On a hot July evening 55 years ago, two white police officers in Newark arrested and beat a Black cab driver named John Smith. Witnesses watched as the police dragged the battered and bloodied man in to a precinct. 

An angry crowd began to gather outside, driven by the incident as well as long-simmering resentment over treatment of the city's Black community. Someone threw a rock at the precinct, then another. As the situation escalated, police in riot gear charged into the crowd.

The ensuing violence lasted five days. It left 26 people dead, hundreds more seriously hurt, and a city burned and scarred.

Lawrence Hamm is a long-time Newark resident and the chairman of the People's Organization for Progress. He spoke with WNYC Morning Edition host Michael Hill to reflect on the legacy of the Newark Rebellion, and what has—and hasn't—changed since then.