Stokely Carmichael became president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1966 where he gained national prominence as the originator of the term "Black Power." He had been active in the organization during the Freedom Rides and had run a successful campaign to increase voter registration in Lowndes County, Mississippi. In 1967, Carmichael left the SNCC and joined the Black Panthers where he rose to the position of Prime Minister. This book, written with Charles V. Hamilton, is a call for "black people…to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community…to define their goals, to lead their own organizations, and to support those organizations…a call to reject the racist institutions and values of this society. "Frustrated with the Panther's seeming acquiescence to white radicals, Carmichael resigned in 1969 and left the country to live in Guinea, West Africa.