Historians mark this day in 1964 as the first of a six year period of racial unrest in the U.S. driven by pervasive police brutality, racial inequality, very hot weather, and the squalid conditions of urban black ghettos.

On this day in Harlem, James Powell, a 15-year-old African American, is shot and killed by a police officer in front of friends and witnesses. Thousands of Harlem residents take to the streets for six days to picket, protest, and march by day, and to vandalize and loot by night. At every turn, police respond aggressively with nightsticks and guns.

Over 100 are injured and over 400 arrested. The officer who killed Powell is cleared of wrongdoing.

The next summer, the federal Project Uplift program is hastily organized to employ Harlem youth and head off a repeat.