Written by Taryn Flaherty

_{1967 Black Student Walkouts.}

At 21st and Winter Street, the 1967 Black Student Walkouts Landmark stands at the site of the former Board of Education Building. The historical marker honors the thousands of students and community organizers who demanded racial justice from the Philadelphia School District for Black students in its classrooms.

On Nov. 17th, 1967, over 3,000 middle and high school students walked out of their classrooms to the former Board of Education Building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to demand a culturally inclusive education, including a mandate for African American studies. The November 17th walkout was the culmination of months of planning and organized, multigenerational collaboration between students, family members, and community organizers and leaders. Together, student leaders wrote a Black Students Bill of Rights of 25 demands and created a citywide network of student activists to lead individual school walkouts prior to the November 17th walkout. 

On November 17th, while student leaders were negotiating their demands with School District officials, thousands of students flooded the streets to show their support for their fellow student leaders. The protest was joyful, filled with a collective love for each other and their work. Students sang and danced their way throughout the miles-long walk to the former Board of Education Building. Yet, these children were met with the mass violence of 120 armed police officers under the direction of Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo, who would later become Philadelphia’s mayor. In spite of this police and state-sanctioned violence, the students with their communities behind them continued to organize. The students, in the years following, would hold conferences and workshops on organizing. One participant, Nathan Hare, would go on to spearhead the national Ethnic Studies Movement in California. After almost 40 years of continuous effort, in 2005, the Philadelphia School District mandated that every high school student take African American history in order to graduate—the first mandate of its kind in a major city. 

Despite the importance of this history, many people across the city do not know about the 1967 Walkouts, even high school students taking African American history, the very class the 1967 students fought for decades for. The former Board of Education Building itself has been transformed into luxury apartments, contributing to the historical erasure of the building. Thus, in 2019, five Philadelphia public high school students, after taking African American history in their sophomore year, applied to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission for a state-issued landmark for the walkouts. The students– Tatiana Bennett, Taryn Flaherty, Alison Fortenberry, Aden Gonzales, and Nia Weeks– modeled their work after the 1967 students, striving to make their application reflect the depth and spread of the 1967 students’ impact. The final application was filled with materials from Temple University’s archives, oral interviews with 1967 student activists as well as key organizer Walter Palmer, and a multitude of collaboration and support from scholars and experts including Professor Matthew Countryman, the author of “Up South: Civil Rights and Black Power in Philadelphia,” and Professor Krystal Strong, a builder of The MOVE Activist Archive. 

The marker was finally erected in March 2022 and its ceremony was held on March 19th. Elders from as far away as Georgia were flown to Philadelphia to be in attendance. The ceremony mirrored the multigenerational work of 1967, inviting speakers from original 1967 students and Walter Palmer, educators in Philly schools today, students from the Philadelphia Student Union, and student journalists. Even a couple of months after its erection, a national action for Critical Race Theory to be taught in schools, Teach Truth Days of Action, was held on July 12th, 2022, at the historic marker. The 1967 historical marker offers a physical space to gather together around a historic site of radical action and continue the work of organizing against systemic injustice.

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Bibliography

Ahébée, Sojourner. “Philly Students Secure Historical Marker Mommemorating 1967 Walkout Notorious For Rizzo Brutality.” WHYY. 2020.

Chakraborty, Sudeepto. “Dr. Nathan Hare.” Changemakers. 2020.

Graham, Kristen M. “These Philly schoolkids marched against injustice 50 years ago, and police responded with nightsticks. Today, they inspire a new generation.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2017.

“Matthew Countryman.” LSA History University of Michigan.

Shamis, Kasey. “1967 Black Student Walkout Historical Marker Unveiling.” The Bullhorn News. 2022.

“Teach Truth Days Of Action.” Zinn Education Project. 2022.

“Walter Palmer: Organizer & Activist.” The WD Palmer Foundation.

“2100 Parkway Apartments (SAB).” PMC Property Group.