On May 4, 1969, tensions were high at historically Black Jackson State University in Mississippi, part of the nationwide wave of student activism against racism and the Vietnam War. Protests erupted following years of police brutality. State police opened fire into a women’s dormitory, killing two students and injuring several others. Although less widely remembered than the Kent State shootings days later, the Jackson State killings underscored how Black students faced deadly repression — often with little national outrage. It became a rallying cry for greater protection of Black civil rights.
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