Approaches to Black Power: African American Grassroots Political Struggle in Cleveland, Ohio, 1960-1966 David M
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 9-2013 Approaches to Black Power: African American Grassroots Political Struggle in Cleveland, Ohio, 1960-1966 David M. Swiderski University of Massachusetts Amherst, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the African American Studies Commons, Other History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Swiderski, David M., "Approaches to Black Power: African American Grassroots Political Struggle in Cleveland, Ohio, 1960-1966" (2013). Open Access Dissertations. 844. https://doi.org/10.7275/4377-ef57 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/844 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. APPROACHES TO BLACK POWER: AFRICAN AMERICAN GRASSROOTS POLITICAL STRUGGLE IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1960-1966 A Dissertation Presented by DAVID M. SWIDERSKI Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2013 W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies © Copyright by David M. Swiderski 2013 All Rights Reserved APPROACHES TO BLACK POWER: AFRICAN AMERICAN GRASSROOTS POLITICAL STRUGGLE IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1960-1966 A Dissertation Presented by DAVID M. SWIDERSKI Approved as to style and content by: ______________________________ John H. Bracey, Jr., Chair ______________________________ William Strickland, Member ______________________________ Ernest Allen, Jr., Member ______________________________ John Higginson, Member ______________________________ John H. Bracey, Jr., Department Chair W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation has been made possible by the generosity, guidance, and support offered to me throughout every stage of its creation. My most substantial debt of gratitude is owed to the members of my dissertation committee, John H. Bracey, Jr., William Strickland, Ernest Allen, Jr., and John Higginson, whose advice, insights, patience, and trust were essential to the completion of this study. Their faith in me and this project from the very start was liberating, allowing me the freedom and confidence necessary to follow the sources where they led, and, in a sense, discover the dissertation that was buried therein. Without exception, they provided helpful suggestions and cogent criticisms to guide the work in progress, improving the final product immeasurably. My intellectual development has likewise been augmented significantly by the collegial atmosphere, exacting standards, and inspiring example maintained by the faculty of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Beyond the members of my dissertation committee, special thanks are due to Steve Tracy, a brilliant teacher who introduced me to the department as an undergraduate and kept me coming back for more; Esther Terry and Michael Thelwell, whose commitment, skill, and wisdom are truly humbling; Manisha Sinha, an exemplary scholar whose mentorship, and support in her role as the Graduate Program Director, have been invaluable; Jim Smethurst, who consistently provided helpful counsel, and from whose pioneering scholarship on the Black Arts Movement I have learned enormously; and Tricia Loveland, Administrative Assistant par excellence, who rendered iv crucial aid in moments of duress more times than I can count, and without whom the Department could scarcely function even half as well. My time in the Du Bois Department was further enriched by my fellow graduate students, especially Jim Carroll, Allia Matta, and McKinley Melton, with whom I began the journey. My research for this project was assisted by many librarians and archivists who endured my solicitations for help with grace, helped me track down key documents, and provided access to essential collections. Among those who deserve special recognition in this regard are Rita Knight-Gray, curator of the Ichabod Flewellen Collection at the East Cleveland Public Library; Ann Sindelar and Vicki Catozza, from the Western Reserve Historical Society; and Joellen ElBashir, from the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center; as well as the staffs in charge of the reference desk and photographic collections at the Cleveland Public Library, the Special Collections office at the Neilson Library at Smith College, and the Government Documents collection at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I am similarly indebted to a number of individuals who generously shared their time and recollections of their personal experiences in Cleveland during the 1960s, particularly Drs. L. Morris Jones and Adrienne L. Jones, and Don Freeman. Lastly, this project would have proved impossible without the constant love and support I received from my family and friends, who endured the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of research and writing along with me. This is especially true of my darling wife, who has lived with this project in her life for as long as I have. Her strength gives me strength. v ABSTRACT APPROACHES TO BLACK POWER: AFRICAN AMERICAN GRASSROOTS POLITICAL STRUGGLE IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, 1960-1966 SEPTEMBER 2013 DAVID M. SWIDERSKI, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor John H. Bracey, Jr. Black communities located in cities across the country became sites of explosive political unrest during the mid-1960s. These uprisings coincided with a period of intensified political activity among African Americans nationally, and played a decisive role in expanding national concern with black political struggle from a singular focus on the Civil Rights movement led by black southerners to consider the “race problem” clearly present in the cities of the North and West. Moreover, unrest within urban black communities emerged at a time when alternate political analyses of the relationship between black people and the American state that challenged the goal of integration and presented different visions of black freedom and identity were gaining considerable traction. The most receptive audience for these radical and nationalist critiques was found among black students and cadres of militant, young black people living in cities who insisted on the right to self determination for black people, and advocated liberation through revolution and the application of black power to secure control over their communities as the most appropriate goal of black political struggle. vi The following study examines grassroots political organizations formed by black people in Cleveland, Ohio during the early 1960s in order to analyze the development of the tactics, strategies, and ideologies that became hallmarks of Black Power by the end of the decade. These developments are understood within the context of ongoing political struggle, and particular attention is paid to the machinations of the multifaceted system of racial oppression that shaped the conditions against which black Clevelanders fought. This struggle, initially aimed at securing unrestricted employment, housing, and educational opportunities for black people, and curtailing episodes of police brutality against them, culminated in five days of unrest during July 1966. The actions of city officials, especially the Mayor and members of the Cleveland Police Department, during the Hough uprising clarified the nature of black oppression in Cleveland, thereby illuminating the need for and uses of both the formal political power of the ballot, as well as the power of the bullet to defend black people and communities through the force of arms. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………iv ABSTRACT………………………………………….………….………….……………vi LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………..ix LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………….x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION: BLACK POWER AND BLACK STUDIES ………………………..1 1. SEEDS: BLACK MIGRATION AND GHETTO FORMATION IN POSTWAR CLEVELAND…………………………………………….………….………….……26 2. ROOTS: CIVIL RIGHTS PROTEST AND THE RISE OF REVOLUTIONARY NATIONALISM IN ALABAMA NORTH……………………………………………85 3. BRICKS: REBELLION, COMMUNITY CONTROL, AND BLACK POWER, PART I………………………………………………….…………………………….156 4. BRICKS: REBELLION, COMMUNITY CONTROL, AND BLACK POWER, PART II………………………………………………………………………………208 APPENDICES A: MAPS OF CLEVELAND CENSUS TRACTS…………………………………….260 B: MAPS OF CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOODS…………………………………..264 C: SELECTED FBI DOCUMENTS…………………………………………………...268 D: SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HOUGH UPRISING……………………274 E: DETAILED DATA TABLES ON SOUTHERN-BORN MIGRANTS TO CLEVELAND...……………………………………see supplemental BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………287 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1: Black Population of Cleveland, 1850-1970………………………………………..53 E.1: Place of Birth for Southern Born Cleveland Area Residents by Census Year………………………………………………………see supplemental E.2: Cleveland Area Southern-Born Population by Age by Race by Sex……………………………………………...see supplemental E.3: Cleveland Area Southern-Born Population Educational Attainment by Sex by Race………………………………………………………see supplemental E.4: Cleveland Area Southern-Born