In 1961, Forman joined the  newly formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "snick").
From 1961 to 1966, Forman, a decade older and more experienced than most of the other members of SNCC, became responsible for providing organizational support to the young, loosely affiliated activists by paying bills, radically expanding the institutional staff and planning the logistics for programs.
Under the leadership of Forman and others, SNCC became an important political player at the height of the civil rights movement.
SNCC began as an affiliate of another direct action group of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
At times, Forman's more confrontational and radical style of activism clashed with King's Christian pacifist approach.

In August 1961, Forman was jailed with other freedom riders protesting segregated facilities in Monroe, North Carolina.
This episode brought him into contact with Robert F. Williams who won Forman's admiration.
After his sentence was suspended, Forman agreed to become executive secretary of SNCC.

Forman's occasional criticism of Dr. King was not simply a political exercise, but reflected a genuine concern about the direction King was leading the movement in.
He specifically questioned King's top-down leadership style, which he saw as undermining the development of local grassroots movements.
For example, following W. G. Anderson's invitation to King to join the Albany Movement, Forman criticized the move because he felt much harm could be done by interjecting the Messiah complex.
He recognized that King's presence would detract from, rather than intensify, the focus on local people's leadership in the movement.
Forman echoed the concerns of those in SNCC and the broader civil rights movement who saw the potential dangers of relying too heavily upon one dynamic leader.

In an interview with Robert Penn Warren for the book Who Speaks for the Negro?,
Forman laid out many of his ideologies concerning SNCC, commenting that it is "the one movement in this country that has within its spheres of activity room for intellectuals."

Years before the famous Selma marches of 1965, Forman and other SNCC organizers visited the city to assist the voter registration work of Amelia Boynton and J. L. Chestnut.
 In addition to frontline organizing, Forman facilitated a visit by celebrities James Baldwin and Dick Gregory for Selma's first "Freedom Day" in October 1963—a day of mass African-American voter registration in a Jim Crow area.

Forman did significant work for SNCC in the cultural community.
For instance, Forman recruited the young folk star Bob Dylan  to play benefits and rallies for SNCC ( One of these rallies in Mississippi makes an appearance in the classic documentary Don't Look Back).
When Dylan received an award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee  he said the honor really belonged to "James Forman and SNCC."
In 1961, Forman joined the  newly formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "snick"). From 1961 to 1966, Forman, a decade older and more experienced than most of the other members of SNCC, became responsible for providing organizational support to the young, loosely affiliated activists by paying bills, radically expanding the institutional staff and planning the logistics for programs. Under the leadership of Forman and others, SNCC became an important political player at the height of the civil rights movement. SNCC began as an affiliate of another direct action group of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. At times, Forman's more confrontational and radical style of activism clashed with King's Christian pacifist approach.
In August 1961, Forman was jailed with other freedom riders protesting segregated facilities in Monroe, North Carolina. This episode brought him into contact with Robert F. Williams who won Forman's admiration. After his sentence was suspended, Forman agreed to become executive secretary of SNCC.
Forman's occasional criticism of Dr. King was not simply a political exercise, but reflected a genuine concern about the direction King was leading the movement in. He specifically questioned King's top-down leadership style, which he saw as undermining the development of local grassroots movements. For example, following W. G. Anderson's invitation to King to join the Albany Movement, Forman criticized the move because he felt much harm could be done by interjecting the Messiah complex. He recognized that King's presence would detract from, rather than intensify, the focus on local people's leadership in the movement. Forman echoed the concerns of those in SNCC and the broader civil rights movement who saw the potential dangers of relying too heavily upon one dynamic leader.
In an interview with Robert Penn Warren for the book Who Speaks for the Negro?, Forman laid out many of his ideologies concerning SNCC, commenting that it is "the one movement in this country that has within its spheres of activity room for intellectuals."
Years before the famous Selma marches of 1965, Forman and other SNCC organizers visited the city to assist the voter registration work of Amelia Boynton and J. L. Chestnut.  In addition to frontline organizing, Forman facilitated a visit by celebrities James Baldwin and Dick Gregory for Selma's first "Freedom Day" in October 1963—a day of mass African-American voter registration in a Jim Crow area.
Forman did significant work for SNCC in the cultural community. For instance, Forman recruited the young folk star Bob Dylan  to play benefits and rallies for SNCC ( One of these rallies in Mississippi makes an appearance in the classic documentary Don't Look Back). When Dylan received an award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee  he said the honor really belonged to "James Forman and SNCC."
James Forman