Dr. Say Burgin explains that contrary to the common belief that white activists were purged from the Black freedom movement in the mid-1960 and 1970s, Black-led organizations in Detroit – including the Northern Student Movement, the City-Wide Citizens Action Committee, and the League of Revolutionary Workers—called on white activists to organize within their own white networks to support Black self-determination in education, policing, employment, and labor unions. Burgin is an assistant professor of history at Dickinson College and author of Organizing Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit.

Related Resources:

Organizing Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit

Related Collections:

Mike Hamlin and Joann Castle Papers (LP001946)

Kenneth V. and Sheila M. Cockrel Papers (UP001379)

George Crockett Papers (UP000276)

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Episode Credits

Interviewee: Say Burgin

Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English

Music: Bart Bealmear