The image on the left is an excerpt from the Register Mail to inform people that LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) would be coming to Knox to give a lecture for the “Racial Crisis” Symposium. The image on the right is perhaps a letter or transcript from a new director named David Yount who talks about another speaker Roy Innis. The program was in a series to bring Black leaders, white allies, and antagonists to campus. The Racial Crisis Symposium not only hosted LeRoi Jones but also had many Black activists come to speak, including Roy Innis. Roy Innis was an associate national director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). During his run as director he actively fought for black power, black self-determination, and an approach of self-defense instead of non-violence. It’s really cool that LeRoi Jones, and others, were here on campus after reading so many works of his in the anthology. I want to see if there are any pictures and research more to see if there are any transcripts or brochures from the lecture. I’d really like to know what they said and how they approached speaking a live audience versus writing.
Good work, Ellie. Let’s see if we can find pictures of the event!