Black Politics and Gun Violence

The presentation will examine African American perspectives on gun control from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, looking at how views change as the social context shifts from the Black Liberation era to an era of heightened urban violence and homicide. It will examine the key points of divergence among Black Nationalists, liberals (elected officials, clergy, civil rights organizations), and leftists, and draw attention to the unexpected intersections with struggles against police brutality and violence in our own time.