The failed effort of the MFDP to earn a place at the 1964 Democratic National Convention exposed a rift within the civil rights movement, particularly along racial lines. Many Black activists, believing their white allies were too eager to compromise with a white power structure, began to doubt the utility of a multiracial movement. In search of ideas and inspiration, Lewis and others visited several African states, where he was heartened to see Black police officers and airline pilots as a normal part of life. Local activists urged the Americans to view their struggle for equality as part of a worldwide battle against colonialism, as Malcolm X was doing at that time. Lewis actually met Malcolm X on that trip, shortly after he broke from the Nation of Islam. He told Lewis that the real battle was not between races, but rather classes, and that a global union among the world’s poor would be necessary to effect major social change.

Returning to the United States, Lewis found that the growing ranks of activists within the SNCC had made it impossible for the group to maintain a structure based on deliberation and consent, yet there was open conflict between the national leadership and local chapters of activists.