The course examines the social roots and origins of the civil rights movement and the major international and domestic events that fueled the movement's development, including the demographic transfer of black southerners, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos and Native Americans to urban spaces during WWII; the rise of de-colonization movements in Asia, Latin America, and Africa; and the movement's radicalization. We will consider the differing political philosophies and strategies for social change that were articulated by movement participants and the organizations they formed. Major topics include, the emergence of the civil rights movement in the North during WWII, the relationship between the cold war and the struggle for civil rights, the rise of the Southern civil rights movement, the impact of third world revolutionary struggles on the politics of the movement, Martin Luther King, Ella Baker, Malcolm X, urban revolt, SNCC, the Black Panther Party, the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement DRUM, and the Vietnam War. Central to the aim of the course is to understand the relationship between the Black Freedom Movement and broader political and social developments in American society including the rise of political movements amongst students, women, gays and lesbians, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians.