Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael was born in Trinidad in 1941. Since his mother Mabel Florence Charles Carmichael and his father Adolphus Carmichael both left Trinidad for the United States in search of work (respectively in 1944 and 1946) the young Stokely grew up at his grandmother’s house at Port of Spain. When in 1952 his parents were economically more secure Stokely was allowed to join his parents in Harlem, NY.
Stokely Carmichael - Born in Trinidad he grew up in New York City
The first days in New York had a strong impact on Carmichael. Although a black community, Harlem displayed a visible contrast compared with Port of Spain, a contrast which bewildered the young boy: white people were in charge of the community, they held control. Policemen, teachers, merchants, entrepreneurs were all white. In contrast, in Trinidad, being 96% of the population black, it was natural to see black people holding crucial positions, such as policemen, teachers, attorneys, even if Trinidad was actually controlled by white colonists.
Thus, what seemed less evident to Carmichael in Trinidad, he was able to perceive taking a glance at the streets of New York: the black people’s status of second-class citizens in the United States, more generally the black man’s subjugation to “The Man”. Conscious of this matter of fact, Stokely Carmichael’s parents had a deep distrust toward white people.
Notwithstanding, “by back-breaking, around-the-clock-work, Carmichael’s parents (his father was a carpenter and his mother was a maid) succeeded in buying a house in a good [...] Bronx neighborhood.” The family moved to Morris Park, East Bronx, a predominantly white neighborhood (inhabited by Italians, Jews and Irish).
As an immigrant from the West Indies, and therefore a non-native American citizen, Carmichael “had to do all the bad things to prove his point”. In order to not become an outsider the adolescent became the only black member of the juvenile gang “Morris Park Dukes”. Due to his intelligence and cleverness he soon became a “specialist in stealing hubcaps and car radios”.
Continuation of text → Stokely Carmichael – Part 3: The Years at Bronx Science
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March 5, 2009 at 10:38 pm
[...] About Stokely Carmichael’s Youth – From Port of Spain to New York City [...]
March 5, 2009 at 11:02 pm
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