November 5, 2019
Greensboro Massacre Survivor: We Must Remember the 1979 KKK Shooting That Killed 5 Anti-Racists
November 04, 2019
Remembering the Greensboro Massacre of 1979, When KKK & Nazis Killed 5 People in Broad Daylight
Western Mass Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Greensboro Massacre: Lessons for Today
On November 3, 1979, five radical young labor and community organizers were shot and killed and ten others injured by Ku Klux Klansmen and American neo-Nazis who drove into a peaceful group of men, women and children preparing for an anti-Klan march in a Black neighborhood in Greensboro, NC. Despite videotaped evidence of the killers shooting unarmed demonstrators, two separate all-white juries found the murderers not guilty. In 1985, in a historic verdict, a federal court found Klansmen, Nazis AND Greensboro Police responsible for the death of Dr. Mike Nathan.
The Greensboro Massacre embodies many of the issues of today: the rise of white supremacy, the collusion and support by officialdom of bigotry and its violence, the struggle of workers for decency and a living wage, and the desperate need for an empowering mass movement across race, ethnicity, gender, age and class to transform our country into one that is sustainable and just.
Dr. Joyce and Rev. Nelson Johnson, leaders of Greensboro’s Beloved Community Center and survivors of the Massacre, will visit Western Massachusetts October 5-8 and participate in a series of events focusing on “The Greensboro Massacre: Lessons for Today”.
- Saturday, October 5, noon to 3 pm. Intergenerational Dialogue between today’s Western Mass Organizers and Rev. Nelson & Dr. Joyce Johnson. For more information, contact Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net.
- Sunday, October 6, 10 am, Sermon by Rev. Nelson Johnson, “Our Need for Justice, Healing and Reconciliation”, at Edwards Church, 297 Main Street, Northampton, MA.
Sunday, October 6, 2-3:30 PM, Forum featuring Rev. Nelson and Dr. Joyce Johnson, “Greensboro Massacre: Lessons for Today”, at Edwards Church, 297 Main Street, Northampton, MA
Click here to view a short film of the event
Monday, October 7, 6 PM, Fundraising reception for Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice and Beloved Community Center featuring Nelson and Joyce Johnson. For more information, contact Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net. Click here to view a photo page of this event.
Tuesday, October 8, 4 – 5:30 PM “The 1979 Greensboro Massacre: Lessons for Today”, with Nelson & Joyce Johnson at New Africa House Theater, UMass, sponsored by UMass Afro-American Studies Department, History Department, and Resistance Studies Initiative.
Wednesday, October 9, Resistance Films will feature the film “Greensboro: Closer to the Truth.” It documents the first ever Truth and Reconciliation Commission held in the United States 25 years after what is now known as “The Greensboro Massacre, a violent episode in the nation’s history. The Closer to the Truth Project uses the film to support local reconciliation and justice efforts in communities all across the U.S. Northampton-based member of the project , Dr. Marty Nathan (whose first husband was killed in the massacre) will lead the post-film discussion. https://greensborothemovie.com/
