CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, was founded in Chicago in 1942. It played a key national role in the Civil Rights Movement, launching a variety of actions towards racial equality for African Americans. The Seattle CORE chapter, founded in the late 1950s, grew increasingly active by the early 1960s. Inspired by the sit-in movement and freedom rides in the South, Seattle CORE called attention to the city’s pervasive practices of school segregation and discrimination in employment and housing.
In July 1966, following a day-long meeting on the issue, Seattle CORE publicly issued a resolution that the term “Black Power” should not be interpreted as anti-White or an incitement to violence. In additional resolutions, they maintained their non-violent mandate in anti-discrimination activities, and they urged white people to join their efforts. They encouraged everyone to look behind the slogans and to unite in the common goal to bring equality to all. This poster, with the words "Support Black Power," urges people to join CORE and gives an address to which to send $5.00 dues. Freedom National Bank, founded in 1964, was a Black-owned bank in Harlem, NY.
Caption information source: University of Washington Civil Rights & Labor History Project; The Seattle Daily Times, July 24, 1966; Wikipedia.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
