Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement

Journalist Whitaker (Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance) guides listeners through the pivotal year of 1966 in this chronicle of the American civil rights movement. In 1966, the Black Panther Party was founded, Stokely Carmichael rose to prominence in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Kwanzaa was first celebrated. It was also the year when the tension between the nonviolent approach espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, and the nascent Black Power movement, which viewed nonviolence as one of a suite of tactics in the fight for racial justice, came to a head. Each chapter covers a specific event during the year, and Whitaker brings the activists and thinkers who shaped Black Power to vivid life. JD Jackson provides expertly paced narration that engages listeners, and his close approximation of the well-known voices of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis adds further interest to the audio production.