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Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, November 16, 2017:
Councilwoman Helen Gym (At Large) led a presentation commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the November 17, 1967 Citywide Black Student Walkout, and honoring the continuing tradition of youth organizing and activism around education equity and racial justice in the City of Philadelphia.
Read the resolution: bit.ly/CWBSW67
A
B
C
D
These
brave
students
walked
miles
from
every
corner
of
our
city
to
demand
their
civil
rights
and
basic
fairness
in
their
schools.
Today
we
honor
you
all.
We
honor
your
bravery,
we
honor
your
legacy
today.
It
is.
It
is
a
fact
that
we
have
african-americans
in
leadership
as
teachers
as
administrators
and
superintendents.
Today,
african-american
history
is
a
mandated
course
in
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia,
and
today
students
still
use
the
tools
of
non-violent
protests
like
walking
out
and
speaking
out,
to
demand
even
greater
civil
rights
for
themselves
and
for
all
of
us.
D
Today,
our
youth,
especially
our
black
brown,
immigrant
and
LGBTQ
youth,
are
carrying
the
baton
of
justice
and
showing
us
what
it
means
to
believe
and
to
fight
with
passion
and
energy
and,
as
we
are
today
on
the
brink
of
restoring
local
control
back
into
our
public
schools
in
Philadelphia.
Let
us
remember
that
this
fight
for
education,
equity
remains
alive
and
well
because
of
the
courage
of
those
who
came
before
us.
This
movement
continues.
F
Whereas
students
who
protested
racial
and
justice
and
school
segregation
demanded
the
right
to
refuse
to
salute
the
United
States
flag
or
say
the
Pledge
of
Allegiance,
without
penalty,
greater
representation
of
black
students
and
Union
sponsored
apprenticeship
programs,
the
freedom
to
express
themselves
through
wearing
African
clothes
and
jewelry,
and
the
use
of
African
names
and
whereas
Walter
Palmer
of
the
black
people's
unity,
movement
and
William.
Mathis
of
the
Philadelphia
chapter
of
the
Congress
of
racial
equality,
provided
youth
activists
with
training
and
resources
to
develop
an
organizational
strategy
and
create
a
student's
Bill
of
Rights.
F
G
Whereas
with
strategy
and
materials
in
place,
student
activists
led
a
series
of
organized
student,
walk
outs
throughout
November
and
October
and
November
1967,
the
first
demonstration
occurred
on
October
26
when
300
gratz
high
school
students
exited
during
lunchtime
to
rally
outside
of
the
school
holding
signs
that
read.
The
school
board
doesn't
serve
the
black
community
and
we
need
an
independent
school
board.
G
300
students
at
Bock,
Technical,
High
School,
followed
suit
and
whereas
these
demonstrations
culminated
on
Friday
November
217
1967
with
the
walkout
and
non-violent
gathering
of
over
3,500
black
student
protesters
from
South
Philadelphia
high
school
William,
Penn,
gratz,
Germantown,
Kensington,
Bartram,
West,
Philadelphia,
Benjamin,
Franklin,
Edison,
High,
School
and
I
am
so
sure.
Girls
high
school
as
well.
G
Superintendent
mark
shed
met
with
March
leaders
upon
their
arrival
to
acknowledge
demands
and
attempt
to
address
student
grievances.
Student
leaders,
yelled
updates
from
the
windows
of
the
school
district
building,
eventually
declaring
that
the
superintendent
and
the
school
board
officials
had
agreed
to
almost
all
of
their
demands.
H
Some
students
held
their
ground
and
some
leaders
called
for
students
to
fight
back
and
whereas
activists,
school
district,
employees
and
bystanders
said
they
broke
down.
In
tears
witnessing
the
violence
against
the
youth
school
board,
president
and
former
mayor
Richardson
Dilworth
described
the
events
this
way
things
were
under
control
until
commissioner
Rizzo,
without
our
requests
saw
it
fit
to
lose
a
to
let
loose
a
couple
of
hundred
men,
swinging
clubs
and
beating
children
and.
B
So
these
Millennials
believe
they
started
civil
rights
and
all
that
stuff.
Well
here
they
are
behind
us
right
here,
all
right,
so
where's.
The
School
District
of
Philadelphia
responded
to
the
protests
by
meeting
with
students
and
staff
from
predominantly
black
schools
and
discussing
means
to
quell
racial
tensions
and
improve
teaching
practices.
B
I
And
whereas
in
2005
the
School
Reform
Commission
chairperson,
under
the
direction
of
Commissioner
Sandra
Dungy,
Glynn
honored,
the
determination
of
student
protests
by
unanimous,
miss
miss
Lee,
approving
a
district-wide
mandated
course
in
African
American
history.
The
LRC
recognized
that
the
goal
of
the
1968
resolution
had
not
been
fully
realized
that
the
concerns
related
to
academic
achievement
addressed
by
this
resolution
remain
a
concern
in
2005
and
in
an
effort
to
close
the
largest
academic
achievement
gap
in
the
district.
J
Whereas
Philadelphia's
youth
activists
led
by
black
brown
and
immigrant
of
youth
of
color,
continued
to
lead
for
the
call
of
education,
equality
and
racial
justice
in
their
schools
and
in
our
city,
including
the
sit-in
during
the
state
takeover
of
the
Philadelphia
schools,
without
a
decry
school
budget
cuts
and
the
immigrant
students
who
boycott
it
and
won
the
federal
civil
rights
settlement
around
racial
harassment
at
their
school,
they
demand
a
more
racially
diverse
teaching
force.
The
democratic
governance
and
an
end
to
the
school
to
Prison.
D
Now,
therefore,
be
it
resolved
that
the
Council
of
the
city
of
philadelphia
commemorates
the
50th
anniversary
of
the
november
17
1967
citywide,
black
student
walkout
and
honors,
the
continuing
tradition
of
student,
organizing
and
activism,
around
education,
equity
and
racial
justice
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
Thank
you
so
much.
K
Good
afternoon,
everyone
and
I
want
to
thank
councilman
and
city
council
for
having
us
here
in
honoring.
Us
today
is
a
very
humbling
experience
fifty
years
ago.
Just
imagine
our
children
and
we
were
all
children,
then
going
to
demonstrate
for
equality
and
justice
for
schools
that
catered
to
our
needs,
and
that
was
education.
This
is
what
the
children
wanted
50
years
ago.
Why
are
we
still
fighting
for
the
same
thing
now.
K
Just
imagine
your
children,
many
had
never
been
in
a
demonstration
at
all
in
their
lives,
going
to
the
Board
of
Education
just
to
voice
their
concerns.
I
was
standing
a
few
feet
from
Rizzo.
Commissioner
is
a
an
old
fan.
Who
was
a
councilman?
Then
I
was
standing
on
the
side
and
I
heard
Earl
then
plead
with
Rizzo
to
tell
him
not
to
attack
the
children.
Our
van
said
they're
only
children
reso
said
get
their
asses.
This
is
what
was
done
to
our
children.
K
Imagine
a
child
not
having
anything
to
fight
with
digging
up
dirt
out
of
the
ground
to
throw
to
defend
themselves
when
I
was
thrown
to
the
ground.
I
was
dragged
about
a
half
a
block
family
known
as
dick
trailer
mister
mgz.
While
they
were
dragging
me
by
the
front
door
of
the
Board
of
Education,
he
jumped
on
my
body
to
keep
them
from
dragging
me.
They
beat
him
with
those
black
jacks
unmercifully
I
want
to
thank
the
children,
know
that
you
are
our
future.
K
You
have
to
continue
the
fight
and
through
you
we
have
new
ideas
to
the
old
folks,
us
included.
We
don't
know
everything
you
have
to
listen
to
these
children
they're
the
ones
that
are
on
the
frontlines
in
these
schools.
They
know
what's
going
on,
our
children
are
our
best
and
future
commodity
in
this
world.
They
deserve
in
education
to
our
young
people
out
there
if
they
kept
education
from
the
enslaved
Africans.
K
This
is
a
question.
You
must
ask
yourself:
why
are
they
trying
to
keep
it
from
us
now
all
right
to
our
older
staff,
our
representatives,
fight
for
these
children?
You
have
to
fight
it.
I
know.
Money
goes
a
long
way,
but,
as
I
said
before,
when
I
spoke
here
about
Cecil
B
more,
you
have
to
look
out
for
a
little
person
you
have
to
and
I.
Thank
you.
L
Thank
You,
mr.
president
and
I
want
to
thank
the
president
and
the
City
Council
in
general,
I'd
like
to
thank
councilman
Helen
Jin
in
particular
for
driving
this
initiative
and
I
want
to
I.
Want
you
to
take
away
from
this
a
couple
of
things.
One
is
I
want
you
don't
focus
on
the
attack
on
the
children,
I
went
to
jail,
I
was
charged
with
conspiracy,
riot
mayhem,
assault
and
battery
profanity,
etc.
That's
not
the
focal
point.
I've
been
used
to
going
to
jail
for
these
matters
for
years,
but
it
was
my
babies.
L
These
are
all
my
babies
right,
I
was
33
years
old
at
the
time,
and
so
what
happens?
Is
you
I
want
you
to
remember?
It
did
not
happen
like
a
flash
mob.
This
was
this
started.
I
started
this
journey
in
1955,
1955
I.
Want
you
to
picture
Philadelphia
in
1955.
There
were
no
black
police
officers.
There
were
no
black
bank
tellers.
There
were
no
black
telephone
operators.
There
are
no
blacks,
driving,
try,
caps,
attacks
that
have
been
driving
of
any
recognition
of
the
elves
and
the
trains,
etc.
They
didn't
exist.
L
Blacks
were
sequestered
into
ghettos
and
housing
stock
that
had
been
run
over
from
previous
years.
There
are
no
black
professors
at
University
of
Pennsylvania,
where
I
teach
now
I
started
50
years
ago,
training,
students
at
Penn
on
racism
and
racism
courses
and
still
continue
to
do
that
today.
So
the
black
people's
universe,
the
black
people's
University,
created
a
template,
1955
a
grassroots
template,
organizing
and
training,
and
teaching
young
people
from
preschool
to
high
school
and
Beyond
how
to
take
care
of
themselves
self
help
self-reliance
to
self-determination.
How
to
become
the
future
leaders.
L
You
cannot
become
a
leader
without
training.
You
cannot
have
social
change
without
training.
If
you
fail
the
plan,
you're
planning
to
fail
and
the
reason
it
was
so
successful
because
we
had
a
template,
we
had
an
organizational
template.
That
is
the
same
template
we
used
in
order
to
make
sure
that
there
were
blacks
inside
a
city
council
back
then
there
was
no
of
a
councilman
ho.
There
were
no
asian-americans
in
Council
councilman
Sanchez.
There
were
no
Hispanic
Latinos.
We
use
that
plant
that
template
to
force
people
to
recognize
this
fact.
L
L
He
or
her
I
was
able
to
work
on
the
inside
and
the
outside
I
work
with
Bill
Barrett
of
the
Congress
that
the
rajendra
legendary
Barrett
of
South
Philadelphia,
see
and
Frannie
Jimmy
tae-young
fumo
I
worked
with
all
the
people
on
the
inside
as
well
as
the
outside,
which
gave
us
leverage.
So
a
time
1965
came
around.
We
had
perfected
a
template,
the
same
one
that
would
go
on
to
create
the
National
Black
Power
Conference,
the
black
people
of
the
Black
Panther
Conference,
the
war,
the
anti-war
movement.
It
was
not
by
accident.
L
These
children
were
willing
to
spend
a
year
training.
They
couldn't
wait
to
get
from
these
schools
to
get
to
training
at
Black,
Butte
University.
We
won
intercept
to
Herod,
they
came
there.
It
was
orchestrated
and
out
of
that
came
a
young
Dave
Richardson.
He
started
with
me.
It
was,
he
has
18
19
years
old,
he
became
the
first
and
the
youngest
person
ever
in
the
history
of
Pennsylvania
be
led
to
be
an
ax
legislator.
24,
a
John
White
jr.,
a
John
White
jr.
L
became
a
councilman
and
a
legislator,
and
when
already
becomes
Secretary
of
Education,
a
young
Chaka
Fattah
and
a
young
Curtis
Jones,
they
were
able
to
learn
from
the
lessons.
A
flock
of
Fatah
and
David
Fatah
helped
the
health
of
your
mojo
based
upon
the
template.
It
was
organized
these
young
people
required
to
come
for
these
trainings.
They
had
to
take
this
information
back
across
the
city.
They
had
engaged
the
gangs
in
the
neighborhood.
They
had
engaged
the
churches,
the
black
churches.
L
They
didn't
have
cell
phones,
they
didn't
have
copy
machines.
We
took
a
mimeograph
machine
at
black
people's
University
and
built
5100
page
copies
of
african-american
history.
Then
they
had
to
distribute
all
across
the
city.
Please
take
away
from
this.
These
are
not
victims.
These
are
not
victims.
These
are
people
who
stood
up
at
the
plate
and
they
became
the
models.
I
watched
the
idea
of
an
older
people
elders
taking
my
taking
time
with
me.
We
created
that
model.
I
watched
it
in
this
council
I
watched
us
Wars
George
Schwartz.
L
These
are
the
things
these
are:
the
outcomes
of
serious,
organizing
and
planning.
It's
not
the
flash
in
the
pan
and
I
continue
that
mood.
I,
don't
know
how
long
it'll,
last
seven
years
from
now
I'll
be
90,
but
I
tell
you.
This
I
continue
working
every
day
of
my
life,
I
jog
and
train
40
marks
every
other
day.
I
still
box,
Esther
got
a
shot
and
I
won't
stop
until
I
drop
and
host
you
none
of
you.
This
is
only
a
stepping
stone.
L
L
When
we
clip
the
template
to
build
charter
schools,
we
got
a
governor
raised.
Economists
support
he
needed
across
the
state
with
the
template.
The
first
school
I
got
was
st.
Michael's
at
second
address
master,
that
was
a
school
for
the
Irish.
The
Irish
were
abused
in
this
town.
Mayor
Tate
would
be
the
first
ethnic
person
to
be
able
to
be
a
mayor
in
this
town.
The
Italians
were
abused
in
this
town
and
views
across
this
country.
I've
watched
it
I've,
seen
it
all
and
I.