Jon Scott Bennett

The Peekskill Riots Episode 4 is out! I’m especially proud of this episode, and I hope that you find it engaging and fascinating how these events unfolded before the eyes of the world, in our own backyard. Thank you to everyone who has supported us from the beginning, joined us along the way, or is joining us now. Please give it a watch and share it so that this history is never again forgotten.


#PaulRobeson #Peekskill #PeekskillRiots #CivilRights #Westchester #NewYork #HudsonValley #History #Documentary #BlackHistory #Labor

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Jon Scott Bennett

Available on YouTube and JonScottBennett.com on 12/13/2024 at midnight.

On September 4th, 1949, roughly 30,000 people were attacked after attending a Paul Robeson concert. A similar concert was prevented from happening the previous week by a racist and anti-Semitic mob.

These attacks had thrown the small upstate community into a national controversy, prompting supporters of Robeson to organize a second concert to defend his right to perform and speak freely. With the Governor promising an unprecedented level of police protection, many felt secure in attending the concert, assuming violence would not break out again.

While the concert was peacefully conducted, attendees would be ambushed upon leaving the concert grounds. Projectiles and hateful epithets alike were hurled at the exiting cars and buses. Hundreds of attendees left the grounds bloodied, bruised, and outright maimed.

The worst riot in the region’s history would unfold before the eyes of the world.

This is the fourth episode of a 5 part docu series. Check out Episodes 1-3 of the Peekskill Riots docu series on YouTube and JonScottBennett.com and stay tuned for the final episode coming Spring 2025.

#PaulRobeson #Peekskill #PeekskillRiots #CivilRights #Westchester #NewYork #HudsonValley #History #Documentary #BlackHistory #Labor

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1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

Jon Scott Bennett

The Peekskill Riots Episode 3 is out! Please give it a watch and share so that this history is never forgotten again.

1 year ago | [YT] | 2

Jon Scott Bennett

The Peekskill Riots Episode 3: "Up on the Hillside, Down in the Hollow": The Riot of August 27th

Coming out at midnight on 8/23/2024

On August 27th, 1949, a Paul Robeson concert was violently attacked outside Peekskill, NY. The concert was for the benefit of the Civil Rights Congress and advertised to the Jewish and Black working-class, summer residents in the Hudson Valley. The Peekskill Evening Star and local veteran's groups - harboring disdain towards Robeson and the summer residents - organized a protest parade to stop the concert from taking place. What transpired was a horrific riot, in which innocent men, women, and children hoping to attend Paul Robeson's concert were attacked. Rocks, bottles, and other projectiles were thrown, while cars were turned over with passengers inside. All of this occurred under the wicked light of a burning cross, as years of bubbling hatred in Peekskill, NY finally burst.


This is the third episode of a 5 part docu-series. Check out the first two episodes of The Peekskill Riots docu-series on YouTube and JonScottBennett.com and Stay Tuned for the rest of the series coming soon!!!

#PaulRobeson #Peekskill #PeekskillRiots #CivilRights #Westchester #NewYork #HudsonValley #History #Documentary #BlackHistory #Labor

1 year ago | [YT] | 2