When the Smoke Cleared

The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital

Kyla Sommers

• Publisher: The New Press
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781620978108
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Echoing James Forman Jr.’s Locking Up Our Own, a riveting story of race, civil rights, and rebellion in Washington, DC

In April 1968, following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., a wave of uprisings swept across America. None was more visible—or resulted in more property damage, arrests, or federal troop involvement—than in Washington, DC, where thousands took to the streets in protest against racial inequality, looting and burning businesses in the process. The nation’s capital was shaken to its foundations.

When the Smoke Cleared tells the story of the Washingtonians who seized the moment to rebuild a more just society, one that would protect and foster Black political and economic power. A riveting account of activism, urban reimagination, and political transformation, Kyla Sommers’s revealing and deeply researched narrative is ultimately a tale of blowback, as the Nixon administration and its allies in Congress thwarted the ambitions of DC’s reformers, opposing civil rights reforms and self-governance. And nationwide, conservative politicians used the specter of crime in the capital to roll back the civil rights movement and create the modern carceral state.

A vital chapter in the struggle for racial equality, When the Smoke Cleared is an account of open wounds, paths not taken, and their unforeseen consequences—revealed here in all of their contemporary significance.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. “We Want to Free DC from Our Enemies”: Black Activism in the Capital
• 2. “The Nation’s Capital Is in a Sweat”: Crime, Policing, and Rising Tensions
• 3. “They Take This Nonviolent Man and Kill Him Violently”: April 4, 1968
• 4. “You Just Can’t Expect People Not to Act This Way”: Understanding the Rebellions
• 5. “Helmeted Troops Cast Long, Fierce Shadows”: The Military’s Occupation of DC
• 6. “You Have a City in Flames.… And so Some People Will Have to Languish in Jail”: The Administration of Justice
• 7. “Calm and Compassionate Style”: Community Aid and Restoring Normalcy
• 8. “A Vacuum and an Opportunity”: Creating a Framework for Reconstruction
• 9. “The Troublemakers … Will Be Dealt With Severely”: The Backlash to Restraint
• 10. “We Want to Rebuild.… What Do You Want?”: Community Control and Reconstruction
• 11. “A Great Deal of Public Interest and Debate”: Crime and Policing After the Rebellions
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author
• Copyright