Kwame Ture Speaks at Houston Universities - The KHOU-TV Collection (1967)

Duration: 41:58:00

Year Published: 1967

Sound: sound

Description: This film from KHOU-TV Channel 11 in Houston captures Black Power leader and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Chairman Kwame Ture (then known as Stokely Carmichael) speaking at the University of Houston in March 1967 and Texas Southern University (TSU) on April 14, 1967. Ture conducted a cross-country college tour in 1967 to encourage Black pride and speak out against structural racism and the Vietnam War. In addition to the two Houston-area institutions, he also addressed students at the University of Texas at Austin. Ture’s appearance took place amid heightened social unrest both at TSU and within Houston’s Black community. Just days prior to his talk at TSU, students led a week of demonstrations protesting the administration’s decision to dismiss the Friends of the SNCC as an on-campus organization. The following month, Houston police blockaded the TSU campus in response to a student civil rights protest. The standoff escalated into an hours-long shootout later dubbed the “TSU Riot,” resulting in the death of one rookie patrolman and the arrest of nearly 500 students.