You Can’t Have Black Power without Green Power:The Black Economic Union
Alongside the call for “Black Power,” which became prominent in the late 1960s, numerous African American scholars and activists also promoted “Green Power;” the belief that Blacks needed to become involved in the economic infrastructure of America in order to improve their lives and their communities. This dissertation will add to the historical discourse on the Civil Rights/Black Power era, by exploring a lesser-known Black political strategy; namely, the endorsement of capitalism as a means of Black liberation. This study focuses on the Negro Industrial and Economic Union (NIEU), later renamed the Black Economic Union (BEU), which was founded in the 1966. The BEU was a body of African American professional athletes who had three objectives: to use the finances of African Americans collectively for the benefit of all, to assemble loans with special attention to the interest rates for Blacks in business and industry, and to establish clinics and workshops that would provide guidance and education centers for African American youth. Although economic empowerment did not initially appear as threatening as other forms of Black Nationalism that were circulating during this era, the BEU ultimately found itself at the center of a political and media firestorm. The organization was especially contentious because it was composed of high-profile athletes who supported controversial people such as Muhammad Ali, and advocated for an economic strategy for racial advancement. Through the use of periodicals, organizational documents, and oral interviews, the project provides an account of the BEU, examining how African American athletes organized to improve Black communities throughout the United States during a period of great political and economic strife; actions which brought criticism from the Black community and scrutiny from the United States federal government.
African American Studies, African Americans, History, NFL, athletes, activism, sports, Jim Brown, John Wooten, Walter Beach, Brady Keys, John Mackey, Brigman Owens, Black Economic Union, Negro Industrial and Economic Union
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