STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE

STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE Founded on April 15, 1960 as an interracial "direct action" civil rights organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC or SNICK) was especially active in the South during the early 1960's. Utilizing the tactics of sit-ins and jail-ins (refusal to pay fines in order to serve consequent jail terms), SNCC was instrumental in the desegregation of many public facilities throughout the South.

Following the election of Stokely Carmichael as Chairman of SNCC in 1966, the organization became increasingly militant and dedicated to black liberation and black nationalism as op­posed to mere integration. Carmichael himself resigned his office in 1967 to join forces with the emerging Black Panther Party. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, H. Rap Brown, who succeeded Carmichael as head of SNCC, changed the name of the organization to Student Na­tional Coordinating Committee. The name-change, however, was merely a token gesture since SNCC had already lost much of its momentum and membership as the result of defections to the Black Power and Black Panther movements. Although the organization still technically exists, its influence and activities have been relatively limited since the mysterious disappearance of Brown in 1970.