Strike the Hammer: The Black Freedom Struggle in Rochester, New York, 1940–1970

by Laura Warren Hill

On July 24, 1964, chaos erupted in Rochester, New York. Strike the Hammer examines the unrest—rebellion by the city's Black community, rampant police brutality—that would radically change the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement. After overcoming a violent response by State Police, the fight for justice, in an upstate town rooted in black power movements, was reborn. That resurgence owed much to years of organizing and resistance in the community. Laura Warren Hill examines Rochester's long Civil Rights history and, drawing extensively on oral accounts of the northern, urban community, offers rich and detailed stories of the area's protest tradition. Augmenting oral testimonies with records from the NAACP, SCLC, and the local FIGHT, Strike the Hammer paints a compelling picture of the foundations for the movement. Now, especially, this story of struggle for justice and resistance to inequality resonates. Hill leads us to consider the social, political, and economic environment more than fifty years ago and how that founding generation of activists left its mark on present-day Rochester.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

204 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2021

Reviews

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of skimming Dr. Hill's dissertation for my thesis. Low and behold her dissertation became this book! A friend gave me a copy at my graduation party which was super cool. Now, I must say that I am biased when it comes to reviewing this book. I live in the City of Rochester--a few doors down from Clarissa St. in the old third ward. I love reading Rochester history. Also, I'm a police accountability advocate and have been learning about Rochester's history for over 10 years with a focus on policing. Films and presentations like July '64 and Clarissa Uprooted; Shane Wiegand's presentation on redlining in Rochester and Monroe County; and Dr. Hill's book, among other sources, offer compelling and disturbing recollections and analyses of the past.

I latched onto Dr. Hill's book initially because of the discussion of living and working conditions in Rochester as well as the high-profile cases of police violence. As I kept reading, the book moved onto what different organizations were doing to ameliorate such injustices post the race rebellion in 1964 with a focus on FIGHT--Rochester's premiere Black civil rights organization led by Minister Franklin Florence. The last three or so chapters of the book really focus on FIGHT and its efforts to create a type of cooperative, self-determined, self-managed Black capitalism that was seen around the country. FIGHT took on Kodak because it refused to hire Black people outside of jobs that involved pushing mops. It's an interesting look at building economic independence in the Black community with separate values from white businesses and corporations where the only value was make money. For the Black community, it was about giving back to the community, allowing the community to set its own goals, and creating a solid economic base from which to strengthen and build Rochester's Black community.

That said, Hill writes a very clean version of history. The messiness of FIGHT, like all activist groups, is left out. Florence being pushed out of FIGHT and FIGHT's demise are left alone. Other strands of history are omitted like the ongoing police violence in Rochester. A critique of Black capitalism is left out as are other economic initiatives led by the Black community. I would have liked a deeper dive into how folks organized. This is touched on with how FIGHT developed neighborhood blocs for representation in FIGHT. All of that aside........

A well written and intriguing story. A definite read for those interested in Rochester.

[Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. Having an interest in civil rights movements and being from Rochester, this book caught my attention. I would give this book five stars on being informative and less stars on being interesting. Informative being that the book is very detailed and covers many perspectives and events in Rochester’s civil rights timeline, less interesting being that it is written in a scholarly fashion. That being said the chapters on the relationship between the civil rights organizations and corporate Rochester were interesting, especially the chapter on Kodak.

[Michael McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strike the Hammer looks at the struggle for Black freedom and equity in Rochester, New York. In the summer of 1964 a riot broke started at a street dance in Rochester. When the police used violence to arrest a participant at the dance a three day spree of destruction began. What were the causes of this and similar outbreaks through the country including in Harlem and Watts in Los Angeles. The book examines the causes and the struggles to make things better afterward. Among the causes were the organized discrimination in housing that limited black families choices to a few neighborhoods in Rochester. Banks, landlords, developers and real estate all conspired to keep suburbia and the nicer city neighborhoods white. Not only were blacks limited to a few wards of the city but loans to buy or improve housing were restricted as well. Not surprising that people in the 3rd and 7th wards of Rochester had enough in July 1964. This book tells a story that must be told, but it is not easy to read. Written in an academic style parts are very interesting and others are too detailed to be fun reading.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this great read. It gives an economic perspective to the 1964 Uprising in Rochester, New York. It provides a clear view of the differences in approach to solving the economic and housing issues of those Black people that migrated to Rochester from the South prior to the 1960s. Those migrants came to Rochester, much like others did to other Northern cities, with the hope of providing a better life for their families only to find - for most - that hope did not materialize. The incident that sparked the uprising was merely the tipping point.

For those living in Rochester, you'll find familiar names and some history about their activism during that time may provide you new insights. Many take for granted that Black people work in some of the familiar companies like Kodak and Xerox. This helps to understand who played a role and what they had to go through to make that possible for some of us that found ourselves working at those companies after the 1970s.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book adds to the historiography of the Black Power movement by showing how to FIGHT ( Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today) was born and how its struggle with Kodak changed Rochester and the nation. Using oral history and rich archival work, Hill introduces readers to Reverend Franklin Florence, Dr. Walter Cooper, and the inestimable Constance Mitchell, whose efforts reshaped the city and the nation. Although I have taught this history for years, this is the first book-length study, and it is well-written, clearly organized, and provocative.

Having read it closely a second time, I continue to be impressed with the clear writing, well-paced and organized book, which is a model for other urban histories.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of the Black Power movement in Rochester NY.

[Ted Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for everyone, as it focuses on one mid-sized city during a narrow part of its history. But as a history teacher from Rochester, I found the book very interesting. I did not move to Rochester until a little over a decade after the scope of the book, but many of the names and events have become very familiar to me, most notably civil rights activist Walter Cooper, whose granddaughter was in one of my history classes about a dozen years ago. The book discusses the events and dynamics that led to Rochester's 1964 racial uprising, one of the first events of this kind of that tumultuous decade. I knew a lot about those events from the great documentary "July, 1964," but the book filled in some of the details about the state of race relations in the city in the early 1960's. What I found most interesting was the analysis of the events that followed the uprising, which I knew little about. It looks at the organization that was created to push for economic development in the black community of Rochester, an organization that adopted the acronym FIGHT. This pugilistic organization took on the engine of the Rochester economy back then, the Eastman Kodak Company, with limited success, illustrating (again) the conservative nature of the local community. It was interesting to read about the different approaches to the creation of "black capitalism," divisions that, in the end, meant that there was little long-term change. The shortcoming of the book, in my view, is that the author drops the story in the early 1970's, so there is not a real sense of perspective of "what this all means." She mentions that the civil rights organizations of Rochester got the city to agree to create a civilian review board for the city police force, but we do not hear that the creation of this board was delayed in the courts for years, was never fully implemented, and is once again a big issue in the local community. I was very disappointed that the book chose, for its "expert opinion" on the legacy of the 1964 uprising, a local radio broadcaster by the name of Bob Lonsberry, who was fired from a job due his racism. Rochester has become one of those northern cities that the middle class (black and white) has largely abandoned, leaving the largely poor and non-white residents behind, with the city government in the hands of a series of African-American mayors who are charged with the problems of high unemployment, poor schools, crime, and poor health care. Perhaps the author could return to the community and analyze the reasons that the "hope" engendered by the events of the 1960's and 1970's never was realized.

[Jan Weishaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lived in Rochester NY during this time, and even as a teenager, I knew the news outlets weren't reporting the whole story about the riots. I knew there was police brutality, but I didn't know to what extent it existed. It was interesting to learn about Chuck Mangione's father's store, how his kindness was always extended to people of color in the neighborhood, and that it was one of several white-owned stores that were spared during the looting. Most looting was in reaction to the unfair, illegal, financial practices of stores that took advantage of the poverty and limited choices of the people in the neighborhood. The true statements made by NY Congressman Frank Horton and his "asking for the city to cease using police dogs in Negro Neighborhoods," is also documented in this book. If you read this book, you will be reminded that, "This unholy triniity of housing, police brutality, and economic practices was at the root of every single uprising that took place in the long 1960s." And it continues today.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and engrossing book about a piece of Rochester history that is still resonating today. Wonderfully researched and an absolute page-turner. Everyone in Rochester would benefit from learning more about the activists of FIGHT and other groups in the city.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written history of civil rights in Rochester. Learned a lot I didn’t know about civil rights in the north and locally in particular.

[John Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have liked more on the political organizing and the economic collapse post 1970.

[Justin O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most significant local histories written about Rochester in this century. A seminal reworking of our understanding of many aspects of the mid-century Black freedom movement.

[Aydan · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly this was a joy to read this semester, very interesting! Though I was sad that Attica and the prison uprising’s affect on Rochester was mentioned so briefly in the conclusion, would have LOVED to see that discussed more.

[Ryan Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting read about Rochester’s civil rights era.