On this day, 26 June 1967, rioting broke out in Buffalo, New York, after police violently assaulted two young Black boys. A crowd of 200 to 350 began attacking stores, and fought police when they arrived. Over the coming days, the crowds would grow, as would the police repression. By the time police managed to suppress the rebellion on July 1, 14 people had been shot and around 30 more injured. It was part of a wave of similar riots across over 100 cities in what was known as the “Long Hot Summer of 1967” as anger at racist police violence and deteriorating economic conditions for Black people in the northern US boiled over.
In the wake of the rebellions, some young Black people decided to take the struggle forwards in their workplaces, like those who formed the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit. Learn more about them in our podcast episode 12: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/08/28/e12-the-league-of-revolutionary-black-workers-in-detroit/https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1747774802074329/?type=3
