Although the “Million Youth March” is often referenced in later years as one of the examples of Black solidarity after the huge and inspiring Million Man and Million Woman marches, the reality was low attendance and a lot of conflict. After the success of the 1997 Million Woman March, older
Read moreThe Jena Six: Of nooses, fights, narratives, and movement building
NOTE: Since writing this blog I have gained more information and have written a longer paper with more details that gives a somewhat different slant on some events. I will link to that paper when I’ve finished revising it. There was a huge wave of Black protests in the wake
Read moreOrganizing the Million Man March
Most of the discussions of the Million Man March (MMM) have focused on interpretations of Louis Farrakhan’s ideology or about the meaning of the widespread Black support for the MMM for what it implied about what Black people thought about Farrakhan. Few have discussed the significance of the obvious: the
Read moreOrganizing the Million Woman March
The Million Woman March (MWM) was held in Philadelphia on October 25, 1997, nine days after the second anniversary of the Million Man March (MMM). Although crowd size estimates are always problematic, there were probably more people at the Million Woman March than the Million Man March. Unlike the Million
Read moreBen Chavis and the Million Man March
The 1995 Million Man March was arguably the most important event in Black History of the 1990s. News accounts at the time clearly listed both Louis Farrakhan and Ben Chavis as jointly responsible for organizing the Million Man March. However, nearly all news coverage and subsequent discussions of the Million
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Black Protests in the US, 1994-2010
Although many discussions imply nothing happened between the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter, we find that Black protests in the 1990s and 2000s seem continuous with what came later.
Read moreDebunking Myths about the Civil Rights Movement
Jeanne Theoharis. A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History (Beacon Press. Kindle Edition) [E]ven those civil rights heroes we recognize today were reviled in their day and made to feel crazy. Today’s lamentation—that we need another King—misses the fact that we have many
Read moreWhen the NYPD Rioted
In New York in 1992, about 4000 off-duty police officers and their supporters rioted against then-mayor David Dinkins (who is Black) for his advocacy of an all-civilian review board to monitor police misconduct. Rioting police broke down police barricades, damaged vehicles, and blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge for an
Read moreRecent Anti-Police Brutality Protests Since George Floyd’s Death are Far Larger than Previous Black Lives Matter Protest Waves
Much excellent work has been written about the need for systemic reform of policing in the US, the discrimination and inequalities faced by Black Americans, and the brave struggles of anti-racist protesters amidst the ongoing police repression and the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic. As social movements go, the ongoing mobilizations
Read moreThe Importance of Demonstrating that Communities Can Police Themselves
Chloe Haimson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, haimson@wisc.edu Note: This piece is based on research collected for a forthcoming paper in Mobilization. In recent weeks, heated interactions nationwide between protesters and police, were sparked by the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, by a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.
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