Kent State University victims and students remember May 4th, 1970 shooting 44th Anniversary

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. My family's house became "strike central" as we coordinated a Westchester County-wide strike of

schools on May 8th to protest the Kent State shootings, joining similar actions of outrage occurring across the U.S.

"The press and national media covered the story in detail, with many front-page newspaper accounts using what would become the iconic photograph of the event – a young girl with arms outstretched screaming over the body of one of the slain students. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, protests and a student strike ensued across the country. Two days after the Kent State incident, police wounded four demonstrators at the University of Buffalo. On May 8th, some 100,000 protesters – angered over Kent State and the Cambodian invasion – gathered in Washington. Another 150,000 protested in San Francisco. Nationwide, four million students and 450 universities, colleges, and high schools would become involved in the student strike, which included mostly peaceful protests and walkouts. However, on some campuses, ROTC buildings were attacked or set on fire, and 26 schools witnessed clashes between students and police. National Guard units were mobilized on 21 campuses in 16 states. Public opinion polls, meanwhile, supported Nixon’s actions, with 50 percent of the American public backing him in polls taken during the second week of May. Fifty-eight percent blamed the students for what had occurred at Kent State. In one pro-Nixon demonstration in New York City on May 8th, some construction workers supporting the President’s actions rioted and attacked demonstrating students."

And sadly, we needed to try to repeat after the Jackson State shooting a few day later.





Phillip L. Gibbs and James Earl Green: