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====== I Am a Man ======
This article discusses the impacts of the Moynihan Report, a report on minority male employment and the state of Black inner-city families. It was published by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1965, less than a month after the assassination of Malcolm X. When it was released to the public, it started a lot of debate around the intersection of poverty and masculinity, as well as the expectation for men to be "breadwinners". (Jazper Schmidt)

Here, Este explains how the Black man’s struggle for Civil Rights and their struggle to showcase manhood cannot be divided. Throughout history, Black men faced slavery, segregation, and marginalization which contributed to the denial of traditional characteristics of masculinity, like authority, autonomy, economic autonomy, and social acceptance. The strike in Memphis introduced the slogan “I AM A MAN” which symbolized the urge for social recognition, as well as the rejection of the narrative that African American men were “childish”. This push for acknowledgement fostered the Civil Rights movement fighting against discrimination. This fifth provided Black men to demonstrate acts of courage and discipline, which opposed the general definition of Black masculinity which included traits of violence and inferiority. In this instance, these men opposed these prejudices by expressing masculinity through nonviolent protests, asserting that African American manhood relies on the claim for autonomy and humanity within a system built to deny those characteristics. (Reiley Gibson)

In this excerpt. Este makes a connection between the distribution of economic equality and masculinity identity. Este explains how providing for the family was a foundational characteristic of an African American man’s expression of manhood. The connection becomes apparent when the expression of this characteristic is challenged with systematic marginalization and economic inequality, which both work as forms of demasculinization. This challenge prompted activists to fight for fair labor rights and wages in order to mitigate experiences of instability and the undermining of social authority. The Moynihan Report showcases this intersection by introducing how the absence of Black fathers are wrongfully blamed on culture instead of systemic racism and prejudice. This idea brought to light the struggle of African American men to define their masculinity in a world that defines masculinity in terms of economic and moral authority/autonomy. (Reiley Gibson)

Estes uses the movie //Nothing But a Man// as an example of some of the disadvantages faced by Black men, especially in the workplace, and how those disadvantages affect their relationship with manhood. In 1964, the year the film came out, 29% of Black men were unemployed at some point in the year, and the unemployment rate was 5x higher than that of white men. This high unemployment, as shown in the film, led to an internalized and reinforced belief in many Black men of not being "man" enough, that having a job was an inherent part of the social role of being a man. (Jazper Schmidt)

The Memphis Sanitation strikes had racial, economic, and masculinity layers to it. The motto "I Am a Man" appealed both to the the fact that these corporations were not treating their black workers as human and how they made it difficult for men to fulfill their masculine role as the be the bread winners of the house due to inadequate pay. This inadequate pay was exasperated by the fact that black workers were the first to be dismissed early on rainy days, thereby, losing potential wages that they could have earned. (Henry Prior)

Estes argues that the culture of maschismo in the Black Panther Party stymied the BPP's ability to act as a revolutionary movement. Hypermasculinity in the BPP encouraged some of its members to prioritize violent action with immediate but uncertain returns over political education and Community Survival programs. Furthermore, misogyny and homophobia in the party's ranks alienated female and gay activists who were otherwise supportive of the Black Panther Party's ideas and methods. Course correction on the part of BPP leadership, it seems, was too little too late. (Nick Thodal)

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