Teacher Power, Black Power, and the fracturing of Labor Liberalism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Shelton
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Black Power ◽  
Community Control ◽  
Teacher Strikes ◽  
American Federation ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
American Federation Of Teachers ◽  
Black Populations

This chapter chronicles the growing conflict between the Black Power movement—an extension of the civil rights movement seeking the formation of black political and community institutions—and unionized public employees in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Beginning with the United Federation of Teachers strike in 1968 over community control in Ocean Hill-Brownsville (New York City), the chapter also shows how two teacher strikes in Newark (1970, 1971) drove apart the Black community and a majority white teacher union. A close examination of letters to the imprisoned President of the American Federation of Teachers shows that critics of both urban black populations and unionized teachers had begun to link the two groups together as “unproductive” threats to law and order and economic prosperity.

How Local 192 Fought for Academic Freedom and Civil Rights in Philadelphia, 1934-1941

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 941-960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Toloudis
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
State Government ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Teachers Union ◽  
American Federation ◽  
American Federation Of Teachers ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Scholarly Attention

While historians have often discussed the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) expulsion of three of its locals in 1941 due to their Communist affiliations, only the two New York unions have been the subjects of sustained scholarly attention. This article examines AFT Local 192, the Philadelphia Teachers Union, during its heyday between 1934 and 1941. Using archival documents and newspaper accounts, it argues for the significance of Local 192 as an example of social justice unionism, combining commitments to robust advocacy of classroom teachers in city and state government, fighting for racial equality, and fostering deep social networks with the families whose children appeared in union teachers’ classrooms.

Creative Chaos

2018 ◽  
pp. 145-170
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
York City ◽  
Black Power ◽  
Northern Cities

This chapter chronicles Richardson’s travels to northern cities to aid local activists who were building freedom movements based on the same issues addressed in Cambridge: jobs, housing, health care, and education. As such, the Cambridge movement was a model for the northern activists who developed Black Power, and they looked to Richardson as a leader they could emulate—notably, her counterprotest during George Wallace’s visit to Cambridge in May 1964. Through her use of “creative chaos”—a strategy that confused the Cambridge movement’s opponents—Richardson solidified her reputation for effective human rights leadership. Gendered interpretations of her leadership and activism, as well as the role of gender in the civil rights movement more generally, are also covered, as is her relocation to New York City in 1964 when she married photojournalist Frank Dandridge.

Strike the Hammer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Warren Hill
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Black Community ◽  
Black Power ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Civil Rights History

On July 24, 1964, chaos erupted in Rochester, New York. This book examines the unrest — rebellion by the city's Black community, rampant police brutality — that would radically change the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement. After overcoming a violent response by State Police, the fight for justice, in an upstate town rooted in black power movements, was reborn. That resurgence owed much to years of organizing and resistance in the community. This book examines Rochester's long Civil Rights history and, drawing extensively on oral accounts of the northern, urban community, offers rich and detailed stories of the area's protest tradition. The book paints a compelling picture of the foundations for the movement. Now, especially, this story of struggle for justice and resistance to inequality resonates. The book leads us to consider the social, political, and economic environment more than fifty years ago and how that founding generation of activists left its mark on present-day Rochester.

“Say What you Really Believe”1: Freedom Schools, Youth Empowerment, and Black Power in 1960s Milwaukee

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Katerina Suchor
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Black Power ◽  
School Desegregation ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Youth Empowerment ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
Freedom Schools ◽  
Core Components

Background The historical literature on the civil rights movement has tended to underemphasize the movement's educational activities, while literature on the civil rights and Black Power movements has overemphasized ideological and tactical differences between these chapters in the struggle for Black liberation. A few studies have examined Freedom Schools—educational projects established as part of larger civil rights campaigns—but these studies have focused almost exclusively on Freedom Schools in the Southern context. Purpose Focusing on Freedom Schools organized as part of a school desegregation campaign in Milwaukee during the mid-1960s, this article explores the pedagogical purpose and philosophy of the Freedom Schools, as distinct from other protest activities undertaken as part of the campaign, as well as the legacy of the Freedom Schools after the campaign's conclusion. Research Design This historical analysis examines materials such as lesson plans, flyers, and correspondence from the archives of the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee (MUSIC), the organization responsible for the school desegregation campaign. Findings This article shows that core components of the Freedom School curriculum, which sought to challenge deficit-oriented policies and empower youth to create social change, foreshadowed key tenets of Black Power ideology. Conclusions These findings suggest that the Freedom Schools, as important sites of ideological development, highlight continuity between the civil rights and Black Power movements and situate the Freedom Schools as part of a longer tradition of education for liberation and self-determination.

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