Oral History

How Stokely Carmichael Betrayed the Movement

In Oral History on 21 May 2010 tagged Black Power, James Lawson, March Against Fear, Stokely Carmichael with no comments

Stokely Carmichael’s cry for Black Power in ‘66 was a cry of frustration. It did not have planning behind it, and in some ways I feel Stokely — whom I loved, whom I liked a good bit personally in 1960 when I first met him — betrayed the movement.
That’s Rev. James Lawson on the moment [...]

Charles Sellers: From the Freedom Rides to the Free Speech Movement

In Oral History on 4 May 2009 tagged Free Speech with 3 comments

While working on my book, I started to think about the connections between the sit-ins and the Freedom Rides with the Free Speech and anti-war movements that followed – all student-powered, often student-led, almost always at odds with if not in defiance of establishment allies. When I met Freedom Rider Charles Sellers, I met a [...]

Why ‘Kayo’ Hallinan Wasn’t a Freedom Rider

In Oral History, Violence on 26 February 2009 with no comments

The Freedom Rides were a model of several management principles en vogue, at least until recently, in the new economy. The Riders were strategically nimble, adeptly abandoning their original destination of New Orleans to pursue “jail, no bail” in Jackson. They employed just-in-time inventory controls: within a day or two of their arrival in one [...]