Ohio History, Vol. 124 No. 1 © 2017 by The Kent State University Press Between Two Worlds A Look at the Impact of the Black Campus Movement on the Antiwar Era of 1968–1970 at Kent State University By Lae’l Hughes-Watkins he Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970, which resulted in the death of four students and the wounding of nine others at the hands of the Ohio National Guard, changed the antiwar movement in an immeasurable way. A number of historians, scholars, writers, and documentarians remain captivated by the series of events and its reverberating efect, which inluenced the trajectory of the Vietnam War. For many, the grassy hillside where the shootings took place at Kent State remains hallowed ground and has become a place of pil- grimage for individuals who were greatly afected by those events. A wide cross-section of individuals visit the grounds, including family members of victims, eyewitnesses, Vietnam veterans, and social activists. hey all come annually during the commemoration and throughout the year to Kent State. Many aspects of the shootings have been studied, ranging from the actions of the Guardsmen, the response of the state and federal government, to the role of the demonstrators, even some of the various conspiracy theories. How- ever, one facet that has received little attention is the role of race. his article reframes the antiwar movement and the Kent State shootings through the lens of race and relies heavily on the narratives of African Ameri- can alumni who were on the front lines of the black campus movement. It reviews how the movement impacted the level of African American students’ participation at Kent State University during the antiwar movement. Some Af- rican American alumni believe that the black campus movement prevented violence being directed at students of color during the Kent State shootings. 41