Description
James Forman was an important leader in the black freedom movement, from the southern civil rights struggle in SNCC, to the Black Power movement with the Black Panther Party and League of Revolutionary Workers. In this essay, published by SDS, Forman provides a historical analysis of racial oppression against black people in the U.S. and the accelerating freedom struggle in 1967, particularly the growing spirit of resistance. This period of resistance, Forman wrote, was underscored by a new militant consciousness, an international perspective, urban rebellion, armed self-defense and radicalism. At the same time, he enumerates the rising backlash and government repression against the African American liberation struggle.