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 27406
March 24, 2016
336-230-0001
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 Selfdefense
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 Students

CORE 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
whitenessAmerica
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

Greensboro/Durham
Becomes the Center of the
Greensboro Association of Poor People (GAPP)
Black
Power
Movement
in
the
Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU)
Black
Citizens Concerned with Police Brutality
South
(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 5-1069

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. Kings 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/