the dudley-a&t student revolt - beloved community center · 2020. 2. 25. · senior research...

Missing Pages of The Civil Rights Movement: Recovering the Role of the NC Nationalists and Greensboro in the

Struggle for Black Liberation, Legal and Social Equality

Dr. Claude W. Barnes, Jr.Senior Research Associate Beloved Community Center

Greensboro, North Carolina 27406March 24, 2016336-230-0001

claudeb@belovedcommunitycenter.org http://www.belovedcommunitycenter.org

From Black Activism to Black Demobilization, Political Pacification, and Mobilization

Modern Civil Rights Movement and Black Liberation Struggle 1944-1974

Phase I Legal Tactics 1944-54, Phase II-Non-violent Direct Action 1955-1964, Phase III- Black Power 1965-75

Conventional and Unconventional Politics: Legal, Non-violent Direct Action Protest, Boycotts, and Militant Armed Self-defense

Historical Amnesia: The Forgotten Legacy of Black Power The Social Context of A Movement: Change Now The Spark, Powder Keg and Explosion or the Straw that Broke

the Camels Back! Can We Learn From Past Struggles for Social Change or Can

We Remember How to Fight Again?

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott 1955-1956

F.W. Woolworth Department Store, Greensboro, NC, February 1960

Sadie Mae Benton, One of the Sources of Inspiration for the Four Freshman, 1959

The Greensboro Four: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair and Joseph McNeil (Feb. 1, 1960)

Bennett and A&T StudentsCORE Leads Downtown Greensboro Mayfair Cafeteria, Fall 1962

Dr. Martin Luther King at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Early Civil Rights Protests Change American Society

Jim Crow Laws are Abolished Civil Rights Act of 1964 Voting Rights Act of 1965 Public Accommodations Open to Blacks Poverty Rate Drops Significantly However, Racial Inequality Persists in All

Spheres of American Life Too little Too late!!!

Non-violent Direct Action Phase of CRM Stalls Black Power Phase Begins Malcolm X articulates the

ideology of black power Under the Leadership of

Stokely Carmichael, SNCC moves from “Civil Rights” ideology to Black Power on the James Meredith March Against Fear (June 1966).

Urban Rebellions and Civil Disturbances (Riots)

Dr. Martin L. King Assassinated April 4, 1968

Black Student takeovers and protests at Black and White Universities

Stokely Carmichael later Kwame Toure, Amir Baraka and H. “Rap” Brown Provide Leadership to the Black Movement

Howard Fuller of FCD and Later MXLU Brings Black Power to NC

“America is determined by a racist system which equates rightness with whiteness…America and North Carolina operates under a smokescreen of Progressiveness…” February 3, 1968

Joyce Johnson Plays a Leadership Role in the Black Power Phase of the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina

Joyce Johnson Leads Black Student Sit-in On the Lack of Black Studies at Duke University Allen Building November 1967

Black Studies Movement Uses Militant Protests to Create Black Studies

End of Take Over of Willard Straight Hall, Cornell University, April 19-20, 1969 (Robert Jackson, Eric Evans and Ed Whitfield)

Greensboro/Durham Becomes the Center of the Black Power Movement in the South

Greensboro Association of Poor People (GAPP) Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU) Black Citizens Concerned with Police Brutality

(BCCPB) African World Newspaper African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC) Malcolm X Liberation University(MXLU) Foundation for Community Development (FCD) North Carolina Black Political Assembly Black Students United for Liberation (BSUL) Youth for the Unity of a Black Society (YUBS) Uhuru Bookstore

Lewis Brandon, Leader and Planner of Sit-Ins, One of the Founders of GAPP at Kwanza Ceremony at Uhuru Bookstore

Maya Angelou Book Signing at Uhuru Bookstore

The African World Newspaper Published by the Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU)Reached 10,000 Worldwide

SOBU House: National Headquarters for SOBU and the African World Newspaper

Coalition of Black Power Organizations Press for Social Change Through Community Organizing!! Cafeteria Workers Strike March 1969 Blind Workers Strike-1969-70 AAA Rent Strike -1970 Campaign Against Police Brutality-1972

Peoples Court and Creation of BCCPB Campaign Against Urban Renewal or

“Negro Removal” Free Ben Chavis and the Wilmington 10

MXLU, SOBU and GAPP Help Skillcraft Blind Workers Win Strike for Higher Wages and Better Working Conditions

The Spark for Rebellion: May 2-22, 1969

Student Council President Election at All black James B. Dudley High School, May 2, 1969

Candidate Claude Barnes Excluded from Ballot for Being “Subversive.”

Students Exercise First Amendment Rights to Free Speech and Protest.

Officials Respond to Protest with Massive Use of Force and Blame “outside agitators.”

A&T Student Willie Earnest Grimes is killed and three police officers wounded.

Classes Close Early 5-10-69

Nelson Johnson, SGA Vice President and Vincent McCullough, SGA President 1969 at North Carolina A&T State Univeristy

Scott Hall Becomes Site of National Guard Attack and Sweep in May 1969

500 Greensboro Police and 650 NC National Guard Troops Attack on Scott and Copper Hall May 23, 1969

High School Leaders of the Dudley Revolt : Black Student Organization, James B. Dudley High School, May1970

Claude Barnes Provides Testimony to the NC Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, October 6, 1969

Scott Hall Monument on the Campus of A&T

“Many persons apparently felt there were no clear issues involved in the controversy. The Committee believes that the issues involved were simple and quite clear. The main issue was the unequal treatment of citizens of Greensboro because of their race: discrimination in housing, employment, education, and the delivery of services, coupled with institutional racism and the unresponsiveness of the official system” pp. 15

Close Up of Bullet Holes from National Guard Assault May 1969

The Greensboro Massacre: November 3, 1979 Klan and Nazi Group Murder Five Anti-Klan Protesters in Broad Daylight in Morningside Homes Housing Project.

See Final Report :http://www.greensborotrc.org/

Marker Dedicated to Greensboro Massacre, May 24, 2015

Lessons for Future Struggles The Black Power Movement is a Forgotten Legacy of the

Third Stage of the Modern Civil Rights and Black Liberation Movement.

Democracy and Civil Rights Result from Social Struggle Excessive Force Will Be Used To Put Down Rebellion From

The Oppressed. Those Who Challenge The Status Quo Must be Willing To Accept Dire Consequences and Carry On!

Electoral Politics Is Not Enough!! Protest is necessary for Social Change. Social Change Results From Organized and Sustained Pressure on the National and Local State.

Ideological Differences Should Not Prevent Strategic Unity and the Building of Broad Coalitions!!

Allies Must Learn Tolerance for Democratic Debate and Respect for Differences of Opinion.

Leadership is Not Infallible and There Is a Dialectical Relationship Between Leaders and Followers.

The Struggle Continues The Black Power Phase of the Civil Rights Movement paved the way

for the rise of Black Elected and Appointed Officials as well as for the development of Black Urban Regimes.

The Black Power Phase of the Civil Rights Movement paved the way for the Presidential Campaigns of Shirley Chisholm, Jessie Jackson and Barack Obama.

The History of the Modern Civil Rights and Black Liberation Movement will not be complete until the story of the role of Black Power and North Carolina Nationalists in particular, are given proper attention by scholars and activists.

See, William Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina and the Black Struggle for Freedom, (New York: Oxford Press, 1980 and Richard Benson, Fighting for Our Place in the Sun: Malcom X and the Radicalization of the Black Student Movement (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2015)

Resources Malcolm X: A Research Site

http://www.brothermalcolm.net Civil Rights Greensboro UNC-G

http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/subjOverview.aspx Walls That Bleed: The Story of the Dudley/A&T Uprising

http://www.wallsthatbleedthemovie.com/home.html Common Dreams: Dr. King’s Global Vision and Beyond Vietnam

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0115-13.htm Legacy: Understanding Black Power

http://www.ushistory.org/us/54i.asp The Black Power and Black Power Mix Tapes

http://socialistworker.org/2013/02/08/the-black-power-era Beloved Community Center

http://www.belovedcommunitycenter.org/