John Lewis, Part 4: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Founded in 1960, SNCC focused on empowering young people, primarily Black college students, in nonviolent direct-action against Jim Crow segregation and racial inequality in the South. During Lewis’s tenure as Chairman, 1963-1966, SNCC led or collaborated on numerous campaigns and actions, including: March on Washington (1963): 23-year-old Lewis was the youngest organizer of the 250,000-person March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. By then, he was also the youngest member of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, along with Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young. After MLK Jr delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Lewis gave a powerful speech of his own, calling for immediate action on civil rights legislation. (Tomorrow’s post will focus on this event.) Voter Registration Drives: SNCC trained a new generation of civil rights activists to focus primarily on Mississippi and Alabama, where Black voters faced the most barriers and intimidation. SNCC volunteers