“What with the range of ideology, religious belief, political commitment and background, age, and experience, something interesting was always going on. Because no matter our differences, this group had one thing in common, moral stubbornness. Whatever we believed, we really believed and were not at all shy about advancing. We were where we were only because of our willingness to affirm our beliefs even at the risk of physical injury. So it was never dull on death row.” — Stokely Carmichael
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
April 8, 1960: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the principal organizations of the Civil Rights Movement, was founded after a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Future leaders attending those meetings included Stokely Carmichael, Julian Bond, Diane Nash, John Lewis, James Bevel, and Marion Barry, who served as the first chairman of SNCC. SNCC was primarily focused on voter registration in the South and in 1963 conducted the Freedom Ballot in Mississippi. In 1964, they conducted the Mississippi Summer Project to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to win seats at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. SNCC also established Freedom Schools to teach children to read and to educate them to stand up for their rights. Although still active in some cities, SNCC largely disappeared in the early 1970’s.
The Akosua Report: Facts on The African Diaspora, is written by Akosua Lowery. Follow her on Twitter @AkosuaLowery.