Freedom Road: This Brave Nation

"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.

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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

Thursday, July 03, 2008

This Brave Nation

The venerable liberal magazine, The Nation, has teamed up with Brave New Films to create and distribute a new series of online video dialogues between activists and thinkers. The series, called "This Brave Nation," aims to bridge the gap between experienced activists who have been working on social justice issues for a long time and a new generation of progressive-minded folks who are seeking ways to act meaningfully in their communities. The creators of the series hope to provoke interesting discussion that is positive, proactive and forward-looking. The episodes are well worth some of your time...

Here is the preview clip This Brave Nation created to introduce the series:

Here are some reactions from folks who have taken a look online:

"Hearing directly from those who began the movements that changed history makes the idea of creating social change accessible to all of us."
- A S in Denver via email

"If I had seen these episodes in high-school I would have gone on to college actually believing I could make a difference."
- D L in Los Angeles via email

"I really think this new project could be subtitled This American Life meets Frontline thinkers and activists."
- The Group News Blog

"I think this series deserves maximum exposure."
- N. Lin in St. Paul

"I hope it makes it to college campuses too... lots of young adults feeling very disenchanted with the whole scene."
- Fran from Siren Chronicles

"I found fascinating their discussion about the role of culture in social change and why artists today seem less invovled than in the 60s"
- Future Majority

"As an aging progressive who majored in film, I salute you for your new series and thank you for the eloquent way you present the possibility for change"
- P.C. via email

Here is the first dialogue between Carl Pope and Van Jones on "Environment, New Media, Civil Rights & the Economy":

INTRO: In any other profession, Carl Pope might be considered a "company man." He has worked loyally and tirelessly in the name of the Sierra Club for thirty years, running the organization – the largest of its kind in the country – since 1992. Van Jones has founded several organizations within the last decade, including The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green For All. They both live in the Bay Area. They both care intensely about saving the environment. The thing is, they use very distinct methods, although the lines differentiating those methods are blurring as we race further into the 21st century. From the environment to the economy, from old fashioned door-to-door fliers to streaming internet video, Pope and Jones discuss the myriad elements effecting our lives today and the many possible solutions that are nearly within reach.

What do you think?

Freedom Road

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

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Thursday, July 03, 2008

This Brave Nation

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