Student+Nonviolent+Coordinating+Committee

=Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee= Tyler Gibson

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was an organization run by college students that protested segregation and racism during the civil rights movement. The SNCC was founded in the early 1960s. The movement was most influential during the the early 1960s until it saw a change in philosophy and beliefs in latter half of the decade.

In February of 1960, Izell Blair, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond, four students attending Carolina A & T, walked into Woolworth's Cafe in Greensboro, North Carolina and ordered coffee from the whites only lunch counter. When the students were refused service, they returned the next day with twenty more young black people. This sit-in grew and generated a nation wide movement. Students across the nation began sit-ins at public segregated areas. Several months after the Greensboro sit-in, the SNCC was founded to help organize and support sit-ins. The SNCC was founded on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The former mayor of Washington D.C., Marion Barry, was elected the first chairman of the SNCC The SNCC adopted the nonviolent philosophies of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. The organization grew to one of the most influential movements of the civil rights movement, with far more ambitious goals than lunch counter sit-ins.
 * Origins of the SNCC**

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The SNCC saw many different leaders during the 1960s but perhaps the most important and influential of these leaders was John Lewis. Lewis grew up in a poor family of share croppers. He attended fisk university and received a degree in religion and philosophy. After leaving college, Lewis joined the freedom rides. He was badly beaten and imprisoned during the coarse of the freedom rides. When he was elected chairman of the SNCC in 1963, Lewis had already been arrested twenty-four times. Lewis was the third chairman of the SNCC and replaced Chuck McDew. Lewis was chairman of the SNCC until 1966. As chairman of the SNCC, Lewis participated in many momentous events of the civil rights movement. In 1963, the SNCC orchestrated the Freedom Ballot. This was a fake election held in Mississippi. Over 80,000 black people showed up for the election. This demonstation was to help secure the right to vote for black people in the deep south. The SNCC also had a crucial role in the March on Washington. John Lewis was a speaker at the March on Washington, speaking alongside civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis gave an impassioned speech on segregation and racism. in 1966, Lewis was replaced as the chairman of the SNCC by Stokeley Carmichael. Today, Lewis is serving his seventh term as a member of Congress. media type="youtube" key="vU1AbhQGnrE" height="344" width="425" The SNCC played a very active role in organizing and executing the freedom rides of the 1960s. When a 1961 supreme court decision ended segregation in buses and bus terminals, a freedom ride was organized. Two buses containing seven black, and six white students left from Washington D.C. for New Orleans. The students faced violence numerous times during the ride. Angry mobs attacked and severely beat the students on several occasions. When one bus reached Alabama, an angry mob surrounded the bus and set it on fire. Many more freedom rides followed the first, with both black and white people participating. The riders were continually met by violence. Many riders were arrested in the south and imprisoned. The freedom rides were successful in many parts of the south, but their efforts failed to penetrate the deep south. Many members of the SNCC participated in the freedom rides, including John Lewis, who went on to be a key leader of the SNCC. Like all the civil rights groups of the 1960s, the SNCC faced strong opposition from many of the racist institutions of the period. Many white racists, especially in the deep south, were strongly opposed to the goals of the SNCC. During the freedom rides, angry mobs attacked several of the buses. SNCC leader John Lewis was badly beaten and imprisoned. They also faced opposition from the highly racist police force of the south. During the freedom rides, SNCC members were driven out of Birmingham, Alabama by the extremely racist police chief, "Bull" O' Connor. The KKK helped O' Connor in gaining his position at teh head of the police force.
 * John Lewis**
 * The Freedom Rides**
 * Opposition**

In 1966, with the election of Stokeley  Carmichael, the SNCC saw a dramatic change of values. Carmichael directed the SNCC in a far more radical direction, following the, "By any means necessary" tactics of Malcolm X. Towards the late 1960s, the SNCC had passed the prime of its influence and passed out of existence.
 * Later Years**

The SNCC was had a huge impact on the civil rights movement. They help organize and execute some of the most important events of the civil rights movement, including: the freedom rides, the march on Washington, and the freedom ballot. Without the SNCC, civil rights in our country would not be what it is today.