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Revisit: ESTABLISHING MLK HOLIDAY (1983)

Congressman John Conyers, a Black Democratic U.S. representative from Michigan, introduced the first legislation to establish the holiday on April 8, 1968, four days after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. However, the bill honoring the life and work of the civil and human rights activist and Nobel laureate fell five votes short of the number needed for Congress to move forward. Congressional conservatives argued that it was unheard of to celebrate a private person who had never held public office with such an honor. Others argued that the federal government could not afford another annual paid holiday for federal employees, and a few suggested that King was not worthy of such a national honor because of his affiliation with communist individuals and organizations. Continue reading Revisit: ESTABLISHING MLK HOLIDAY (1983)

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Revisit: THE WATTS TRUCE (1992)

The Watts Truce was a peace agreement among rival Blood and Crips street gangs in Los Angeles, California, mainly in the neighborhood of Watts. The Watts Truce occurred days before the Rodney King Riots. This truce was a significant factor in the decline of street violence in Los Angeles after the 1990s. In the late 1960s, the Crips Street Gang was founded by Raymond Lee Washington and Stanley Tookie Williams. As the Crips’ influence grew in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, several independent gangs, including the Brims, Pirus, Bishops, Bounty Hunters, Athens Park Gang, and Denver Lanes, created a coalition to fight back against them. That coalition became the Bloods. Continue reading Revisit: THE WATTS TRUCE (1992)

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Revisit: RACE AND VIOLENCE IN WASHINGTON STATE: THE REPORT (1969)

The report, Race and Violence in Washington State, published in 1969, was undertaken by the Washington State Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Civil Disorder. The Commission was established by the Urban Affairs Council on April 25, 1968 in response to the widespread racial disorders, or riots, that erupted in cities nationwide between 1964 and 1967.  That national crisis led to the 1967 Kerner Commission Report. The Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Civil Disorder was tasked with performing a similar role at the state level, educating public leaders regarding Washington’s potential for racial disorders and investigating why there had not yet been any significant disturbances in Washington. The Commission also rectified a perceived failing of the Kerner Commission by investigating what steps were already being taken to prevent disorders and their effectiveness. Continue reading Revisit: RACE AND VIOLENCE IN WASHINGTON STATE: THE REPORT (1969)

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