Rallying the Windy City: Tragedy and Chicago's Turning Point

Political science professor Robert Starks was just a child when Emmett Till’s murder shook the nation. That event, and the lynchings that followed, shaped Starks’ future participation in the civil rights movement. He became a youth leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Chicago, participating in numerous protests throughout the city. Starks recalls a shift in the civil rights dynamic in Chicago, following the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party.