Panel Discusses History of Black Civil Rights Movement

Using St. Louis as a framework, a lineup of prominent activists and academics held a panel discussion on Thursday on the history of the black civil rights movement and the current state of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Entitled “Generations of Struggle: St. Louis from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter,” the event drew a large crowd in CGIS South Thursday evening as panelists focused on the intergenerational nature of the current movement.

Elizabeth Hinton, an assistant professor of history and African and African American studies, emphasized that the current Black Lives Matter movement is linked to the civil rights movements of Martin Luther King Jr.’s time through the activism that took place throughout the 1980s and 1990s, of which members of the panel were deeply involved.

St. Louis civil rights activist Percy Green, who frequently made analogies to the natural world, argued that the movement for black rights is ongoing. Referring to the various factors that contribute to a successful movement, Green said, “If the chemistry is there, we even may have a tornado.”

Panelists George Lipsitz, Robin D. G. Kelley, Percy Green, and Jamala Rogers listen as rapper Tef Poe speaks about his efforts to improve the lives of black people in St. Louis. On Thursday afternoon, the panelists spoke about their efforts inside and outside St. Louis and called for action against racism. By Helen Y. Wu

Panelists also discussed the ways the current movement differs from those in the past.

“This isn’t your mother or father’s civil rights movement,” said Tef Poe, a St. Louis rapper and social justice advocate at activist group Hands Up United. “If you come into one of these communities where there’s black folk, and you gonna pull your gun out and you gonna shoot, you will be met by resistance.”

“The U.S. government declared war on black people…the war on drugs is over,” Poe said, in reference to the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last year.

Jamala Rogers, an author and activist from the Organization for Black Struggle, discussed the interconnectedness of many issues for black people today, noting the importance of having a broad focus.

“Our lives are such circles of oppression that it’s very hard to pull one out,” Rogers said. “If you look at the work that I’ve done over the years, they are interdependent.”

Harvard Law School student Derecka M. Purnell, who attended the event, said she was especially interested in the discussion about the intergenerational nature of the movement.

“I think the panel dispelled the myth that there is an intergenerational divide within the movement,” Purnell said. “It showed that it’s possible for people of all generations to work along the same sort of set of politics. It just takes collaboration, openness, and a willingness to hold conversations across the table.”

Walter Johnson, a professor of history and African and African American Studies who introduced the panel, said he organized the event in part because he was deeply passionate about the legacy of racial issues in the U.S.