Freedom Road: Nebraska Sudan Divestment Campaign

"The Selma of the North": Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee

Between 1958 and 1970, a distinctive movement for racial justice emerged from unique circumstances in Milwaukee. A series of local leaders inspired growing numbers of people to participate in campaigns against employment and housing discrimination, segregated public schools, the membership of public officials in discriminatory organizations, welfare cuts, and police brutality.

The Milwaukee movement culminated in the dramatic—and sometimes violent—1967 open housing campaign. A white Catholic priest, James Groppi, led the NAACP Youth Council and Commandos in a militant struggle that lasted for 200 consecutive nights and provoked the ire of thousands of white residents. After working-class mobs attacked demonstrators, some called Milwaukee “the Selma of the North.” Others believed the housing campaign represented the last stand for a nonviolent, interracial, church-based movement.

Patrick Jones tells a powerful and dramatic story that is important for its insights into civil rights history: the debate over nonviolence and armed self-defense, the meaning of Black Power, the relationship between local and national movements, and the dynamic between southern and northern activism. Jones offers a valuable contribution to movement history in the urban North that also adds a vital piece to the national story.

Buy it here!

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Blurbs:

Think you know the full story of the civil rights era? Patrick Jones's masterful study of the movement in Milwaukee will make you think again. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The Selma of the North provides a devastating rebuttal of many of the conventional narratives of the civil rights movement. Here a vibrant nonviolent movement in the de-industrializing Midwest grows into a Black Power movement led by urban youth and a white Catholic priest who use confrontational direct action to lay bare the fissures of racial inequality in the 'liberal' North.
--Jeanne Theoharis, Brooklyn College, editor of Freedom North and Groundwork

A well-researched, well-written, and important history. Based on a rich array of sources, this book enhances our understanding of civil rights activism in the postwar urban North and establishes a useful foundation for the comparison of similar developments elsewhere in the country.
--Joe William Trotter, Jr., Carnegie Mellon University, author of Black Milwaukee

This book fills a serious gap in the literature of the civil rights revolution, joining studies on other cities in laying the groundwork on race and civil rights in the postwar urban North. Jones tells a good story, capturing events that might otherwise be lost to history.
--Arnold R. Hirsch, University of New Orleans, author of Making the Second Ghetto

The Selma of the North is an insightful and invigorating addition to the growing literature on black freedom struggles outside of the South. Jones's important and informative account writes Milwaukee back into the narrative of the civil rights-Black Power era and in the process expands our understanding of postwar America.
--Peniel E. Joseph, Brandeis University, author of Waiting Till the Midnight Hour

The Selma of the North is a riveting new story of the civil rights movement in America, a tale on par with Selma, Birmingham, and Montgomery in its power and importance. Jones's magisterial research and magnetic prose illuminate the untold story of the battle for the urban north in the 1960s, a battle that shows how race has always been the Achilles heel of white progressives. This story transcends easy dichotomies of black and white, North and South, radical and reformist. How did a group called 'the Commandos' define nonviolence? How did a white Catholic priest become a 'Black Power' leader? If this is not a saga for the age of Obama, I don't know what is.
--Timothy B. Tyson, Duke University, author of Radio Free Dixie and Blood Done Sign My Name

Friday, February 15, 2008

Nebraska Sudan Divestment Campaign

For those of you in Nebraska, a new group on the UNL campus has formed around the Darfur divestment issue... If you aren't in Nebraska, perhaps you could start one of these campaigns in your city.

Here is what the group has to say in a recent announcement:

The Nebraska Sudan divestment campaign is gaining momentum. This
Tuesday, February 19, B 992 will come before the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee. LB 992 would ensure that Nebraska is not investing in companies that are funding genocide in Sudan. This past month has shown us just how uncommitted the government of Sudan is to ending the genocide. Early this month, President Bashir appointed a key militia leader who helped orchestrate genocide in Darfur as a Senior Advisor on ETHNIC AFFAIRS. And if that's not shocking enough, last Friday, the government launched its largest offensive in months, attacking three Darfur villages and forcing 200,000 people out of their homes.

Let's keep up the pressure on Sudan. Please call these legislators and ask them to support and co-sponsor LB 992 to help end genocide. It's very important that they hear from YOU. If you've never contacted Nebraska legislators, make this your first time. They need to hear that we DO NOT support our state's investments in genocide.
(A script and sample email are provided below.)

Sen. John Synowiecki (District 7, Omaha)
(402) 471-2721
jsynowiecki@leg.ne.gov

Senator Tom White (District 8, Omaha)
(402) 471-2722
twhite@leg.ne.gov

Senator Philip Erdman (District 47, Bayard)
(402) 471-2616
perdman@leg.ne.gov

Senator Lavon Heidemann (District 1, Elk Creek)
(402) 471-2733
lheidemann@leg.ne.gov

Senator Russ Karpisek (District 32, Wilber)
(402) 471-2711
rkarpisek@leg.ne.gov

Senator LeRoy J. Louden (District 49, Ellsworth)
(402) 471-2725
llouden@leg.ne.gov

22 states have already divested their funds from targeted companies operating in Sudan. This list of approximately 25 foreign companies have been found to be helping to fund the government of Sudan's genocidal campaign in Darfur.

Call your legislator today and demand that Nebraska not fund genocide.

Make sure to continue calling until the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee meets on February 19th in order to remind them to support the legislation!

SCRIPT:
I am a constituent calling to urge __________ to ensure that the investments of the state of Nebraska are genocide free by co-sponsoring LB 992. Twenty two states have passed policies of Sudan divestment, ensuring that they are not indirectly contributing to the ongoing genocide in Darfur which has killed over 200,000 people. Thank You.

Sample Email:
Dear Senator ___________,

As a constituent and Nebraskan, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing government-sponsored genocide currently being executed in Darfur, Sudan. For the first time in history, genocide has been officially declared while atrocities are still ongoing. The government of Sudan has systematically slaughtered non-Arab African populations in the country's Darfur region for over three years.

I find it deplorable that Nebraska's money is helping to fund the genocide in Sudan. I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor and support LB 992. These bills are "targeted Sudan divestment" legislation focusing only on foreign companies that have a business relationship with the government, impart minimal benefit to the country's underprivileged, and have failed to respond to attempts at shareholder engagement. Additionally, this critical legislation contains safeguards that project the state's pension funds and allow them to maintain their prudent investor responsibilities.

22 states have already passed or adopted policies of Sudan divestment. 15 of these states have passed the same language present in LB 992.

On New Year's Eve, President Bush signed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act which authorizes states to adopt policies of targeted Sudan divestment. This law was passed unanimously. Given the Sudanese government's historical sensitivity to economic pressure and the ongoing genocide in Darfur, I urge you to co-sponsor LB 992!

Sincerely,

NAME

ADDRESS

Contact Your State Legislators Today! Email Steph Sutton or Sarah Beringer, Co-chairs of Divest Nebraska, with questions. nesudandivestment@gmail.com.

Here is a brief trailer for a film on Darfur:

Freedom Road

My Book:

"The Selma of the North": Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee

Blurbs:

The Archive:

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Friday, February 15, 2008

Nebraska Sudan Divestment Campaign

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