1960

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC, was one of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations of the 1960s. It emerged from the first wave of student sit-ins and formed at a meeting organized by Ella Baker at Shaw University. SNCC played a key role in the freedom rides, the 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Selma campaigns, the March Against Fear and other historic events. SNCC may be best known for its community organizing, including voter registration, freedom schools, and localized direct action all over the country, but especially in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Water connection, sweat, lack of fresh drinking water and water to drink. The freedom ride buses were set on fire, abandoned on the side of the road and were left to burn.

1963

On September 15, 1963, the bombing of the 16th street Baptist church, located in Birmingham, Alabama occured. The baptist church was used as a meeting place for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), for civil rights leaders such as the famous, Martin Luther King. One of the primary topics that was discussed, that created high tension leading to the bombing, was the campaign for African American voting rights, specifically in Birmingham, Alabama. The bombing was an act of violence by the KKK, and ended with the death of four African American girls and twenty three people injured. Access to water was segregated among the towns and the firetrucks took a long time to respond and put the fire out.

1965

In Watts Los Angeles, on August 11, 1965, Marquette Frye, a young black man, was pulled over by police officer, Lee W. Minikus; he was accused of speeding. As the officer was trying to arrest Frye, Frye resisted. The officer then pulled his gun out because he was afraid a riot was going to happen. Frye’s mother saw the gun and immediately jumped onto the back of the officer, resulting in all three Frye members being arrested. A crowd then formed and resulted in a violent riot. The riot continued for five days and resulted in 34 deaths and thousands of injuries. Large amounts of blood was spilled within those five days. Tear gas was often used by police during riots such as this one. Tear gas makes people sick, they often are sweaty and vomit from inhaling the toxic fumes.

1966

The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale a year after the death of Malcolm X; it was originally named The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. It was formed in October of 1966, in Oakland California. The goal was to protect black communities from police brutality, especially after the Watts riots and other civil rights protests during the 60’s. The Black Panther Party eventually felt that all African Americans had the right to arm themselves against police. The Black Panther party reigns from 1968 into the early 1970s. The Black Panther Movement’s mission was to patrol and protect their neighborhoods from acts of police brutality because of the growing distrust held in the police system and lack of humane treatment by officers with suspects of color. In 1967, Huey Newton’s arrest was published after he participated in a shootout with police leaving one officer dead; this news increased the size of the Black Panther Party and it grew to 48 states outside of California.

1968

The Orangeburg Massacre is an event that took place on February 8th, 1968 in the town of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Highway patrol officers decided to open fire on approximately 200 unarmed students on the campus of South Carolina University. Out of the 70 armed police officers only 9 were charged with the shooting, at trial the officers claimed they acted in self-defense despite any evidence and all the men were acquitted. Three students were killed, Sammy Hammond a freshman who was shot in the back, Henry Smith an 18 year old was shot 3 times, and 17 year old Delano Middleton. Around 28 other students were shot and wounded in the altercation as well. Confusion still surrounds the question of why the police officers chose to open fire on unarmed students on campus at night.

1969

After a few years of the FBI declaring The Black Panther Party a communist group, the FBI, with the help of counterintelligence, made an attack on the The Black Panther Party Headquarters in Oakland California. The police brutally shot and killed former Black Panther Member, Fred Hampton at his house in December of 1969. This was the one of the biggest public attacks by the FBI on The Black Panther Party.