port chicago mutiny, port chicago, calif., 1944

Presents an account of the 1944 civil rights protest involving hundreds of African-American Navy servicemen who were unjustly charged with mutiny for refusing to work in unsafe conditions after the deadly Port Chicago explosion.

Describes the fifty black sailors who refused to work in unsafe and unfair conditions after an explosion in Port Chicago killed 320 servicemen, and how the incident influenced civil rights.

Describes the fifty black sailors who refused to work in unsafe and unfair conditions after an explosion in Port Chicago killed 320 servicemen, and how the incident influenced civil rights.

In July 1944 an explosion at a California navy base killed hundreds of sailors loading munitions. Fifty black seamen, refusing to resume work in unsafe conditions, were charged with mutiny, facing decades in jail and even execution.