The Expanding Civil
Rights and Antiwar
Movements and 1960s
Counterculture
Adapted from a work created by the University of
Nebraska at Omaha
Michael Quiñones, NBCT
www.socialstudiesguy.com
Clarifying Questions
All the notes you take need to help you answer the clarifying
questions below. As you analyze and evaluate the information
contained throughout this presentation you should be asking yourself
the following questions:
How did non-violent protests influence U.S. policy during
the end of the Vietnam War? How did college students
and musicians influence the counterculture? How was
non-violent protest able to establish equal civil rights for
all U.S. citizens? How and why did civil rights activists
and protestors become more militant during the mid to
late 1960s?
[I will collect your answer to these questions by the end of class
Friday 11/15 so they should include ample examples from all of the
primary source videos and text excerpts to support your responses.]
Important 1960s term to
understand

Protestor-someone who complains (protests),
challenges, fights against established rules. This
can be achieved in many ways such as writing,
speaking, and marching.

Activist-a person who demands with strong
actions usually speaking firmly and loudly in
order to demand.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister
and political activist who was the most
famous leader of the American civil rights
movement.

King won the Nobel Peace Prize before being
assassinated in 1968.

For his promotion of non-violence and racial
equality, King is considered a peacemaker and
a martyr by many people around the world.

Martin Luther King's most influential and
well-known speech was the I Have A Dream
address at the so-called March on Washington
in August of 1963.
Malcolm X

Born Malcolm Little, Malcolm X was a
Muslim Minister and National
Spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm X became one of the most
prominent black nationalist leaders in
the United States, and when murdered
was considered by some as a martyr of
Islam, and a champion of equality.

As a militant leader, Malcolm X
advocated black pride, economic selfreliance, and identity politics.

Malcolm X advocated equality By Any
Means Necessary which contrasted
starkly with the teachings of M.L.K.

He ultimately rose to become a world
renowned African American/PanAfricanist and human rights activist.
Malcolm X: Letter to Martin Luther
King (July 31, 1963)
The present racial crisis in this country carries within it powerful destructive
ingredients that may soon erupt into an uncontrollable explosion. ….
A United Front involving all Negro factions, elements and their leaders is
absolutely necessary. A racial explosion is more destructive than a nuclear
explosion. …
We are inviting several Negro leaders to give their analysis of the present race
problem and also their solution. …
There will be no debating, arguing, criticizing, or condemning. I will moderate
the meeting and guarantee order and courtesy for all speakers. This rally is
designed not only to reflect the spirit of unity, but it will give you a chance to
present your views to the largest and most explosive elements in Metropolitan
New York. …
The Black Panther Party
Bobby Seale (left) and Huey Newton
(right), Two of the Founders of the
Black Panthers

The Black Panther Party was an
African American civil-rights and selfdefense organization, founded in 1966.

The organization espoused a doctrine
of armed resistance to societal
oppression especially from police.

The group was founded on the
principles of its Ten-Point Program.

They also advocated an exemption
from military service that would utilize
African Americans to "fight and kill
other people of color in the world who,
like Black people, are being victimized
by the White racist government of
America."
The Black Panther Party

The Black Panthers focused their rhetoric on revolutionary class struggle, taking many
ideas from Maoism.

The party turned to the works of Marx, Lenin, and Mao to inform the manner in which it
should organize, as a revolutionary cadre organization.

In consciously working toward such a revolution, they considered themselves the
vanguard party, “committed to organizing support for a socialist revolution.”
The Black Panther Platform
1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black
Community.
2. We want full employment for our people.
3. We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black Community.
4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
5. We want education … that exposes the true nature of this decadent American
society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the
present-day society…
6. We want all black men to be exempt from military service.
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.
8. We want freedom for all black men held in … prisons and jails.
9. We want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of
their peer group or people from their black communities…
10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And … a
United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony
in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate for the
purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny…
Stokely Carmichael and Black Power

Stokely Carmichael was a black activist and leader of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panther Party.

Carmichael criticized both blacks and whites and advocated Black Power to “get
smart.” He later became a black separatist and a Pan-Africanist.

Carmichael joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and others to continue James Meredith's
“March Against Fear” after his assassination.
Stokely Carmichael and Black Power
Tommie Smith and John Carlos,
American athletes at the 1968 Olympics
in Mexico City, displaying the Black
Power Salute

Stokely was arrested during the march;
on his release he gave his "Black
Power" speech, urging black pride and
independence.

SNCC became more radical under his
leadership.

He was critical of civil rights leaders
that simply called for integration of
African Americans into the existing
institutions of white middle class
culture.

Carmichael is credited with coining the
phrase “institutional racism” (or
structural racism or systemic racism).
What was the 1960s counter culture?


The word counter=against.
The word culture=behaviors, actions, and
beliefs of a group of people.

Throughout the 1960s young people
throughout the U.S. challenged what society
had considered normal and correct (ex.
Racism, sexism, civil rights, etc.).

As a result, protests against governments was
very common and great changes occurred.
Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was a novelist, writer, poet,
artist, and part of the Beat Generation.

The spontaneous, confessional prose style
inspired others, including Tom Robbins,
Richard Brautigan, Hunter S. Thompson,
Ken Kesey, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan.

His writing reflects a desire to break free
from society's mold and to find meaning
in life.

His search led him to experiment with drugs
and to study spiritual teachings such as
Buddhism which was considered unusual for
a non-Asian person.

His books are often credited as the catalyst
for the 1960s counterculture.
Jack Kerouac, On the Road

On the Road was published in 1957.

This largely autobiographical work,
based on the spontaneous road trips of
Kerouac and his friends, is often
considered the defining work of the
Beat Generation that was so affected
by jazz, poetry, and drug experiences.

As the story goes, On the Road was
written in only 3 weeks in a burst of
artistic fury, hammered out on one
long scroll.
From On the Road
Stranger flowers yet--for as the Negro alto mused over everyone's head
with dignity, the young, tall, slender, blond kid from Curtis Street, Denver,
jeans and studded belt, sucked on his mouthpiece while waiting for the
others to finish; and when they did he started, and you had to look around
to see where the solo was coming from, for it came from angelical smiling
lips upon the mouthpiece and it was a soft, sweet, fairy-tale solo on an alto.
Lonely as America, a throatpierced sound in the night.
Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an Beat poet
best known for “Howl” (1956), a long
poem about consumer society's negative
human values.

Ginsberg formed a bridge between the
Beat movement of the 1950s and the
hippies of the 1960s, participating in
the anti-war movement.

Ginsberg's principal work, "Howl” is well
known for its opening line:
"I saw the best minds of my
generation destroyed by madness.“

Many characters referenced in "Howl"
destroyed themselves through substance
abuse or a generally wild lifestyle.
Bob Dylan

The 1963 release of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan marked his emergence as one of the
most original and poetic voices in the history of American popular music. The album
included, “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

His next album, The Times They Are A-Changin’, firmly established Dylan as the
definitive songwriter of the ‘60s protest movement.

By 1964, Dylan was playing 200 concerts annually, but he tired of his role as “the” folk
singer-songwriter of the protest movement.

Another Side of Bob Dylan was a much more personal, introspective collection, far less
politically charged than previous efforts.
From Bob Dylan’s, “The Times
They Are a Changing” (1964)
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
The Beatles

The Beatles are held in high regard for their artistic achievements, their commercial
success, and their ground-breaking role in popular music and culture.

Their early material fused elements of early rock 'n roll, pop, and R&B into a new form
of popular Rock 'n Roll.

They were instrumental in the development of 1960s musical styles, such as folk-rock,
hard rock and psychedelia.

Their clothes, hairstyles, statements, and choice of instruments made them trend-setters,
whilst their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and
cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
The Doors and Resistance/Defiance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61m_Dm4
4RHA The Doors on Ed Sullivan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGQwAA3
I-eQ&feature=related
Timothy Leary

Timothy Francis Leary was an
American writer, psychologist,
computer software designer, and
advocate of psychedelic drug research
and use.

As a 1960s counterculture icon, he is
most famous as a proponent of the
therapeutic and spiritual benefits of
LSD.

During the 1960s, he coined and
popularized the catch phrase "Turn
on, tune in, drop out."
Anti-War Demonstrations
HELL NO WE WON’T GO!
Shock and Disillusionment in the
Wake of the Tet Offensive



As 1968 began, President Johnson and the military offered optimistic appraisals of the
situation in Vietnam.
January 30th, North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops launched a massive, unexpected
offensive on the lunar New Year holiday of Tet.
U.S. forces repelled enemy forces, but public support for the war plummeted as
Americans recognized the inevitability of stalemate.
Walter Cronkite’s “We are Mired in
Stalemate” Broadcast (February 27,
1968)
To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of
the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To
suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable
pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only
realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that
military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we
must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big
gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter
that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors,
but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend
democracy, and did the best they could.
The 1968 Democratic Convention in
Chicago





The events of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago illustrated the depth of the
divisions in the Party and society at large when it erupted into violence.
Anti-war activists planned a massive demonstration outside convention venues.
Chicago's mayor refused all parade permits and mobilized over 20,000 law
enforcement personnel.
On August 28, as demonstrators marched toward the convention, a "police riot"
occurred as officers fired tear gas and beat protesters and reporters.
Hubert Humphrey won the nomination, but the party was hopelessly fractured.
John Kerry and Vietnam Veterans
Against the War





Future Senator & Presidential candidate John Kerry served in the Navy during the
Vietnam War.
He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.
Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW).
In 1971, Kerry became the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress.
He asked, "[H]ow do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you
ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
John Kerry and Vietnam Veterans
Against the War



The day after this testimony, Kerry participated in a demonstration with 800 other
veterans.
They threw their medals and ribbons over a fence at the front steps of the U.S. Capitol
building.
Kerry explained, "I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice,
and to try and make this country wake up once and for all."
Jane Fonda [Hanoi Jane]and
Vietnam
Jane Fonda is an Oscar-winning actor,


writer, producer, and political activist.
She is credited with exposing Nixon's
potential strategy of bombing the dikes
in Vietnam.

United Nations ambassador George H.
W. Bush. Bush intended to provide
evidence of US innocence, but Fonda
released filmed evidence.

In Vietnam, Fonda was photographed
multiple times seated on an anti-aircraft
battery used against American aircrews.

She participated in radio broadcasts on
behalf of the Communist regime,
asking US aircrews to turn around
without dropping their bombs.
Jane Fonda and Vietnam

Opposition to the war was building,
but Fonda's actions in 1972 were
widely perceived as an unpatriotic
display of aid and comfort to the
enemy, with some even characterizing
it as treason.

Her detractors labeled her Hanoi Jane,
comparing her to war propagandists
Tokyo Rose and Hanoi Hannah.
1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago


Hundreds of anti-war protestors converged on the presidential
nominating convention at Chicago in 1968.
Chicago’s Mayor Daley ordered police to disperse protestors
using batons and clubs.
Reexamining the Clarifying question
Now that you have analyzed and evaluated the information in this presentation using
the clarifying questions as a guideline how should you answer each question using
specific examples from what you have learned? [Remember to use as much of the
evidence from the primary and secondary sources from this PPT resource as you can in
your answers to these questions.]
How did non-violent protests influence U.S.
policy during the end of the Vietnam War?
How did college students and musicians
influence the counterculture? How was nonviolent protest able to establish equal civil
rights for all U.S. citizens? How and why did
civil rights activists and protestors become
more militant during the mid to late 1960s?
Citations
Slide 2: http://www.youngleaders-usa.org/leadership/yl02_research_papers/MLKChapter.htm
Slide 3: http://i1.tinypic.com/nqu7ah.jpg
Slide 4: http://www.malcolm-x.org/docs/let_mart.htm
Slide 5: http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Black-Panthers-Led8oct06.htm
Slide 6: http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/
Slide 7: http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111bppp.html
Slide 8: http://www.aavw.org/images/speeches_carmichael.jpg
Slide 9: http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/images/blackpower.jpg
Slide 10: http://members.authorsguild.net/pmaher/images/pmaher-340-Kerouac450.jpg
Slide 11: http://www.wordsareimportant.com/photos/bkontheroadpb.JPG
Slide 12: http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/onroad.html
Slide 13: http://archives.waiting-forthe-sun.net/Graphics/InfluencesGraphics/ginsberg_rally.jpg
Slide 14: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/images/2005/09/26/dylan_bob_420_420x300.jpg
Slide 15: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/times.html
Slide 16: http://pserve.club.fr/BEATLES.JPG
Slide 17: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/images/catalog/detail/GPP670114-06-FP.jpg
Slide 18: http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200505/11/40/b0000640_10415272.jpg,
http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/ThreeImages/images/Vetsvswar2.JPG,
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/13/multimedia/ipix/march.pool.jpg.
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/3323_9152_11.jpg,
Slide 19: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html
Slide 20: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change%20--Cronkite.html
Slide 21: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/68-chicago.jpg
Slide 22:
Slide 23: http://www.harvardfilmarchive.org/calendars/06_summer/images/vietnam/SYMPHONY%20vet%20peace.jpg
Slide 24: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050331/050331_hanoijane_vmed1p.widec.jpg
Slide 25: http://www.spectrumwd.com/c130/patch/ac130_4.jpg
Slide 26: http://lettres-histoire.ac-rouen.fr/histgeo/i_have_a_dream_mlk.jpg