This Day in History

Oct. 25, 1969: Opening of Malcolm X Liberation University

Time Periods: 1961
Themes: African American, Education
Print

Bernice Johnson Reagon and others singing.

The Malcolm X Liberation University opened on October 25, 1969 in Durham, North Carolina.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has a short documentary available online, made for National Educational Television’s Black Journal television program to chronicle the event.

The whole film is less than 10 minutes. Highlights include Bernice Johnson Reagon singing (at 6:40) and SNCC veteran Courtland Cox giving closing remarks (at 7:30). Cox asks when there will be a Black high school and a Black kindergarten.

Related Resources
Teaching Activities (Free)

Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 24 pages.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.

Howard Protest 1968
If We Knew Our History

What Happened to the Civil Rights Movement After 1965? Don’t Ask Your Textbook

Article. By Adam Sanchez. If We Knew Our History series.
Too often, students are taught that the Civil Rights Movement ended in 1965 with passage of the Voting Rights Act. It didn’t. Adam Sanchez argues that it is essential to teach the long, grassroots history of the Civil Rights Movement in order to help students think about today’s movements for racial justice.

Digital Collections

SNCC Digital Gateway

Digital collection. Historical materials, profiles, timeline, map, and stories on SNCC’s voting rights organizing.