We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of, for hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here — for they have no money for their transportation, for they are receiving starvation wages...or no wages at all...
Although it didn’t solve the problems in the north,
being unrealistic in the short time that we had, our political and economic
achievements did help to improve ghettos significantly and really only ensured
there were minor problems politically.
organising northern blacks
Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC) was admittedly highly effective though this was more so in the south where Christianity and religion took a larger part in social lives as well as there being a lack of ghettos. Whereas, in the north, ghettos for black people were frequent and degrading. These people stuck in the ‘slums’ had long lost faith in Christianity and had deserted the church so the SCLC had little appeal to them- more attractive towards those of middle-class status. |
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The SNCC and the Black Panther Party, however, aimed specifically for economic improvement and emphasised the use of self-defence which was much more alluring to those in the northern states for it was more relatable to their experiences. Our commitment to solving economic problems and improving life in ghettos meant we became genuinely popular through our high profile campaigns and gained a lot of support.
freedom cities
1. The Black Panther Party was founded on the ideals of Malcom X so that the party was intent, especially Stokely Carmichael, on blacks having their own communities. Our trust in the American Police and Government was lacking as their racism and oppression of blacks had affected us for year. In our very Ten-Point Plan, we demanded all black men to be released from federal, state and private prisons as it couldn’t be proved that they had all had a fair trial and many created our own black community savings stock.
2. The SNCC held a ‘Free D.C. Movement’ in Washington which was led by Marion Barry in 1966. It was highly successful and aimed to bring he ‘black rule’ back to our communities. Initially it started off with demonstrations against the local schools which meant, by the end of the year, we were enabled to elect our own school boards which gave our children more flexibility in what they could learn and where they could learn. We also got a ‘Model Police Precinct’ which was elected by the black community too, even if it was partially controlled by the official police board. However, the funding was an immense $3 million to improve policing.
3. There was also the campaign in New York where the same organisation gained control of the Intermediate School 201 in Harlem whilst, in Mississippi another Freedom City protest was set up with Child Development Groups cooperating with the local churches. It was aimed to give a head start to our black children and raised $1.5 million from government funding. In the end, official Head Start Centres were set up by the federal government supporting our Young.