The Black Power Forum, Fifty Years Later

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Black Power Forum that was held at UNCG from November 1-3, 1967. 

Throughout the 1960s, Greensboro served as a key site for the civil rights movement. After the Sit Ins and protests of the early 1960s, the middle of the decade saw the ideals of black self-determination and pride being spread throughout Greensboro and the nation. The term “Black Power” first entered the national consciousness through Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader Stokely Carmichael’s speech at the March Against Fear in 1966. Black Power soon became known as a movement for solidarity within the African American community and the fight for racial independence.

Agenda for November 1, 1967,
the first day of the Black Power Forum

While students at North Carolina A&T University often stood as leaders in the movement, discussions were not limited to the area’s historically black colleges and universities. On November 1-3, 1967, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro played host to a controversial Black Power Forum, organized in large part by African American students and members of the UNCG Student Government Association to “inform students and faculty members of this movement and its actions and to give us a chance to discuss Black Power, its history, its political and social implications for us and the nation.” 

The forum was organized around three topics: “Black Power past and present,” “the ghetto,” and “Black Power and the self-image of the Negro.” Speakers from across the country were brought in for presentations and discussions held in Cone Ballroom. Attendance the first day was judged “poor” with fewer than 75 attendees at the initial session, but by Thursday evening attendance had grown to 800. A UNCG report summarizing activities after the conclusion of the Forum noted “that off-campus people outnumbered UNCG students and faculty, that they were primarily Negroes and males, that a considerable number of them seemed to be sympathetic toward the concepts of Black Power, and that they often expressed their feelings with applause or cheers.”

The Forum did not occur without controversy. Editorials and essays declared that the University had been “used” by activists with a specific agenda. Rumors abounded that Ku Klux Klan members planned to attend the Forum, and UNCG Chancellor James Ferguson was forced to ask police officers with the City of Greensboro to attend each of the scheduled sessions to “guard against possible trouble.”

Black Power Forum participants, 1967

Additionally, administrators expressed concern that the sessions “did not produce a detached, objective examination of the ideas of Black Power but were given over to vigorous exhortations in support and advocacy of the movement.” But they could not deny that the Forum provided students with a learning opportunity. As stated in the UNCG report, “today’s students, today’s citizenry in general must learn all they can about the nature of Black Power and the forces that brought it into being. They need to be aware of the task before them. Above all, they should not wait until a crisis develops – until there is a riot in the streets – to gain knowledge of this troublesome subject.”

The Black Power Forum also served as a catalyst for the founding of the Neo-Black Society in Fall 1968. As Marie Darr Scott (class of 1970) noted in her 2011 oral history interview, "this Black Power Forum was just—I mean, it just opened up a whole new thought and mind for the black students at UNCG ... Not everyone got involved but almost all of the black students were interested in forming a black student organization on campus." 

Empowerment Through Song: The Neo-Black Society Gospel Choir

 The Neo-Black Society has several committees which focus on individual opportunities related to the promotion of African American culture, academic success, and community engagement. One of these committees formed the NBS Gospel Choir, which is considered the oldest continuing subgroup of the Neo-Black Society.

The NBS Gospel Choir was created in 1968 by three members of the Neo-Black Society in order to promote community outreach through song. The Neo-Black society records state that, in the 1980s, the group had over 100 active members. The choir continues to be an active part of the larger NBS organization.

NBS Gospel Choir Members from 1985, seen in 1985-86 Pine Needles yearbook.

The choir is one of several performance committees within the Neo-Black Society. Other performance committees include the Drama Troupe and Dance Troupe. These committees have worked together on numerous occasions and were required, by NBS rules, to perform at least once per semester. The NBS Choir has numerous engagements throughout the school year including performances at campus, community events, and church functions. Many of the events incorporate themes relating to political awareness and community outreach. The choir also incorporated sub-committees for political awareness in their everyday activities. They also travel to other universities around North Carolina for performances.

The NBS Choir President acts as a representative for the overall NBS organization. In the past, the Choir President was also required to review all proposed performance engagements. According to NBS records, the President was also listed as being responsible for the actions of the choir members in order to ensure that activities reflected well on the Neo-Black Society and UNC Greensboro as a whole.

Photo of the NBS Gospel Choir, from 1989.

In 1988, the NBS Choir sought to record an album with producer David Allen and Joyful Music Productions. For the album, the choir chose previously recorded music as well as new works by composers from the Triad and Charlotte. Proceeds from the sale were set to be used for a scholarship fund, the purchase of new robes, and continuing projects. Unfortunately, it took quite a while for the group to receive the finished album which affected how the funds could be used.

Photo of the NBS Gospel Choir from 2002.

In 2001, NBS Gospel Choir lost SGA funding due to the religious nature of their performances. In order to continue to fund their activities, the choir increased their fundraising efforts and seem to have lessened their performance commitments. Their main concern for the funding at the time were travel costs as the group had several engagements outside of the Carolinas.

The NBS Gospel Choir continues to be active and serve the UNCG and Triad community in many ways. The majority of their performances encourage collaboration between other universities and NBS performance groups. The Neo-Black Society has several events throughout the year, including NBS Week in November, and activities during Black history Month in February.

This article was written by Sara Maeve Whisnant, a graduate student in the LIS program and student worker in SCUA.

The Black Arts Forum and Black History Month Celebrations at UNCG, 1969-1985

In its first full year of recognition and funding from the Student Government Association, the Neo-Black Society focused much of its programming on the sponsorship of black cultural events and speakers on the UNCG campus. The 1969-1970 academic year saw the launch of the annual Black Arts Forum, featuring a performance by "The Believers" (a "musical-drama group"), the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and an exhibit in Elliott Hall of art by African American students at schools throughout the Piedmont region. Typically, this celebration took place in February (nationally, Black History Week was first proposed in 1926; it was expanded to Black History Month in February 1970).

In the early 1980s, the Black Arts Forum transitioned into a broader campus-wide observance of Black History Month. The Neo-Black Society remained a primary coordinator of the Black History Month celebration, but the Student Government Association and other campus departments and students groups also participated in planning and coordinating the events. 

NBS Dance Troupe performs during the 1984 Black History Month celebration

In 1984, UNCG's Black History Month celebration kicked off on January 31 with a speech by Julian Bond. At the time, Bond was a Georgia state senator, but he had previously served as one of the co-founders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (he later served as chairman of the NAACP from 1998-2010 and as the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center). The event featuring Bond was held at UNCG's Aycock Auditorium, but was organized and featured student performers and speakers from across Greensboro. In addition to UNCG students, others from North Carolina A&T University, Guilford College, Bennett Colleve, Guilford Tech, and Greensboro College participated in the program. Immediately prior to Bond's speech, which was titled "What Next?," the audience was entertained by a performance featured the combined voices of North Carolina A&T's United Christian Fellowship Choir and UNCG's Neo-Black Society Choir. 

In 1985, the Black History Month celebration had a large focus on the work of African American playwright and writer Lorraine Hansberry. The year marked the 25th anniversary of the first production of drama A Raisin in the Sun, and UNCG organized a four-day Lorraine Hansberry Seminar series centered around the work. Dr. Linda Brown Bragg, who taught creative writing and African American literature in UNCG's Residential College, delivered the opening lecture titled "Lorraine Hansberry: American Writer--International Consciousness." The following evening, UNCG history professor Dr. Loren Schweninger discussed A Raisin the Sun from a historical perspective. Dr. Femi Richards, who was serving as a distinguished visiting professor in the UNCG School of Home Economics, followed the next night with a lecture on "The African Aesthetic and Design Components in A Raisin in the Sun." The series was concluded with a lecture by Lorraine Hansberry scholar Deborah J. Wood, who spoke on "Lorraine Hanserry's Chicago Realism."

NBS Gospel Choir members in 1985

1985 also saw a Black Alumni Reunion weekend from February 22-24. The featured event of the weekend was a lecture by Dr. Mary Frances Berry, a civil rights leader who had been the first woman to serve as chancellor of a major research university. She served on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and in 1984 co-founded the Free South Africa Movement. Additional events that weekend included a banquet featuring a speech by Joanna Smart Drane, one of the first African Americans admitted to Woman's College (now UNCG), and a showing of the Prince movie Purple Rain. 

Restoration of Neo-Black Society Funding and the Ensuing Challenges, 1973

In the last two Spartan Stories, we looked at the founding of UNCG's Neo-Black Society (NBS) and the Spring 1973 Student Government Association (SGA) challenge to the organization's funding. At the end of last week's Spartan Stories post, UNCG Chancellor James Ferguson formed a faculty committee to investigate the Student Student Senate's March 1973 decision to revoke the Neo-Black Society's funding. Based on the committee's findings, he invalidated the Student Senate's decision.

But before the faculty committee's report was even released, a number of Student Government Association members (including those who filed the original petition against the NBS) hired attorney Michael K. Curtis to represent them. In a March 30, 1973, letter to Chancellor Ferguson and Dr. Kendon Smith, chair of the faculty committee investigating the ruling, Curtis wrote that his "clients are seriously disturbed by the recent action of the University establishing a faculty advisory committee to consider and possibly recommend reversal of the Student Senate's decision to terminate the funding of the Neo-Black Society."

Leon Chestnut, NBS coordinator

But, as we learned last week, the committee did indeed recommend that the NBS funding be restored, and Chancellor Ferguson agreed. Student Government Association vice president Jacqueline Coleman, one of the students represented by Curtis, responded to Ferguson's decision with a letter stating her intent to appeal his ruling to the UNCG Board of Trustees. Additionally, on April 3, the Student Senate passed a resolution asserting that the Chancellor's decision served to suspend "the grant of power to the Student Government Association."

Before the next Board of Trustees meeting, however, five individual students who had hired Curtis as their attorney filed suit in U.S. District Court in April. Many other UNCG students signed petitions making it clear that these individual students did not represent the opinion of the student body at large. The suit specifically named Chancellor Ferguson, members of the Board of Trustees, and two officers of the Neo-Black Society as defendants. One of the two was NBS coordinator Leon Chestnut.

At their June 4, 1973 meeting, the Board of Trustees found "that the action of the Chancellor in invalidating the action of the Student Senate of March 26-27, 1973 in reclassifying the Neo-Black Society was appropriate and correct, based upon the evidence presented to him." But the Board also concluded "in view of the contradictory nature of the evidence presented at the hearing on the appeal before the board on June 4, 1973, that the matter be remanded to the Student Senate for a hearing de novo on the classification of the Neo-Black Society, such hearing to be held within thirty days after the beginning of the Fall Semester, 1973."

Text of the Board of Trustees' June 4, 1973 decision

The University followed by filing a motion to dismiss the case in District Court. After fighting the dismissal, the students filing suit dropped their suit in November 1973. A consent order filed in January 1974 outlined the agreements reached by the court, the plaintiffs, and the defendants. The one stipulation outlined in the consent agreement refers specifically to a change to the Neo-Black constitution. The original NBS constitution stated "the aims of the Neo-Black Society are to promote understanding and a sense of unity among black students." In the consent order, the NBS agreed to change its constitution "in order to dispel any appearance of engaging in discriminatory practices." The new constitution clearly states that "the Neo-Black Society shall be open to and shall welcome all undergraduate students without regard to race, religion, color, creed, national origin, or sex." With that one revision, the lawsuit concluded and all parties agreed that NBS would receive full funding as "an official activity of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro."

The following Fall, on September 19, 1974, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James H. Allen, who had worked with NBS leadership throughout the funding challenge, wrote a memo to the NBS membership as they planned their annual banquet. He wrote "the contributions of the Neo-Black Society to racial understanding and an appreciation of the contribution of the Black culture and heritage are important to the educational mission of the University. I look forward with you to a significant year of achievement for the Society and offer my support to you in whatever ways necessary in accomplishing your goals for the year."

Neo-Black Society at Risk: The 1973 Challenge of NBS's Funding

In last week's Spartan Stories post, we looked at the 1967 Black Power Forum and its impact on the founding of UNCG's Neo-Black Society (NBS) in 1968. The founding of the NBS, however, did not come without controversy. Some students accused the NBS of "reverse racism," claiming that they refused to admit white students to the organization.

In February 1973, six white UNCG students filed a complaint with the Student Government Association's Committee on Classification of Organizations, calling for the revocation of NBS's standing as a financially-supported student organization. At the time, NBS had a membership of approximately 145 students. This petition cited two major complaints from those students regarding NBS membership and activities. At least four of the six petitioners were current Student Government Association (SGA) senators.

Two students in the NBS Lounge, 1973

The bulk of the petition focused on a claim that NBS was in violation of SGA bylaws due to "a direct link between NBS and YOBU -- a Black Separatist, anti-White group." YOBU (the Youth Organization for Black Unity, previously the Student Organization for Black Unity) was a Greensboro-based group that formed in 1969, growing out of the Black Power Movement. The petitioners claimed that YOBU "is limited to Black persons only," and, due to their alleged affiliation, NBS would limit its membership too. The petitioners noted that this violated SGA bylaws requiring organizations to "be open to any and all undergraduates." It also claims that UNCG's support of the NBS "placed both UNC-G and NBS very possibly in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, given NBS's association with YOBU."

On Sunday, February 25, 1973, a hearing was held by the SGA Committee on Classification of Organizations to investigate the claims made in the petition. The Committee determined that the petitioners statements did not meet the burden for reclassifying NBS and revoking its funding. Specifically in regards to affiliation with YOBU, the Committee stated that "no direct link has been proven to exist between the NBS and YOBU for the 1972-1973 school year," noting that the only evidence that the petitioners brought forth in support of this claim was that an NBS member "had her way paid to a YOBU open state conference with funds provided for her by NBS."

The Committee also found that additional claims of membership limitations based on race did not violate SGA bylaws. The Committee did suggest a small wording change for the NBS constitution to clarify the organization's intent, noting that the current wording of the NBS constitution "might induce misapprehension in the minds of those uninitiated in the intricacies of constitutional legality." Specifically, the Committee recommended replacing the sentence "Members and their invited guests may attend" to "Meetings must be open to the entire student body unless business pertinent only to NBS membership is being considered." You can read the full decision by the Committee here.

A full meeting of the Student Senate was held on March 20 to discuss the Neo-Black Society. Additionally, "open" and "executive" Senate sessions took place on March 26 and 27. In these sessions, SGA "heard appeals, rebuttals, and counter-rebuttals from delegations representing both the Neo-Black Society and the Senate." A Senate vote was taken over the NBS funding, and, acting counter to the findings of the Committee on Classifications of Organizations, the Senate voted to reclassify the NBS, removing its funding and rights to use university facilities.

A scuffle ensued in the Senate chambers after the decision was handed down. At least one student received treatment at a hospital after the incident. One Neo-Black Society member was later found guilty of assault by the Greensboro District Court. On the night of March 27, hundreds of students gathered at the Mossman Building for a sit-in demonstration to protest the Student Senate's decision. Estimates of student participation on that first night of demonstration are as high as 750 (including both black and white students).

Letter from Ferguson to NBS Coordinator Leon Chestnut
stating his decision to invalidate the SGA decision, Mach 31, 1973

Chancellor James Ferguson immediately convened a faculty committee to investigate the Senate's actions. An official report from the committee was filed with Chancellor Ferguson on March 31, advising "that the reclassification of the Neo-Black Society by the Student Senate was not justified. The Committee finds that the evidence presented did not establish the validity of the substantive charges. Furthermore, the Senate's procedure in dealing with the charges against the Neo-Black Society involved such serious improprieties as to limit the rights of the Society under rules of due process and fairness." Specifically, the report found that "new evidence of a substantial nature was introduced during the executive session, beyond the scrutiny of the NBS representative." It also reported that the Senate questionably chose to exclude NBS and Senate member Donna Benson from voting on the issue, while allowing four other Senators who had been original petitioners to vote.

This, however, did not end the question of funding and status for the Neo-Black Society at UNCG. Check back next week to learn more about the SGA reactions to Ferguson's faculty committee report and the ensuing legal procedures.

The Founding Years of UNCG's Neo-Black Society, 1968-1973

In November 1967, UNCG hosted a Black Power Forum, organized in large part by the UNCG Student Government Association to "inform students and faculty members of this movement and its actions and to give us a chance to discuss Black Power, its history, its political and social implications for us and the nation." The forum was organized around three topics: "Black Power past and present," "the ghetto," and "Black Power and the self-image of the Negro." Speakers from across the country were brought in for presentations and discussions held in Cone Ballroom.

This event on UNCG's campus took place in the midst of major national protests, riots, and changes. African American students at UNCG began discussing the need for a formally-recognized student organization to represent their needs and issues. As Marie Darr Scott (class of 1970) noted in her 2011 oral history interview, "this Black Power Forum was just—I mean, it just opened up a whole new thought and mind for the black students at UNCG ... Not everyone got involved but almost all of the black students were interested in forming a black student organization on campus."

At the start of the 1968-1969 academic year, students officially petitioned for and received university recognition for the Neo-Black Society (NBS). The NBS stated three major goals of the organization: "1) to help in voter registration drives, 2) to work with the Greensboro United Tutorial Service (a community group aimed at connecting college students with community educational efforts), and 3) to try to help establish an Afro-American history course on this campus." An October 18, 1968, editorial article in The Carolinian student newspaper reported that the organization was "a group of students who are willing to work within the framework of our society to bring about constructive and much-needed change."

From the outset, there were tensions; some students accused the NBS of "reverse racism." But the NBS continued pushing towards its stated goals and mission of working for change. In 1968, the NBS was recognized by UNCG's Student Government Association (SGA), meaning it was able to acquire funding from the university to support its work and events.

In 1971, the NBS received lounge space in Elliott Hall following a petition drive which garnered 106 signatures. The petition itself stated that "the lounge can serve the following three basic functions: a) the lounge will provide an atmosphere conducive for a united effort towards educating ourselves in respect to those elements of our culture that are beyond the traditional realms of the university curriculum, b) it will develop a cultural awareness of those artistic accomplishments of Black people that should be used to further the cultural enrichment of this campus, and c) it will provide a positive atmosphere that will enable Black students to enter into meaningful relationships which we believe will alleviate the following problems of Black students on this campus: 1) the lack of social activities that are appealing to Black students, 2) the lack of appeal to prospective and incoming Black students, and 3) the lack of an atmosphere that is beneficial in alleviating the tensions and the apprehensions caused by our position as a minority group on this campus."

Two students in the NBS lounge in late 1971

By 1973, however, the allocation of student funds to NBS was questioned by several white students who claimed that the organization was in violation of the SGA constitution and by-laws because it "discouraged white membership" and was allegedly affiliated with a "national militant organization." Stay tuned next week for a post on this funding conflict and its resolution.

African American Studies at UNCG

When organized in the 1967-1968 academic year, the Neo Black Society at UNCG expressed three primary goals for the new student group. Two social missions were recognized: a desire to help with voter registration drives and to work with the Greensboro United Tutorial Service (a community group aimed at connecting college students with community education efforts). But they also aimed to "help establish an Afro-American history course on this campus." Students argued that black history and culture merited a much larger place in the University curriculum. In 1969, a faculty committee agreed.

Loren Schweninger

The history department proposed the first course in African-American history to be taught by Richard Bardolph, a white faculty member who had published in the field. Students, however, insisted that the course must be taught by an African American instructor. For one experimental year in 1970, Bardolph traded courses with his colleague at North Carolina A&T, Frank White. The following year, the history department hired an African-American specialist, Loren Schweninger. A former student of John Hope Franklin at the University of Chicago, Schweninger continued teaching history courses on race and slavery until his 2012 retirement (he remains a professor emeritus in the Department of History).

While there was considerable discussion of a black studies program through the 1970s and a number of departments across campus joined the history department in offering courses focused on African American history and culture, an official interdisciplinary minor in Black Studies was not offered until 1982. Robert Miller, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, led the charge in the establishment of the minor. Students chose their classes from eleven existing social science, humanities, and music courses. Dr. Lee Bernick of the Department of Political Science was chosen as the first chairman of the Black Studies Program.

The course catalog from the 1982-1983 academic year described the objectives of the Black Studies Program:

• “To signify to the university community that teaching and learning about the history and experience of blacks in American society is an integral part of a university education. 
• To enable all undergraduate students, white and black, to learn how blacks have exerted an indelible impact on the American society and to assist black students in learning more about their history and background. 
• To add another humanistic dimension to the liberal arts undergraduate experience of students in this university.” 

During 1985-1986 academic year, UNCG offered its first Black Studies specific courses. One course, Blacks in America: Historical and Cultural Perspective (BKS 100), provided a “historical analysis of Afro-American culture. Topics included are West Africa, folk culture, religion, music, drama, film, literature, family and kinship patterns, and black consciousness.” The other course was Blacks in American Society: Social, Economic, and Political Perspectives (BKS 110). This course focused on the “social, political, economic experience of blacks in the United States. Topics include the black family, Civil Rights Movement, black politicians, and blacks in the labor market.”

UNCG African American Studies Program website

In 1992-1993, the Black Studies Program officially changed its name to the African American Studies Program. In recent years, the department has continued to grow. On February 8, 2002, the Board of Governors approved UNCG's request for authorization to establish a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American Studies. And in Fall 2009, the Program began offering a Post-baccalaureate certificate in African American Studies.

The Program continues to provide UNCG’s “increasingly diverse student population with an opportunity to study the cultures, histories, and experiences of the African World--from Africa, to the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean.”

Neo-Black Society vs. the student senate, 1973

In 1967, black students at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) formed the student group, the Neo-Black Society (NBS), in response to growing concerns about the support and acceptance of black students on campus.  At its founding, the NBS was extremely separatist, calling for parallel university events for black students.  The organization was also very vocal in advocating the recruiting of more black faculty at UNCG as well the incorporation of more black history and culture into the curriculum. First meeting in the student lounge, the NBS soon moved to a more permanent room in Elliott Hall.  The organization quickly distinguished itself across the campus and within the Greensboro community through its sponsorship of an annual Black Arts Festival as well as a Gospel Choir and other social activities.

In 1973, the NBS had clearly established itself as a strong, albeit confrontational, presence across the UNCG campus. This resulted in some resentment by some white students who consequently pushed for the removal of student funding for the NBS.  They argued that the society was segregationist by refusing to admit whites which was a direct violation of the university’s anti-discrimination regulations.  It was true that at the time all 145 members of the NBS were black and that there had only been a few white members since its founding in 1967. Acknowledging the students’ complaints, the student senate on the night of March 26-27, voted to withdraw funding for the organization.  Hearing the results of this meeting created an immediate backlash across the university as over 300 students began a sit-in movement to occupy the Foust building.  Recognizing the frustrations of the students, Chancellor Ferguson agree to appoint a faculty review committee to look into the matter.  During this time, the students continued to peacefully maintain a sit-in presence while the committee investigated the matter.

Chaired by psychology Professor Kendon Smith and made up of three white professors and two black professors, the committee agreed on March 30th to uphold the NBS funding and found the student senate in serious breach of procedural errors.  Chancellor Ferguson accepted the findings as did most of the faculty.  Despite the ruling, some students were still upset and appealed to the board of trustees who voted to remand the matter to the student senate for further consideration.  In the fall of 1973, the NBS agreed to add several white members to the organization as well as draft anti-discrimination language into its constitution which appeased the senate and funding was restored.

University experiences peaceful sit-in demonstration while faculty committee considers Senate's actions