Back to the main menu.Timeline
1966
January 6 – the SNCC announces their opposition to the Vietnam War. Many members feel increasingly sympathetic towards the Vietnamese, and compare the indiscriminate bombing of Vietnam to the racial violence seen in the U.S.
Jan 26 – King moves into Chicago slum apartment on January 26, and announces his intention to begin a campaign against discrimination, but his efforts are ultimately unsuccessful.
June 6 – James Meredith beings his journey on the “March Against Fear” on June 6, from Memphis, Tennessee, to encourage African American Mississippians to register to vote. Near Hernando, Mississippi, he is shot. Others, including King, take up the march.
June 26 – the marchers reach their destination of Jackson, Mississippi. They experience some tension on the final days of the march between some SNCC members and King over embracing the “black power” slogan.
1967
April 4th – King makes a speech against the Vietnam War in New York.
June 12th – The Supreme Court hands down a decision in Loving v. Virginia, which strikes down state laws that forbid interracial marriage.
July – Riots break out in northern cities, including New York, Detroit, Buffalo, Michigan, as well as Newark, New Jersey.
September 1st – Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American Justice appointed to the Supreme Court.
November 7th – Cal Stokes becomes the first African-American to be elected as the mayor of a major American city.
1968
April 4th – Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated as he goes outside on the balcony of his motel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
April 11th President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 on April. This act prohibits discrimination by renters or sellers of property.
Useful videos on the Black Power Movement.
Overview
Debate between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
Stokely Carmichael
Of the following 3 videos, part 9 is the most relevant to the issue of Black Power.
Eyes on the Prize, part 7: 1964-66
Eyes on the Prize, part 8
Eyes on the Prize, part 9
RGS History 