Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, History

This dissertation examines Black Power era student activism in Virginia and North Carolina from 1965 to 1975. Critical masses of Black students ushered in Black Power politics on historically white college campuses across the Upper South as the 1960s drew to a close. The Black students who desegregated the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia in the late 1960s arrived at their respective campuses with an ideological militancy rooted in southern Black communities. This project examines how Black Power student activists sought to challenge white supremacy at each state's flagship university and ultimately altered higher education. This change is evident in the creation of Black Studies programs and other institutions geared toward African American experiences. Moreover, their presence, protests, and political platforms stirred massive shifts in higher education, including more inclusive policies as well as the intense expansion of university administrations. Identifying the symbiotic connection between community ties and individual political consciousness highlights the many ways in which Black power politics, though often presented as an ideological break, firmly reflects the tenants and practices of the larger Black freedom struggle. Those students and their activism model the importance and potential of people power.

Committee: Hasan Jeffries (Advisor); Leslie Alexander (Committee Member); Clay Howard (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black History; Black Studies; History