Hy Thurman Oral History Interview

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An oral history consisting of a single digital video recording (2018.78.7.1). It was collected as part of the Poor People’s Campaign Interviews. In this interview, Hy Thurman, one of the founding members of the Young Patriots, discusses his upbringing in Dayton, Tennessee; the work of the Young Patriots and the Original Rainbow Coalition in Chicago; his experience of the Poor People’s Campaign; and the relevance of the Campaign to contemporary organizers. Thurman begins the interview by discussing his early life in Dayton, TN, and reflecting on the racial and class dynamics of his upbringing. He then talks about how he moved to the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago at age 17 (1967), and he describes the police brutality and political corruption that plagued the community. Thurman then talks about how the Young Patriots were formed and discusses the formation of the Original Rainbow Coalition with the Young Lords and Black Panthers.

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