On August 20, 2020, the DC History Center presented “These Streets: Comparing the Uprisings of 1968 and Today,” a conversation with historian Kyla Sommers, author of the dissertation “‘I Believe in the City:’ The Black Freedom Struggle and the 1968 Civil Disturbances in Washington, D.C.,” and Tony Gittens, director of the Washington, DC International Film Festival, who was a student at Howard University in 1968.
These are the dates when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Floyd were murdered. A familiar narrative says that their deaths sparked civil disturbances in cities across America, notably here in Washington, DC.
Today we understand that this bit of historical shorthand has distorted the reality of these events. The bursts of protests, rioting, and general outrage that took place in 1968 and continue at this writing in 2020 were sparked by tragedies, yes, but their causes run much deeper.
This Context for Today list of resources aims to offer the details of the systemic racism and injustices that fueled these uprisings. Injustices have always been known to those affected—people of color, especially Black Americans—but often have not been more widely acknowledged until traumatic events made recognition undeniable. The resources listed here in the spirit of learning from the past show clearly that the racial disparities underlying the violence of 1968 were not new, nor has time since erased them.
"Comparing the Uprisings of 1968 and 2020" is an installment in the DC History Center’s Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians, activists, journalists, and community members.
Kyla Sommers is the digital engagement editor at American Oversight. Previously, Sommers was editor-in-chief of the History News Network, a website dedicated to historically contextualizing breaking news. She earned a Ph.D. in American history from George Washington University after writing her dissertation, "'I Believe in the City:' The Black Freedom Struggle and the 1968 Civil Disturbances in Washington, D.C." She received the 2016 Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation Fellowship from the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Tony Gittens is founder and director of the Washington, DC International Film Festival. He served three mayors as executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities from September 1996 to July 2008. Among the recognitions he has received for his contributions to the arts are Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters, French Ministry of Culture and Communications; the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts; and Public Humanist of the Year from HumanitiesDC. Gittens serves on the boards of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Capital Fringe Festival, the Washington Literacy Center, and the Kennedy Center Community Advisory Committee.
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