Philpott Umbc 0434M 11839.Pdf (725.4Kb)
ABSTRACT Title of Document: PRIDE, INC.: BLACK POWER AND BLACK CAPITALISM IN WASHINGTON, D.C., 1967- 1981 Susan Philpott Directed By: Associate Professor, Dr. George Derek Musgrove, Historical Studies Pride, Inc., a nationally- recognized youth jobs program in Washington, D.C., put young men from the city’s poorest neighborhoods to work killing rats, collecting trash, and cleaning alleys. Pride promoted these “hard-core unemployed,” the street kids with criminal records who were affectionately called “dudes,” as leaders and change agents. This thesis explores the evolution of the program’s structure and philosophy as it grew from a clean-up effort into a network of social services and for- profit companies while other programs initiated under the War on Poverty were stripped of funding or fell apart in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As Pride expanded, its leaders sought to remake the economic landscape of the city by developing profitable businesses run by the dudes; they emphasized community self-reliance and black capitalism. Through the history of Pride, I explore the tension experienced by many in the Black Power Movement who sought to overcome poverty and racism from within existing economic and political systems rather than challenging structural oppression and inequality. PRIDE, INC.: BLACK POWER AND BLACK CAPITALISM IN WASHINGTON, D.C., 1967-1981. By Susan Philpott. Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History 2018 © Copyright by Susan Philpott 2018 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to Keon and Jerda, two young men from Washington, D.C.
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