
50 years ago, 15-year-old James Powell was shot and killed by Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan, igniting a spree of riots in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant that spread throughout the country. Peniel Joseph, professor of history and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University, and author of Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama (Basic Books, 2010), and David Paterson, former governor of New York, talk about the legacy and context of the 1964 riots. Plus, listeners call in with their memories.