Editing H. Rap Brown (section)

==Activism==

Brown's activism in the [[civil rights movement]] included involvement with the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC). Brown was introduced into SNCC by his older brother Ed. He first visited [[Cambridge, Maryland]] with [[Cleveland Sellers]] in the summer of 1963, during the period of [[Gloria Richardson]]'s leadership in the local movement. He witnessed the [[Cambridge riot of 1963|first riot between whites and blacks in the city]] over civil rights issues, and was impressed by the local civil rights movement's willingness to use armed self-defense against racial attacks.

Brown later organized for SNCC during the 1964 Mississippi [[Freedom Summer]], while transferring to [[Howard University]] for his studies. Representing Howard's SNCC chapter, Brown attended a contentious civil rights meeting at the White House with President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] during the [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma crisis]] of 1965 as Alabama activists attempted to march for voting rights.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZ0fBgAAQBAJ&q=rap+brown.+white+house.+1965&pg=RA1-PA306 |title=Civil Rights Crossroads: Nation, Community, and the Black Freedom Struggle |last=Lawson |first=Steven F. |date=January 13, 2015 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=9780813157122 |page=306 |language=en}}</ref>

Major federal civil rights legislation was passed in 1964 and 1965, including the [[Voting Rights Act]], to establish federal oversight and enforcement of rights. In 1966, Brown organized in [[Greene County, Alabama]] to achieve black voter registration and implementation of the recently passed [[Voting Rights Act]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://snccdigital.org/people/h-rap-brown/ |title=H. Rap Brown – SNCC Digital Gateway |work=SNCC Digital Gateway |access-date=October 2, 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Elected SNCC chairman in 1967, Brown continued [[Stokely Carmichael]]'s fiery support for "[[Black Power]]" and [[Long, hot summer of 1967|urban rebellions]] in the Northern [[ghettos]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urZDDwAAQBAJ&q=Brown+began+to+rise+in+the+ranks |title=The Great Uprising |last=Levy |first=Peter B. |date=January 25, 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108422406 |page=67 |language=en}}</ref>

During the summer of 1967, Brown toured the nation, calling for violent resistance to the government, which he called "The Fourth Reich". "Negroes should organize themselves", he told a rally in Washington, D.C., and "carry on guerilla warfare in all the cities." They should, "make the [[Viet Cong]] look like Sunday school teachers." He declared, "I say to America, ''Fuck it! Freedom or death!''"<ref>{{cite book |author=Malcolm McLaughlin |title=The Long, Hot Summer of 1967: Urban Rebellion in America |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014}}</ref>