The National Guard in Black Neighborhoods

Imagine waking to helicopters overhead and soldiers marching down your street—not due to war or disaster, but because your own government decided your voice had become too powerful. In 2025, this became reality in Los Angeles.

President Trump deployed 2,000 federal troops into California, branding immigration protests as an "insurrection." But ask Black activists, educators, and community leaders there—it felt all-too familiar: another chapter in a long story of government muscle flexing against its own people.

From Little Rock's schoolhouse steps to Selma’s bloodied streets, history reminds us federal troops haven’t always stood on the right side of justice. Sometimes they protected rights, other times—they silenced them.

Join us while we discuss the History the National Guard in your Neighborhood. #blackhistory #losangelesprotests 

Sources: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-little-rock-nine.htm https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-20/lbj-sends-federal-troops-to-alabama-to-protect-a-civil-rights-march https://www.npr.org/2025/06/09/5428107/what-happened-when-lyndon-johnson-federalized-the-national-guard https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/california-attorney-general-sues-trump-over-unlawful-national-guard-n1347674

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