^^lack Ink ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||^^||||||||^||QJJ|^J|QQ|||[[|||||||||^||[||^|||||||||||||||||[||[||^^ November 26 ^
"Nobody Knows My Name": On The Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
By Debbie Baker
Assistant Editor
"'We knew we were subjected to being
killed. This did not matter to us. There was
so much at stake, we couldn’t allow the
segregationists to stop us.”
— Lucretia Collins
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court de
clared school segregation unconstitutional
in Brown vs Board of Education. The High
Court’s decision led by Chief Justice Earl
Warren, overturned the 1896 ruling in Plessv
vs Ferpuson. The Brown decision involved
a consolidation of test cases argued by the
National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP). The
NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund selected
test cases to tackle dejure segregation in the
United States. The Brown decision helped
usher in a new era of protest during the
1960s. The NAACP was one of several
organizations dedicated to fighting for the
civil rights of black people. The NAACP is
the oldest and still one of the most active
civil rights organizations. Almost everyone
has at least heard of the NAACP or knows'
something about it. However, the NAACP
was not the only organization that worked
during the civil rights movement. One or
ganization that is almostalways forgotten is
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC). The organization called
“SNICK” has not been given credit for its
role in the struggle for civil rights and black
equality.
SNCC is often overlooked in history
because it was not as established as the four
other civil rights organizations. Most people
remember the other four because they were
led by famous black people who aroused
tremendous public support All of these
organizations had chapters across the coun
try and developed their own tactic for social
change. The other four organizations, like
SNCC, were instrumental in helping to lead
the struggle for black equality.
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People (NAACP)
was started in 1909 by black intellectual
W£.B. Dubois. The NAACP believed
firmly that litigation was the key to obtain
ing equality. Eventually, a Legal Defense
Fund was started to select test cases to fight
against dejure segregation. During the
movement, black journalist Roy Wilkins
served as its executive director. A second
organization, the National Urban League
(NUL) was started in 1910 to address the
socioeconomic problems faced by blacks
and poor whites in urban areas. The NUL
was very concerned that inner city blacks
were overlooked in the struggle for equal
ity. During the movement, Whitney Young
served as NUL’s executive director. A third
organization, the Congress of Racial Equal
ity (CORE) was started in 1942 to address
the economic, social and political needs of
black people. CORE was mainly an interra
cial organization that believed firmly in the
use of nonviolent direct action to achieve
change. James Farmer served as executive
director of CORE for much of the civil
rights movement. Lastly, the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC,
was started in 1957 to coordinate the efforts
of black ministers. Of course, SCLC’s was
led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Black
ministers became increasingly important to
the movement because they could coordi
nate large numbers of people in their
churches. SCLC was dedicated to nonvio
lent direct action by the masses in order to
achieve change.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee was organized in response to
the growing involvement of students in the
movement. Across the country, students
began to participate in the struggle in a
variety of ways. Jobs and family obliga
tions deterred many older adults from be
coming involved in protest. Older adults
also lacked the mobility because of their
other responsibilities. Students were prime
civil rights activists because they did not
have family responsibilities or permanent
jobs. Students could basically go wherever
needed in the struggle for black equality.
In 1960, the sit-in became a chief tactic
used by students during the movement. The
sit-in would serve as a guiding point in the
formation of SNCC. A major sit-in oc
curred in Greensboro, N.C.,ataWoolworth
lunch counter. The sit-in was led by Joseph
McNeil, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain and
David Richmond, four freshmen at N.C.
A&T State University. After this, students
began to defy segregation across North
Carolina, as lunch counters were rocked in
Durham, Winston-Salem, High Point,
Charlotte and Raleigh. The Greensboro sit-
ins also inspired student movement across
the South. Students sat down at counters in
many states, including Tennessee, Florida,
Virginia, South Carolinaand Alabama. The
sit-in became such a viable tactic that CORE
decided to train students how to protect
themselves from violence while participat
ing in nonviolent protest. Jim Lawson, a
Vanderbilt theology student and activist,
led many of the nonviolent workshops. The
training was necessary so that students could
provide some protection against possible
brutality at the hands of racists and the
police.
SCLC executive director Ella Jo Baker
saw the need to coordinate student efforts.
She envisioned a movement spearheaded
by young, bold African-Americans willing
to provide leadership in the struggle for
black equality. Ella Baker called a meeting
of sit-in leaders on April 15,1960 at Shaw
University in Raleigh, N.C. After two days
of workshops, the students agreed to form a
Temporary Coordinating Committee dedi
cated to the goals of nonviolent direct ac
tion. In May of 1960, the committee se
lected Marion Barry, a Fisk graduate stu
dent, as its first chairman. The group met
again in October of 1960 in Atlanta, Ga. At
that meeting, the committee became the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com mit-
tee, with Charles McDew, a sit-in leader
from Orangeburg, S.C., as its new chair
man.
SNCC was an organization dedicated to
uplifting the masses of black people. SNCC
rejected litigation as a sufficient means to
achieve social change. SNCC believed grass
roots civil rights efforts would lead to a
change in the status quo. Grass roots civil
rights involved confronting racism and
segregation head on by going into areas
where blacks had been mistreated the most.
Consequently, SNCC employed field sec
retaries who went into the cities in order to
organize local movements among people.
Field secretaries were civil rights “social
workers” who went out among the people in
order to combat racial injustices. SNCC’s
belief in apeople’s movement grew from its
ideology of participatory democracy. Par
ticipatory democracy involved SNCC
mobilizing local blacks to empower them
selves so they could fight against racial
oppression. SNCC members served as pio
neers because they went into cities to organ
ize movements long before other organiza
tions did. While the NAACP was in court,
SNCC workers risked their lives to help
their people.
SNCC leadership is also important to
look at when examining the organization’s
history. SNCC elected an executive board
that did not have much power. The execu
tive board members found it difficult to stay
in touch with the field staff. SNCC was
headed by a chairman and an executive
secretary. John Lewis, a leader of the Nash
ville sit-ins, became one of the organiza
tion’s most influential chairman. James
Forman, a Chicago teacher, quit his job to
become the executive secretary for SNCC.
Forman worked out of a small office in
H. Rap Brown, successor of Stokley Carmichael as head
of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee.