Democracy's capital : black political power in Washington, D.C., 1960s-1970s /

Pearlman, Lauren,

Democracy's capital : black political power in Washington, D.C., 1960s-1970s / Lauren Pearlman. - Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, (c)2019. - 1 online resource (337 pages) : illustrations. - Justice, power, and politics .

Includes bibliographies and index.

Introduction. Make D.C. mean democracy's capital -- From civil rights to self-determination -- They just won't let it happen here: the 1968 riots -- SCLC goes to Washington: the 1968 Poor People's Campaign -- D.C. should not stand for disorder and crime: Richard Nixon's law-and-order campaign -- The spirit of '76: the battle over self-determination and urban development during the bicentennial -- Conclusion. Civil rights, law and order, and urban development in the post-home rule era.

"From its 1790 founding until 1974, Washington, D.C.--capital of 'the land of the free'--lacked democratically elected city leadership. Fed up with governance dictated by white stakeholders, federal officials, and unelected representatives, local D.C. activists catalyzed a new phase of the fight for home rule. Amid the upheavals of the 1960s, they gave expression to the frustrations of black residents and wrestled for control of their city. Bringing together histories of the carceral and welfare states, as well as the civil rights and Black Power movements, Lauren Elizabeth Pearlman narrates this struggle for self-determination in the nation's capital. She captures the transition from black protest to black political power under the Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon administrations and against the backdrop of local battles over the War on Poverty and the War on Crime"--Publisher's description.



9781469653921


African Americans--Politics and government--Washington (D.C.)--20th century.
Representative government and representation--Washington (D.C.)
Poor People's Campaign.


Electronic Books.

F200 / .D466 2019