1968, Martin Luther King, Black Panther Party, Roland Childs

Hello, this is Hank Wu and I'm here to tell you about what's happening with Civil Rights!  In this article I will give you an in-depth look into what is truly going on behind Martin Luther King, the Black Panther Party, Roland Childs, and what specifically happened in this year of 1968.



Just this February of  1968 (February 8) there was a civil rights protest that occurred at a bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina that only serves white people.  This protest led to the unfortunate deaths of three college students, and had to be broken up by highway patrolmen.  If we fast forward to April 4, 1968, we see that Martin Luther King Jr. has died.  Good friends with very well known Roland Childs, Mr. King died at the age of 39.  His murderer, was none other than James Earl Ray.  His name might seem familiar to you, we just did a story on the fugitive who escaped Missouri State Penitentiary.

Now lets move on to the Black Panther Party.  This is an active African American revolutionary leftist group that is making dramatic impacts on our lives and is making history as you read this article.  They try to focus on anti-racism and are deeply involved with the Black Power movement.  They were founded in 1966 by two men (Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton) and recently release their first newspaper article last year.  They also seem to have a list of 26 of strict rules, that must be obeyed by their members. You can find the rules by going to page 2 of our Newspaper (click here to go to the rules).  They also have "The Ten Point Program" which seems to state the rights they want.  Some examples include, "WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES" and ,"WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE,".  The Party also seems to be fairly violent.  Just this April it had to resort to guns, and one of its own members was killed due to this.


On the other side of the protesting spectrum, Roland Childs is a very well known, very public figure that supports non-violent movement against racism.  He is one of Dr. King's Colleagues who has two sons, a 13 year old boy named Sam, and a 17 year old boy name Stick.  These two boys seem to be part of The Black Panthers, despite his fathers wishes.  What might this lead to?


Well there you have it!  An in depth view into what is going on in Civil Rights so far this year.