Transcripts For CSPAN3 Kenneth Gibson Newarks First Black Ma

Transcripts For CSPAN3 Kenneth Gibson Newarks First Black Mayor 20240711

Military. Learn more about veterans day through archival films, sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern, one 1 00 p. M. Pacific, here on American History tv. A panel of scholars discusses the impact of kenneth gibson, elected as new works first black mayor and the first black mayor of any northeastern city. They examine the impact this had on the broader Civil Rights Movement, and how gibson did and did not meet the expectations of voters. This is part of the association for the study of africanamerican life and historys annual conference. They provided the video. Mr. Blackmer good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for what promises to be a timely and illuminating roundtable discussion, looking back on the 50th anniversary of the struggle to elect newarks first black mayor, kenneth gibson. Elected in june 1970, since administration are to the turning point in newark and was part of a wave of black political organizing that culminated in the election of to 1974. Ors from 1967 these histories feel vital right now, as blackledge struggles against Police Violence in the murders have once again sound the clarion call for black liberation, while raising familiar questions about the roles of electoral politics in black freedom struggles. 50 years ago gibsons election came on the heels of the 1967 rebellion in newark, when the Police Beating of a man named john smith sparked a fiveday uprising against White Supremacy and its enforcers in luke. Amidst heightened organizing smiths beating recalled countless Police Killings in the city i the city that had gone unpunished, and brought thousands into the streets. State police and National Guardsmen were called in to violently suppress the uprising, claiming two dozen lives, including 10yearold eddie moss and many others. In the following days and years, black and puerto rican communities leveraged the people power and momentum of the uprising to build Community Power and organize successful campaigns for Community Control of urban development, educational justice, and political power in the city. Around the principles of cultural nationalism and began building educational, cultural, and political institutions, including the united brothers and community for a unified newark. At the same time, heavily armed white militias patrolled the citys italian northward, and terrorized black communities, signifying the white backlash to black demands for human rights and selfdetermination. Into this charged political flay fray came can gibson, a political moderate who had run unsuccessfully in the previous mayor election. Running alongside a black of puerto rican and black candidates for city council, bringing the likes of fannie lou hamer, stevie wonder, harry belafonte, and isaac hayes to newark to lend their celebrity to the cause. In the streets and neighborhoods, organizers registered and mobilized an unprecedented voter turnout that has yet to be matched since. As part of a National Trend in the late 60s 1960s and early 1970s, gibsons election illustrated the aspirations of lack political power. The same time, his administration feel the limitations of seeking liberation through the ballot boxed. The revelation that has recently become abundantly clear in cities like chicago and atlanta. So, what are the legacies of this era and what lessons do they hold for a new generation of activists and organizers have been in the streets for over 100 days now, demanding change in liberation . Here to discuss the legacies and lessons of these histories are beatrice adams, a phd candidate in africanAmerican History at rutgers, and a researcher with rise of new york. Junius williams, official city historian for newark and author of unfinished agenda. And also a producer of rise up newark. ,astly, Komozi Woodward a author of nation within a nation. Be forst question will professor williams. You are a leader in the struggle against the urban renewal project that would have displaced thousands of black new workers to build a state medical college. How activists and organizers could you please describehow activists and organizers leveraged the momentum generated by the 1967 rebellion to organize for political power in newark . [no audio] you are on mute. Dr. Willaims thank you, peter, and thank you for the work you have done. With rise up newark and other things. The medical school fight was an example of a strategy which combined all aspects of political rebellion. The demonstration had already taken place. The demonstration was the rebellion. There was no need to go back in the streets. We had been in the streets. More people in the streets than at any other time. So, i was working with phil hutchings, who later became chairman of national snicc. I had also been working with an sds project. I said, suppose we do Something Different . After the rebellion, people were scared. The white people were scared. Suppose we do Something Different . I was in law school at yale, had taken classes at the architecture and planning, and i said to my friend professor can you design a plan that shows the plan they have for the medical school . They want 150 acres. You can get it much more. He did that. Long story short, they came up with a plan for 19 acres. Then i got the lawyers from the Legal Defense fund, who had up until that time been working mainly in the south. They came in and file the complaint and said, you cant build this medical school, because there is not enough housing. With that in mind, there was a new coalition. And that coalition levied the power of that nameless and faceless mother with the brick into a plan, into an agreement which called for 60 acres of land for the hospital and medical school, 60 acres of vacant land for Community Development and housing. On that there had been built 1000 units of housing. An opportunity for black people to get involved in the construction, through unions. One half apprentices, one third journeymen, and various other aspects, which i do not have time to go into. That was the beginning of the coalition that morphed into the unified into the united brothers, which was called by baraka. Then it morphed into the platform which brought gibson into electoral power. Peter thank you, professor williams. Professor woodard, you remember the committee and congress of afton people in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Can you explain the political analyses and objectives behind the Gibson Campaign and how this election fit within black political power struggles . You are on mute. Prof. Woodard can you hear me now . All right. After the assassinations of malcolm x, dr. King, and another black panther, fred hampton, there was a great vacuum in leadership. By the time dr. King came to newark in 1968, amiti baracka had met with malcolm x and they had told him about the alabama black Panther Party organizing and planted the seeds of an idea to make newark the northern counterpart for the black panther. Newark was supposed to be the black power experiment in the jim crow north. When dr. King met with amiti, he wanted a partnership. Dr. King was assassinated less than two weeks after that meeting. When he was assassinated in 1968, that black united front was packed into the june 1968 black Political Convention in newark and the 1968 National Black power conference in philadelphia. At that point, the National Black power conference made newark the test case for black power politics. All kinds of resources streamed into newark based on that agreement. From the Civil Rights Movement on the one hand, the black Power Movement on the other hand, and the black cultural revolution that was going on in the popular arts throughout the country. Accidentally, white vigilantes were attacking and mobbing africanamerican and Puerto Ricans in the streets of newark. In response, two poets, amiti baraka and felipe, signed a mutual defense pact insisting that an attack on the Puerto Rican Community was an attack on the black community and vice versa. That mutual appreciation and trust grew into a Political Alliance that was articulated at the 1968 black and puerto rican Political Convention. That ended up being the winning formula. 1968, the united brothers ran an allblack ticket at an allblack convention. We lost. 1969, we started early organizing for the 1970 election and with that alliance of blacks and Puerto Ricans, and progressive whites, we won and the other piece is that the Campaign Apparatus for the newark fund did not disband when the election was over. After winning that election and learning how to use mass media and publications, they organized an International Meeting in atlanta, georgia and then the gary convention, the african liberation stay in washington, d. C. And on and on. The group that put that together was called the Fund Community council, they met after church. We have to remember, it was after church, and it was called face the nation. Mimicking the tv program. Basically, they would stand up the municipal officials and grade their paper. Are you cleaning the streets . Are you doing the health requirements, and things like that. It was an ongoing political movement, but that convention, some of us were students. We studied the black conventions in the 19th century and we thought that would be a workable formula for the 20th century. I think young people now just had a convention, i think last week, using that same method. In a nutshell, that is what the strategy was. Thank you. Peter thank you, professor woodard. Professor adams, you spent a lot of time researching various aspects of the Gibson Administration and continuing struggles for black selfdetermination during those years. Could you talk about how the Gibson Administration measured up to the expectations the people had for him . Prof. Adams of course. I want to say first, thank you to dr. Blackmere for asking me to serve on this panel. I will talk a little bit about my research for the project and the event that comes to mind is the 1974 puerto rican riot. Im going to call it a rebellion. Like so many rebellions in American History, it was sparked by Police Violence. There was an annual cultural celebration happening in newark. The Puerto Rican Community had mounted police and tension erupts. A little girl is trampled by one of the horses. Of course, this sparks intense tensions between the police and the Puerto Rican Community who had already been frustrated. Gibson arrives on the scene and tries to calm the tensions. There is a march gibson participates in downtown to city hall. The next day, gibson is in a meeting with some of the leaders of the Puerto Rican Community and the spanishspeaking community in general. I think this is illuminating. Gibson does something in this meeting that is a little bit candid for a politician. It speaks to the limitations of black political power. They are asking questions about unemployment, asking questions about housing, and gibson says, i can only do so much as mayor. Sometimes, i listen to people say, oh, the president is helping unemployment go down or go up. Gibson is being honest in a way. He is also, in a way, dismissing experiences saying, i cannot do anything, this is beyond my control, these issues you are bringing to me, im not interested in your pain. Gibson this speaks to is a little less, maybe a lot less radical revolutionary than the movement that gets him into office. We already mentioned the black and Puerto Rican Convention that kind of allows him to become mayor. That movement is the way he rises to office. Many of us think about it as a comparison between gibson and amiri baraka and how there is not a lot of love there. For a long time. Baraka is in the meeting and gibson is not necessarily hearing the people, the constituency that got him elected. But he is elected four times. So he is doing something, and i think he is modeling something. He is trying to be the mayor for everyone. He is trying to serve the totality of the community that has had internal ruptures. That has had internal tensions. There is a nobleness to that, but i also think, and i also talk about jackson in the american south, and he seems to have a different stance. By no means is jackson a militant, but he does have this kind of black empowerment stance. We think about one of the greatest successes was black millionaires. I do not know if we could say the same about gibson. He does create this black Political Class of people working in and around city hall, but he is much more trying to brand himself as a mayor for everyone. I think that really speaks to both the possibilities of black Political Leadership and the limitations of black Political Leadership. Peter thank you. You are much more concise than i anticipated. We have a little bit extra time. That gives me a chance to ask an additional question. The black and Puerto Rican Convention of 1969 was brought up several times. Im wondering if any of you would like to speak more about the atmosphere at the convention, with that convention represented in the Political Climate in 1969, and maybe some of what you are recalling about the platform of that convention and how that compared to what gibsons administration was actually about and prioritizing. Prof. Williams i can talk about that. The convention was supercharged with hope. Most of us were young. Most of us were black, but we also had Puerto Ricans and an even smaller amount of white people. All who had come together in to this coalition which was actually run by two sets of people. One where the moderates headed by the official leader and the other by amiri baraka. At that time, it was difficult for the then Campaign Manager i was his first Campaign Manager but by arrangement, we had someone involved with more campaigns than i had. It was a hell of a thing trying to answer to two separate leadership sets of people and also leadership styles. But the convention went on without a hitch. You mentioned some of the folks who had been there. We had dick gregory, all kinds of stars, political stars, and stars from the entertainment world. It was a success. We went out of there thinking this was going to be the script for whatwell, will, black power would look like in the city of newark. There were committees that formed. One of the planks in that platform was that the state should take over the financing of the school district, because newark did not have enough tax money to do that. That did not happen. Gibson never talked about that, but in 1981, we had the abbot versus bert case, where they were going have to pay for the schooling in the abbott district because they dont have enough tax revenue. Another thing that came up was, one was, the question of a Police Review board. People were adamant about that because the police had been beating up and killing people then as they are now. Gibson never mentioned that during his campaigning and when he was elected, i said in a meeting and i heard him say, i am the Police Review board. We did not anticipate that. Those are two big instances of what we wanted versus what we got. They offered specific goals and objectives that were measurable. Specific goals and objectives that were measurable. Gibson said he wanted to meet with those in leadership capacity on a regular basis. We had one meeting and he said words to the effect, i am the mayor for all the people and we are not going to do that. I remember baraka the elder saying to me afterwards, we elected him to be the mayor, but nobody thought he was going to try to run the city by himself. That was a forecast of what was i have to say one thing. I disagree with what you said, that there was a leadership vacuum in newark when baraka got together. There was no leadership vacuum. We had a fantastic job setting the stage for the united brothers. There was leadership. There is leadership in the education era with the callahan fight, the medical school fight. They were people in leadership positions and i do not want people to think there was nothing going on until our brother came in with these ideas. Baraka was from newark. He had people that knew him. But the political wave that followed in his absence while he was away was just as homegrown as what was done when he got there and had the insight and foresight to do what he did as you explained. Prof. Woodard i am sorry. I am trying to make it brief. There was a section in my talk about a few years before baraka came back, there was a movement, i was part of the student movement. There were thousands of people who meeting regularly, usually protest meetings, against ethnic cleansing which they called urban renewal or negro removal. That is what united the community. Small groups had had important protests, but the ethnic cleansing formula woke everybody up and everybody from street hustlers, auto workers, welfare livers, there was a Mass Movement barak

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