Yohuru Williams

The above interview with Yohuru Williams, Associate Professor of History at Fairfield University and author of the book Black Politics/White Power, was shot in the Fall of 2010.

Professor Williams provides an insightful history of black political leaders and the civil rights movement in CT in the 1960’s.  He explores the genesis and development of groups such as the Black Panther party and the changes these sometimes radical civil rights groups were demanding.   Mr. Williams stresses that although their reputation nationally is that of a militant organization, many of the local Black Panther branches were in fact responsible for the the development of critical social services in their communities.  “One of the major things that the Panthers are involved in here in Connecticut, is feeding schoolchildren,” Professor WIliams explains.

Professor Williams also discusses the major black political leaders of the 60s such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. and their lesser known connections to Connecticut. “A lot of people don’t know that as a child, Dr. King was in Simsbury, Connecticut and worked on a farm,” he says. He goes on to explain the deep impression Dr. King’s experience in Connecticut made on him and how it influenced his path as a civil rights leader.