black nationalist

noun

variants or Black Nationalist

plural black nationalists or Black Nationalists

: a member of a Black advocacy group in the U.S. especially during the 1960's and 1970's that sought to empower Black people financially, promote a sense of Black community and identity, and form a separate self-governing Black nation

—often used before another noun

black nationalist groupsa Black Nationalist leader

black nationalism noun

or Black Nationalism

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The senior Garvey, who died in 1940, was a black nationalist who sought to unify people of African descent worldwide.

David Lyons, sun-sentinel.com, 9 Dec. 2020 Earl Little was a carpenter and itinerant preacher who became a follower of the black nationalist Marcus Garvey and took an impressionable 5-year-old Malcolm on proselytizing trips for Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association.

Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2020 Malcolm’s childhood in Nebraska, brushes with the law as a teenager in Michigan, time as a petty criminal in Boston and Harlem, emergence as a black nationalist leader of the Nation of Islam, and 1965 assassination.

Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Oct. 2020 In 1964, South African black nationalist Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison along with seven other people, including Walter Sisulu, for committing sabotage against the apartheid regime (all were eventually released, Mandela in 1990).

BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2020 Hough riots: During the Hough riots in Cleveland in 1966, a grand jury blamed black nationalists and outside agitators, Mary Kilpatrick reports.

cleveland, 4 June 2020 The members of the Little family were pioneer black nationalists who endeavored to follow Garvey’s dictum of establishing black political power across urban and rural American landscapes.

New York Times, 6 Apr. 2020 The leader of a black nationalist church that’s been labeled a hate group lived a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars, designer clothing and private school for some of his children, according to federal prosecutors.

Crystal Hill, miamiherald, 26 Apr. 2018 Much of the controversy stems from an incident when Mallory attended a Nation of Islam event at which black nationalist Louis Farrakhan made incendiary remarks about Jews.

Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'black nationalist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of black nationalist was in 1943

See more words from the same year

Dictionary Entries Near black nationalist

black myrobalan

black nationalist

blackneb

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Black nationalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20nationalist. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

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