Women in the Black Revolt

Women in the Black Revolt

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/547326/

12-Dec-2008
by Komozi Woodard

A new book, edited by Komozi Woodard of Sarah Lawrence College,
Jeanne Theoharis of Brooklyn College and Day Gore of the University
of Massachusetts­Amherst, provides a new look at the history of the
civil rights movement.

"Tragically, Dr. King was gunned down in the midst of his dramatic
crusade against heart-breaking poverty in America. Thus, King's
assassination in April 1968 created a major vacuum in the leadership
of the Black Revolt that was filled, in part, by Black women like
Johnnie Tillmon who fought poverty at the helm of the welfare rights
movement. By March 1972 Johnnie Tillmon joined Brooklyn
Representative Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in the U.S.
Congress, at a political rally that drew 16,000 to support Elaine
Brown and Ericka Huggins for public office. Both Brown and Huggins
were leaders in the Oakland Black Panther Party. The Oakland Black
Panther Party registered 35,000 new voters in that grassroots
initiative. This is just one of the many important stories that will
change the way that we look at the history of the Civil Rights-Black
Power era."

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