13 Demands

Overview

In the 1960s, students across the United States ignited a movement that challenged the nation to live up to its promises of equality and justice. From the Greensboro sit-ins to protests on college campuses nationwide, young people used nonviolent direct action to demand change. In 1969, that movement reached Duke University. Led by the Afro-American Society, Black students seized the university’s Administrative Building and issued thirteen bold demands calling for dignity, representation, and institutional accountability. Inspired by the powerful energy of “Black Week,” which brought national leaders like Dick Gregory, Fannie Lou Hamer, and future Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson to campus, the students risked their futures to stand up for justice.