ABSTRACT
The civil rights movement was successful in its effort to seize the franchise for millions of southern blacks and create favorable political conditions for the exercise of the franchise by blacks outside the South. A major reason why politicians and political apparatus emerge within a group is to solidify, manage, and protect group interest, especially economic interests. Electoral politics are probably the black politics of the future because black political leaders have developed a vested interest in steering the community down this barren route. Black protest would also serve to counter the conservative tendencies inherent in electoral politics. Black politicians, like all politicians, must be kept honest and focused on the goal of black empowerment, and it is black protest that can keep them in check. A dynamic relationship between black political leaders and the black masses must develop and be promoted if black politics are to become empowering and politically significant.
