Monday, July 23, 2018
James Robenalt Explores Critical Role Cleveland Played in the Civil Rights Movement
Historian and author James Robenalt visited the City Club to discuss his new book, Ballots and Bullets: Black Power Politics and Urban Guerrilla Warfare in 1968 Cleveland, and explore the role Cleveland played during the Civil Rights Movement.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. raised money for bail during his Birmingham campaign in the spring of 1963 in Cleveland. A year later, Malcolm X spoke from the same pulpit to explain his break with the Nation of Islam. His Ballots or Bullets speech, first delivered in Cleveland, became one of the most influential speeches of the 20th century. And, after Dr. King's assassination, Senator Robert F. Kennedy delivered the Mindless Menace of Violence speech at the City Club on April 5, 1968.
Three months later, on the night of July 23, 1968, Cleveland police battled with black nationalists in the Glenville neighborhood. A shootout left 10 dead and more than 15 wounded, mostly police. Days of heavy rioting followed, inciting what would become a decades-long struggle between race and the police.
Robenalt explored the state of civil rights in America during his visit. Watch or listen to his presentation here, and click the photo below for his accompanying PowerPoint presentation.