Publication Type: Individual Paper
Abstract: In the sixties strange things begin to happen. H. Rap Brown used the .black power creed as a source of power to control plans of Columbia University to build a gym on 30.1 acres of Morningside Park in Harlem. H. Rap Brown was called Rap because he could “sure work a crowd” When the Student Afro American Society (SAS) had taken over Hamilton Hall and a hostage Dean Coleman... H. Rap Brown entered and announced, “We want to thank you for taking the first steps in this struggle. SNCC is now in charge.”. Six large, black males approached five white jocks that refused to abandon guardianship of the Dean. The black men moved them. There are in fact relatively simple problems in the morals which cannot be decided from the laws. The black power creed generated an irresistible power to resolve the conflict. The five white jocks left and six black guards formed outside Coleman’s door. Power is the production of intended effects.When reporters came they had no option but to put their mike in an Afro-American face. H. Rap Brown’s strategy is replicable. Promptness of decision, Unity of command, strict discipline and rhetoric to “work a crowd”. We propose H. Rap Brown as a not to be forgotten worthy in African- American History.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Despite the legislative victories of the civil rights movement, low-income African Americans have continued to face rising levels of poverty over the past three decades. Because of this ongoing
relationship between civil rights and economic justice, and despite disincentives, civil rights organizations have all, at times during
their history, chosen to advocate on behalf of low-income African
Americans. Therefore, this paper examines the factors that contributed
to organizations' decisions to advocate on behalf of politically
unpopular groups, such as welfare recipients. Welfare reform is not an
explicitly racial issue, but one that disproportionately affects
low-income African Americans. Depending on their incentives and
ideologies, organizations can choose to either emphasize the racial
significance of reform, or to substantially ignore the issue. In this
paper, I examine the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People's and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's activities concerning the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) in 1964 and 1965. A comparison of the incentives
responsible for this representation illustrates the importance of
internal organizational structure, growth, and inter-group competition to an organization's decision to prioritize anti-poverty policy and the representation of the poor.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This project examines the ideological foundation of the
mass movement activities organized and carried out by the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The creation of the
organization will be analyzed within the context of African American
political thought and this paper will seek to understand how the
ideological discussions among African Americans during the civil rights
era informed the strategic actions taken by the student activists of
SNCC. The ideology and strategies of southern resistance will also be
analyzed as will the ideological plans of other civil rights era groups
such as the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC) in order to provide context to the activities of SNCC. These
discussions will help illuminate the necessity of understanding the
complex and multiple perspectives on racism, inequality, and political
empowerment that informed ideological discussions during the civil
rights era and continue to influence African American politics
today.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Undergraduate sociology students often grapple with the concepts presented in theory textbooks. By studying the organization the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) of the 1960's civil rights movement, insights can be gained into the social change theories of resource mobilization, counter-hegemony, charisma and authority, dialectics, nonviolent resistance and praxis. Social change is shown to occur when resources are mobilized by individuals with a clear understanding of the methods of resistance and change. Primary and secondary sources were used to explicate mobilization of the following resources: media, celebrity musicians, music and fashion, monetary support from sympathizers, youth, charismatic individuals, taking the moral high ground, freedom high, and sexuality.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper analyzes SNCC's and CORE's attention to anti-poverty policy after the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964 and 1965 and demonstrates that organizational structure will affect how interest groups arrive at their priorities.