Freedom Road: Council Bluffs

"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, August 16, 2007

Obama-mania!

We went to see Barack Obama today in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he spoke mainly about foreign policy issues. The great thing about the Iowa caucus system is that you have direct access to the candidates. We sat ten yards from the stage in a middle school gymnasium with about 250 people around us. When you can feel the politics in this way, you naturally come out jazzed about the process and democracy.

We were all very impressed with Barack and his wife, Michelle. They are both extremely charismatic and reasonable. Of course, we heard a stump speech, so here and there we would have liked a few more details, but overall we came away excited about the prospect of Obama as president. In his prepared remarks, Barack countered the criticism he has received recently over his foreign policy pronouncements in a very clear and fairly compelling way. He stressed a new approach to foreign policy that is refocused on the 9/11 culprits in Afghanistan and Pakistan and away from Iraq, a policy that is not only based on military might, but also on diplomacy, foreign aid to help countries combat poverty, and an openness and respect for the American people as citizens and, ultimately, the overseers of the nation. After his canned remarks, he opened it up to questions from the audience. The whole event lasted about an hour or so.

Here are some of the photos I took:

Obama in action...

Barack working the crowd...

Drea after she shook Obama's hand:
"I'll never wash this hand again as long as I live!"

Drea and Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama was impressive. She'd make
a great First Lady and, hell, probably a pretty darn good President
herself...

I always like the various buttons that come out with each presidential cycle. I got this one from a woman outside the school after the event...

Here is a related article by the NYTimes:
NYTimes: "Obama Takes Sharper Tone to the Trail"

Would an Obama presidency be good for prosperity? Buffett thinks so...
Bloomberg article

For more information on Obama's campaign, to find out where he stands on the issues, to get involved or donate some money, go here:
Obama '08

Freedom Road

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

Blurbs:

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Visitors? (since 12/10/07)

Friday, August 17, 2007

Mrs. Obama: "Be not afraid"

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Obama-mania!