Seminar: Freedom Summer | Fascist Winter: Black Power 1960–1970

Join Dr. Felicia Denaud for a seminar on Black Power politics across the revolutionary 1960s. Black Power remains a vital context of 20th century struggle and argument, summarizing a range of global activity and thinking linked by a fundamental critique of the West, racial/ colonial rule, and capitalism. Black Power networks prioritized self-determination and militant struggle though differed widely in the forms of political community toward which they advanced.

This seminar will travel the 1960s with emphasis on Freedom Summer and Black Power through key organizations including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP), and the Black Liberation Army (BLA). We will think historically but with an eye on the experimental forms of power and violence in development today. Expect music, poetry, film, visual art, and open discussion.

REQUIRED READING

While you are encouraged to read as much of Kwame Ture and Charles V . Hamilton’s as possible, please prioritize Chapter 2 “Black Power: Its Need and Substance” if you are short on time.

Host or Publisher Taft Research Center