deal with this younger generation.
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Paris reporter : Are you going to return to the United States?
Stokely Carmichael : I certainly am. There are 50 million black people living in the United States, and those Africans have to be organized to fight for their liberation.
Paris reporter : Isn't there a possibility that you might end up in jail on your arrival?
Stokely Carmichael : I was born in jail.
[crowd applauds]
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Stokely Carmichael : [Stokley Carmichael sings "Burn Baby, Burn" by Jimmy Collier while burning some paper] This is for the FBI.
[laughs]
Stokely Carmichael : That's just like man, isn't it? Nothing is wasted. Everything just takes a different form. What form will you take when you die?
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Stokely Carmichael : The birth of this nation was conceived in the genocide of the red man... of the red man... of the red man.
[applause]
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Stokely Carmichael : Now, let us begin with the modern period of - I guess we could start with 1956. For our generation, this was the beginning of the rise of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King decided that in Montgomery, Alabama; black people had to pay the same prices on the buses as did white people, but we had to sit in the back. And we could only sit in the back if every available seat was taken by a white person. If a white person was standing, a black person could not sit. So Dr. King and his associates got together and said, "This is inhuman. We will boycott your bus system." Now, understand what a boycott is. A boycott is a passive act. It is the most passive political act that anyone can commit, a boycott. Because what the boycott was doing was simply saying, "We will not ride your buses." No sort of antagonism. It was not even verbally violent. It was peaceful. Dr. King's policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: in order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none... has none.
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Stokely Carmichael : Mrs. Carmichael, when you came to the United States with your children, where did you live?
Mable Carmichael : We lived at Stebbins Avenue for a while.
Stokely Carmichael : What kind of neighborhood was it?
Mable Carmichael : It was kind of a mixed neighborhood, but a little on the rundown side.
Stokely Carmichael : What do you mean by 'the rundown side'?
Mable Carmichael : Streets were dirty, garbage pails all thrown around and not covered; and things like that.
Stokely Carmichael : How big was the place you lived in?
Mable Carmichael : We had a three room apartment there.
Stokely Carmichael : And how many people lived there?
Mable Carmichael : When my kids moved to the United States, we were still living there, my husband and I; so that made five children, because I had to there.The five that came with their aunt, my husband and I.
Stokely Carmichael : How many is that all together?
Mable Carmichael : Five and three. Eight.
Stokely Carmichael : How was life in general for you children? I mean, could they do other things most children in the United States could do? I mean, did they have enough money to do those things?
Mable Carmichael : No, we didn't.
Stokely Carmichael : Why didn't they?
Mable Carmichael : Because my husband didn't make enough money.
Stokely Carmichael : Why didn't he make enough money?
Mable Carmichael : He was a carpenter and he worked two weeks in, four weeks off. He drove a taxi cab part of the time...
Stokely Carmichael : But there were other carpenters who lived better than your husband.
Mable Carmichael : Of course.
Stokely Carmichael : Why didn't your husband?
Mable Carmichael : Because he was laid off. He was always the first to be laid off.
Stokely Carmichael : Why was he always the first to be laid off?
Mable Carmichael : Because he was negro. He always said, because he was a colored man. Because, naturally, in Trinidad, we used the word colored. We never used the word negro. So, he always said, because he was a colored man.
Stokely Carmichael : Thank you.
