Special Screening: The Brothers: Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in Albany

Join State Archivist Brian Keough for an introduction and special screening of the documentary The Brothers: Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in Albany (25 minutes).

The film explores The Brothers, a civil rights organization founded in 1966 by working-class African American men from Albany’s Arbor Hill and South End neighborhoods. Formed over a dispute with hiring by local unions, The Brothers personified the Black power movement in Albany during the mid- to late 1960s.

This organization of working-class African American men recognized how their community was disenfranchised and led a movement to expose vote buying and election fraud. They used direct action and picketing, and frequently clashed with the city and with established social welfare and civil rights groups.

Predating the Black Panther Party, The Brothers conveyed a militant and revolutionary spirit while professing non-violence. They personified a growing Black consciousness in Albany as events during 1965–67 demonstrated an aging political machine being challenged by an emerging grassroots movement fueled by Black power and consciousness.

This program was made possible by WMHT.