Stolen March - June 6, 1966

About this episode

The episode discusses the events surrounding James Meredith's shooting during his March Against Fear and the subsequent impact on the civil rights movement.

On June 6, 1966, James Meredith was shot by a sniper on the second day of his solo March Against Fear through Mississippi, and within hours, a civil rights movement he had deliberately excluded arrived to continue it in his name. What followed was not just a march but a fracture: the public birth of the phrase “Black Power,” a coalition that could not agree on its own principles, and an outcome that was simultaneously a triumph and a transformation Meredith never wanted. Meredith was never a symbol. He was always a person. And history, as usual, refused to honor the distinction.

People in this episode

Host: Richard G Backus

Topics covered

• civil rights
• Black Power
• James Meredith
• March Against Fear
• Mississippi
• historical events

Keywords

• James Meredith
• civil rights
• Black Power
• March Against Fear
• Mississippi
• sniper
• historical events

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Black Power

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