A01=Casey D. Nichols
African American civil rights
anti-poverty activism
Author_Casey D. Nichols
Black Freedom Movement
Black-Brown relations in Los Angeles
Category=JBFA
Category=JBSL
Category=JPW
Chicana
Chicana/o Movement
Chicanao Movement
Chicano Moratorium
Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Movement in California
Civil Rights Movement in Los Angeles
civil rights under President Lyndon Johnson
Community Action Programs
East Los Angeles
economic justice
Economic Opportunity Act
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Mexican American civil rights
Model Cities in California
post-civil rights United States
poverty and civil rights
race and anti-poverty policy in California
race in the U.S. West
South Central Los Angeles
urban resistance
War on Poverty in Los Angeles
Watts Rebellion
youth movements in California
Product details
- ISBN 9781469684673
- Weight: 313g
- Dimensions: 155 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 25 Mar 2025
- Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In 1960s Los Angeles, a powerful network within Black and Chicana/o organizations transformed the War on Poverty and Model Cities program. Black and Brown activists worked together and separately to use the US federal government's War on Poverty as an opportunity to establish programs that would counteract the neglect that led to underfunded schools, inadequate housing, and a lack of community institutions. Casey Nichols examines this diverse group of intentional and unintentional collaborators she calls "poverty rebels," which included politicians, activists, youth, professionals, community members, and local people.
Poverty rebels leveraged federal antipoverty funding to work around the limited capacity of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address the dual impact of race and class in African American and Mexican American communities. They understood that unequal policy had created their urban realities and sought to redefine antipoverty legislation in a way that improved their material lives. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including local and federal government documents, oral histories, and organizational records, Nichols examines vital links between the nation's social and political spheres. Ultimately, she argues that Black-Brown relations gained greater national significance during the mid-1960s amid important civil rights victories and social policies to address so-called disadvantaged communities. By coming into social and political proximity, African Americans and Mexican Americans constructed a national dialogue about Black-Brown relations that had shared benefits, and that continues to shape policy debates today.
Poverty rebels leveraged federal antipoverty funding to work around the limited capacity of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address the dual impact of race and class in African American and Mexican American communities. They understood that unequal policy had created their urban realities and sought to redefine antipoverty legislation in a way that improved their material lives. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including local and federal government documents, oral histories, and organizational records, Nichols examines vital links between the nation's social and political spheres. Ultimately, she argues that Black-Brown relations gained greater national significance during the mid-1960s amid important civil rights victories and social policies to address so-called disadvantaged communities. By coming into social and political proximity, African Americans and Mexican Americans constructed a national dialogue about Black-Brown relations that had shared benefits, and that continues to shape policy debates today.
Casey D. Nichols is assistant professor of history at Texas State University.
