Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African-American Newspapers

February 8, 1964

On February 8, 1964 the New York Amsterdam News was filled with news regarding the massive New York City school boycott that took place five days earlier. More than 460,000 students, predominantly black and Puerto Rican, stayed out of school to protest educational inequality and school segregation in the Big Apple. The boycott was the largest of the civil rights era and the Amsterdam News’ editorial page was quick to point out that the protest had not “fizzled” as critics expected.

The Amsterdam News featured pictures from the protests from across the city and an interview with boycott leader Rev. Milton Galamison, who discussed plans for a second boycott in March.

For more on the 1964 NYC school boycott, see Yasmeen Khan of WNYC, “Demand for School Integration Leads to Massive 1964 Boycott — In New York City” and my recent piece on the boycott anniversary at Salon, “Jim Crow Must Go.”


 

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