28 september 1968 #throwbackthursday howard students confront mayor washington re new crime legislation

“We dissent with reason and responsibility.”
Howard University Yearbook, 1969. [this quote appeared on same page as photo]

#OTD-ish 28 September 1968 #throwbackthursday In early January 1968, Howard University students stage protests against the new DC Crime Bill which passed on 27 December 1967 and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (white).

In the photo above, students confront Mayor Walter Washington in the District Building. Stephen Abel, founder of the United Black People’s Party, who is to the left of the students wearing sunglasses, reads complaints.

Please comment below. Did you, a friend or a neighbor participate in this protest? Do you recognize anyone in this photograph? Do you have photographs of this protest? Do you remember the United Black People’s Party? Do you remember conversations about the new crime bill? How were you impacted by the crime bill? Feel free to reach me privately here?

Photo source: Courtesy Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University and Howard University Bison yearbook, 1969.
”Howard Students Launch Protest Against Crime Bill,” Hilltop, 12 January 1968, p. 1.

Click here to read the 1967 Crime Bill.