Throwback Thursday to April 8, 1967, when Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael ate lunch with some unlikely companions — a group of mostly frat boys and sorority girls at Vanderbilt University. Carmichael was in town to speak at Vanderbilt’s student-run Impact Symposium, where he joined an eclectic group of headliners that year including Martin Luther King Jr., Allen Ginsberg, and Strom Thurmond. In this photo, Carmichael is seated next to Vanderbilt’s influential chaplain, Rev. Bev Asbury (who is seated next to Eldridge Cleaver). Metro police detectives, leaning against the wall, kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. Perry Wallace attended the pre-symposium lunch and all of the speeches. “It was really striking to have these Vanderbilt students, whom we knew well, have to confront the idea of an outrageous black man who talked about race forcefully and did not back off,” Wallace recalled. Photo courtesy of Rev. Bev Asbury.
Wow – what a charming photograph. Hard to know what to make of it, though. I’ll have to buy your book!
James: There is a whole chapter on Stokely Carmichael’s visit to Vanderbilt, including the lunch scene. See you soon!