15 march 1968 & mckinley hs black student union

#OTD-ish 15 March 1968 The McKinley HS Black Student Union met to plan and organize their spring activities, including a voter registration drive, a peace demonstration and an African Culture Day to commemorate Malcolm X's birthday.  The BSU also operated a freedom school at Langley JHS. 

Members in the photo above:
Front row: Natalie Walker, Freeman Owen, Helen Murray, Angela Cross
Second row: Calvin Mitchell, Vivian Rayford, Anthony Mayo, Ernest Steele
Third row: Jack Henderson, Mahlon Harmon, Michael Schumate

According to the 1968 yearbook:
"’United we stand, divided we fall,’ could easily have been the motto of the Black Student Union, a group which strived to unite all black students in its campaign for a relevant D.C. School System. Specifically, the main duty of McKinley's chapter of the city-wide BSU was to make this school's curriculum more reflective of its almost totally black student body and the surrounding black community. They hoped to fulfill this goal by initiating courses in black history, black literature and Swahili. McKinley's BSU members also attempted to make Techites aware and proud of their black heritage."

Please comment below. Were you a member of the BSU? Did you participate in BSU activities? Were you a student at Langley JHS? Did you participate in the freedom school? Do you know what the pinback buttons say that Owen and Murray are wearing? You may comment privately here.

Photo source: Courtesy Sumner School Museum & Archives, McKinley HS yearbook, 1968, p. 60.