Prairie fires: urban rebellions as black working class politics in three Midwestern cities

Howard, Ashley

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/34444 Copy

Description

Title

Prairie fires: urban rebellions as black working class politics in three Midwestern cities

Author(s)

Howard, Ashley

Issue Date

2012-09-18T21:17:27Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Cha-Jua, Sundiata K.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Cha-Jua, Sundiata K.

Committee Member(s)

• Barrett, James R.
• Lang, Clarence E.
• Greenberg, Cheryl L.

Department of Study

History

Discipline

History

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• African Americans
• riots
• rebellion
• Midwestern
• working-class
• Omaha, NE
• Milwaukee, WI
• Cincinnati, OH

Abstract

This study investigates the social, economic and political upheavals caused by the urban rebellions of the 1960s. Using Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Omaha, Nebraska as case studies, this dissertation argues that the uprisings were historically informed acts of resistance, which demonstrated a Midwestern, gendered, and working-class character. Prairie Fires registers the significant impact the rebellions had not only in transforming the consciousness of African Americans but also in altering the relationship between Blacks, urban communities, and the State as well as highlighting class fractures within Black politics. This interpretative lens validates the black urban rebellions not only as legitimate responses to oppression, but part of an American tradition of working class insurrection.

Graduation Semester

2012-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/34444

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2012 Ashley Howard

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