A
civil rights leader who got his start with
SNCC and it's participation in the
Freedom Rides. He later became the
chairman of
SNCC in was the main
reason that they disassociated themselves from
Martin Luther King, Jr..
Stokely saw the beatings and murders of civil rights activists and became fed up with the inaction of non-violence and it's consequences. The concept of Black Power came out of this split. Carmichael wanted SNCC members to defend themselves and demand their rights instead of begging for them. Many Black moderates denounced him for hurting the civil rights movement and he eventually left SNCC.
After SNCC Carmichael travelled abroad talking to Black people about the oppression of African-Americans and denouncing the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. When he came back his passport was confiscated and held for almost a year.
Fed up with the structural racism of the United States he moved to Guinea with his wife the South African singer Miriam Makeba.