Willie Ricks was one of SNCC’s great stump speakers, capable of getting great emotional responses from a crowd. During the Meredith March in Mississippi, where King and Stokely Carmichael marched side by side, it was Ricks who first unleashed the “Black Power” cry. Here he speaks in Atlanta

Nicknamed “The Reverend” for his dynamic oratory, Ricks (born 1943) was recruited for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1963 by James Forman (see 2023.XXX). He worked as a field organizer for SNCC, which employed his considerable talent as a speaker to energize...