Port Chicago Mutiny

Cultural Writing. History. During World War II, Port Chicago was a segregated naval munitions base on the outer shores of San Francisco Bay. Black seamen were required to load ammunition onto ships bound for the South Pacific under the watch of their white officers-an incredibly dangerous and physically challenging task. On July 17, 1944, an explosion rocked the base, killing 320 men-202 of whom were black ammunition loaders. In the ensuing weeks, white officers were given leave time and commended for heroic efforts, whereas 328 of the surviving black enlistees were sent to load ammunition on another ship. When they refused, fifty men were singled out and charged-and convicted-of mutiny. It was the largest mutiny trial in U.S. naval history. First published in 1989, THE PORT CHICAGO MUTINY is a thorough and riveting work of civil rights literature, and with a new preface and epilogue by the author emphasize the event's relevance today. More than a mutiny trial, the incident raises questions about the powers of the military, about the prosecution of civil disobedience, and about the rights of the individual.

Robert Lee Allen (May 29, 1942 -) is an activist, writer, and Adjunct Professor of African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Allen received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, and previously taught at San José State University and Mills College. He is Senior Editor (with Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Robert Chrisman) of THE BLACK SCHOLAR: Journal of Black Studies and Research, published quarterly or more frequently in Oakland California by the Black World Foundation since 1969.