Class 9- On The Promises and Disappointments of the Atlantic City Challenge w/ Prof. Felicia Denaud

SECURING THE BALLOT- SNCC, MFDP, Political Power, and the Meaning of the Right to Vote in Freedom Summer
Discussion Questions and Dilemmas:
What was the strategy of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention?
How did these strategies play out in the context of the convention in Atlantic City? What was the response of the Democratic Party establishment? How did it relate to the old guard of the civil rights movement?
How did SNCC and the MFDP challenge that leadership? What were the outcomes of that challenge?
How did it relate to the larger traditions of Black self-activity and self-determination?
Readings and Resources:
● “Miss. Demos Face Party Challenge,” “The Student Voice, May 19, 1964, Civil Rights Movement Archive, www.crmvet.org... (Via: crmvet)
● “Demo Convention Faces Showdown,” The Student Voice, August 19, 1964, Civil Rights Movement Archive, www.crmvet.org... (Via: crmvet)
● “A Primer for Delegates to the Democratic National Convention Who Haven’t Heard About the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party,” 1964, Civil Rights Movement Archive, www.crmvet.org/..., (Via: crmvet)
● “Mississippi Faces Challenge,” Flyer, 1964, Civil Rights Movement Archive, www.crmvet.org... (Via: crmvet)
● MFDP Challenge to the Democratic Convention, Atlantic City - 1964, Civil Rights Movement Archive, www.crmvet.org... (Via: crmvet)
● “MFDP Challenge at Democratic National Convention,” SNCC Digital Gateway,
snccdigital.org/events/mfdp-challenge-at-democratic-national-convention/ (Via: SNCC Digital)
● Forman, The Making of Black Revolutionaries, 386-406.
● Dittmer, Local People, 272-302.
Other Resources:
● Lisa Anderson Todd, For a Voice and the Vote, My Journey With the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014).