#697 Mark Whitaker - 1966: Black Power: Saying it Loud!

Mark Whitaker - 1966: Black Power: Saying it Loud!

The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. I’m Paul Vogelzang, and as part of our February Black History Month  today’s show is part of our Smithsonian Associates Black History Month author interview series, and we have an excellent program about Black History, Black Power and the Civil Rights movement.  Our guest today is Smithsonian Associate, journalist, and author Mark Whitaker who has written the new book ‘Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement’

Thank you so much for listening. We’ve got a great guest today with author Mark Whitaker, who is a journalist and author, and who, after reading his new book, ‘Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement’ I’ve been looking forward to speaking with him for a while. I’ll introduce him in just a moment. But, quickly, if you missed any episodes, last week was our 696th episode, when I spoke to 79-year-old author Rick Bleiweiss, who is the perfect example of the saying “you’re never too old to follow your dreams.”  Two weeks ago, I spoke with author Susan Shapiro Barash about her Valentine’s Day book ‘A Passion for More: Affairs that Make Us or Break Us,’  Wonderful subjects for our Not Old Better Show audience…If you missed those shows, along with any others, you can go back and check them out with my entire back catalog of shows, all free for you, there on our website, NotOld-Better.com

Join us today as we talk with journalist and author Mark Whitaker for an exploration of the momentous year of 1966, in which a new sense of Black identity expressed in the slogan “Black Power” challenged the nonviolent civil rights philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis.  Mark Whitaker will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes today for more details about Mark Whitaker at Smithsonian Associates. 

Mark Whitaker and I will discuss the dramatic events in this seminal year, from Stokely Carmichael’s middle-of-the-night ouster of moderate icon John Lewis as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC to Carmichael’s impassioned cry of “Black Power!” during a protest march in rural Mississippi; the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to the origins of Kwanzaa, the Black Arts Movement, and the first Black studies programs; and from Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ill-fated campaign to take the civil rights movement north to Chicago to the wrenching ousting of the white members of SNCC.

Whitaker offers portraits of the major characters in the yearlong drama and provides new details and insights from key players and journalists who covered the story. He also discusses why the lessons from 1966 still resonate in the era of Black Lives Matter and the fierce contemporary battles over voting rights, identity politics, and the teaching of Black history.

Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates author interview series during Black History Month Smithsonian Associate Mark Whitaker.

My thanks to author and Smithsonian Associate Mark Whitaker. and his new book, ‘Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement’ Mark Whitaker will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, so please check out our show notes today for more details about Mark Whitaker at Smithsonian Associates. My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show especially during Black History Month.  You’ll find more information about Black History Month in our show notes today.  My thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience on radio and podcast…please be well and be safe, which I’m mentioning in every show because I want to bring attention to the issue of assault rifles, which aren’t safe, in anyone’s hands but the military and law enforcement.  Assault rifles are killing our children and grandchildren in the very places they learn: schools!  Please, let’s work together to eliminate assault rifles, and let’s do better.  Let’s talk about Better…the Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast, Smithsonian Associates Author Interview series…

https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/1966-civil-rights