In Charles M. Payne’s article “The view from the trenches” he discusses, the civil rights movement, specifically the amazing leaders that over time have become lesser known and swept under the rug. Payne enlightens the readers of the things black activist leaders had to go through during the civil rights movement. Payne also talks about the black community and how they were treated by police force, United States government and white supremacists. Payne supports those by saying, “All kinds of people are important to this history Appalachian whites, Black professionals from quite privileged backgrounds, quasi socialists, radical democrats, church-based activists, advocates of self-defense for Black people, advocates of racial separatism, people …show more content…
as concerned with human development as with legislative victories, people who saw education, the need for self-affirmation, access to jobs, and be comprehended in terms of a couple of dominant figures or any one form of politics, and it is not at all clear that it can be well understood in terms of “civil rights””(124).
This was written from the perspective of Payne as well as Steven F. Lawson. During the civil rights black leaders were fighting for racial equality. Throughout the years most leaders such as Septima Clark, Harry T. Moore, and Charles Hamilton Houston became lesser known and now when someone says “civil rights” those people do not come to mind. Payne makes a good point when saying, “Most Americans have been raised on a whitewashed version of movement history is more than a bad pun”(124). Payne’s thesis was to educate us about underrated black activists, Payne believed that in a way if we do not fully understand this time in history and the significant people then we are …show more content…
ignorant. One prime example he used was Rosa Parks… Who everyone knows, due to the fact that we are taught about her all throughout school but it's ironic that we are not taught about Ella Baker because Parks “Had attended one of Ella Baker’s Leadership Training Conferences in the 1940s”(127). Payne also does not want people to go unrecognized for the sacrifices they made. For example Joseph Armstrong DeLaine, who was one of the main leaders in South Carolina and “Caught nearly the full weight of the repression”(117). But he is not the only one who suffered major consequences on this quest for equality, “Like DeLaine, Septima Clark lost her career because of her social activism”(117). Clark was a teacher, “By mid-1950s, she was deeply involved in the state branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) when the state declared the organization subversion and forbade any state or city employee to be a membership. Clark refused to deny her membership and was immediately fired”(117). But that is not all, Septima Clark also “Developed a program for teaching adults to read and write and then to register”(119). Paynes biggest strength is that his article was very well structured.
He used many different sources, as well as, had plenty of evidence to support and back up his thesis. When making claims like the ones Payne did if you do not have anything to validate what you are saying nobody will take your word. While what Payne says may be true if he did not have specific authentic detail, which resulted in a very credible essay, if he did not it would make what he said less plausible.One of the weaknesses is the hypocrisy, for someone who wants to stay away from the topic of well known people Payne sure did talk about Dr. Martin Luther King a lot. You would think he would have mentioned him once or twice but Payne actually spent a good amount of time discussing King's impact. Same thing with Rosa parks she was brought up more than I would have expected considering the fact that Payne’s whole purpose was to enlighten people about the leaders who were underappreciated and given less value. Another thing that could be considered a weakness is how lengthy the entire essay is, I personally feel like a vast majority of the things Payne said could have been summarized but he tends to prolong and overextend his
writing. In conclusion, Charles M. Payne definitely accomplished what he set out to do. Payne intended on restoring the name of heroic black activist leaders, and he was spot on. Most of the people he had mentioned I had never heard of let alone knew their backstory and the impact they had on the civil rights movement. Before reading “The view from the trenches”, most people have this misconception that Martin Luther king was the civil rights. This broadens your perception so you can identify people such as Myles Horton or A. Philip Randolph and recognize what they did for equality. It is unjust to not acknowledge the efforts of ALL of the people who risked everything during the civil rights.
The book, “My Soul Is Rested” by Howell Raines is a remarkable history of the civil rights movement. It details the story of sacrifice and audacity that led to the changes needed. The book described many immeasurable moments of the leaders that drove the civil rights movement. This book is a wonderful compilation of first-hand accounts of the struggles to desegregate the American South from 1955 through 1968. In the civil rights movement, there are the leaders and followers who became astonishing in the face of chaos and violence. The people who struggled for the movement are as follows: Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and others; both black and white people, who contributed in demonstrations for freedom rides, voter drives, and
Operational leaders see how the individual components of an organization fit together and use those individuals work to make a larger outcome. When they focus on a problem, they think of what works best within the process and systems to make an impact on the situation. These types of leaders play a big part in making sure that things get done in an effective and functioning manner. According to the Army Doctrine ADP 6-0, the Army over time has strayed away from operational leaders and adapted Mission Command, which gives leaders the ability at the lowest level the capability to exercise disciplined initiative in an act of carrying out the larger mission . Mission Command is made up of the following six steps: Understanding, Visualize, Describe, Direct, Lead and Assess, in which a commander is responsible for. General Patton understood the intent of the Battle of the Bulge on different levels, he was able to form a mental image for the course of actions for the allies, enemies and lead his Army into combat while guiding his officers and soldiers to succeed in meeting his intent. The Battle of the Bulge is where General Patton gained one of his greatest military achievements by using his tactical leadership and logistical genius, which in return helped him turn around the main forces and forced the Germans to drive back in their final counter-offensive. General Patton strongly exercised Mission Command by understanding, visualizing, leading, and commanding what was known as the largest and bloodiest battle during World War II.
Throughout the course of American history, there have been many historical figures who have been responsible for, or were a part of the gradual change of our nation. In the early to mid 1900's, the United States was racially segregated, and African Americans were looked at as second class citizens. In the mid-1900's, a time period which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement, there were a number of different people who helped lead the charge to desegregate the United States. Some of the historical figures, who's names are synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, include political activist Martin Luther King, NAACP officer Medgar Evers, Baptist minister Malcolm X, and normal citizen Rosa Parks. All of these people were a very large part of the Civil Rights Movement and attempted to recognize African Americans as equals to Whites.
After the Civil War, African Americans encountered great discrimination and suffering. During this era, two influential leaders emerged from different philosophical camps. Brooker T. Washington of Virginia and William Edward Burghardt Dubois of Massachusetts proposed, different means to improve African Americans’ conditions. These men had a common goal: to enrich the black community. However, the methods they advocated to reach these goals significantly differed.
If there was any one man who demonstrated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. The African American cultural movement of the 1920s lost momentum in the 1930s because of worldwide economic depression. The Great Depression helped to divert attention from cultural to economic matters. Even before the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment and poverty among blacks was exceptionally high. It was under these difficult conditions that Malcolm X experienced his youth in the South. Malcolm X was a very controversial character in his time. He grew up in a very large family. His father hunted rabbits to sell to the white people for money, and his mother stayed home to take care of all the children. Several times when he was young, his family was forced to relocate due to the racist groups that would burn or run them out of their home like the Ku Klux Klan. One of these groups called the Black Legion killed his father by tying him to the railroad tracks. Malcolm’s father had life insurance but was not given to his family because they said that Earl Little had committed suicide. This was quite impossible because his head was bashed in and he tied himself to the railroad. Without his father’s income, Malcolm's family was forced to get government help and food. Applying for this type of assistance brought many white Social Workers into their home. They asked questions and interrogated the entire family. Malcolm’s mother always refused to talk or let them in.
The civil rights movement, by many people, is though to have happened during the 1950's and 1960's. The truth of the matter is that civil right has and always will be an ongoing issue for anyone who is not of color. The civil rights movement started when the black slave started arriving in America centuries ago. The civil rights movement is one of the most known about issues in American history. Everyone at some point in their life has studied this movement. This movement is particularly interesting due to the massive amounts of different stories and occurrences through the course of the movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a vital figurehead to this movement. He inspired many people who had lived their whole lives in the shadow of fear of change.
Marshall Frady did an amazing job writing this biography, because he allowed us to see that MLK was just like any other person. He had a heart and issues/struggles of his own, just like us. Every even that Frady describes in this book, was described in enough detail. You are able to see the before, during, and after of each event. This book was very well written and it flowed really well. Although at times I did find myself have to re-read some parts, because the style of writing was really high. But in all Frady did a phenomenal job and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about Martin Luther King Jr.
The Civil Rights Movement changed American Democracy today in its fight against racial segregation and discrimination. We still see racial discrimination today, but we don’t see much racial segregation. People like Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and A Philip Randolph led the Civil Rights Movement with their abilities to coordinate and connect people. They fought for equality among men and women of all colors and religions.
The author presented the information in a very solid way and sectioned it out very well. I understood what he was trying to explain. It was somewhat a long book but very much full of knowledge and history that in spirit is still alive today. We may not have slavery like it was then, but we still deal with racism and prejudice daily.
Between 1865 and 1970 leadership; motivating, persuading, encouraging and inspiring the masses to engage with a vision was vital to the progression of the African-American civil rights movement. It is a common notion that individual leaders held dominant roles within the movement and used the power from this to lead the grassroots and make decisions on behalf of organisations. Additionally, it is believed that leaders were the strategists who shaped the methods of the movement; allowing them to win the nation’s allegiance and convince them to make sacrifices for racial justice. However, this traditionalist perspective ignores much of the conditional causes that in fact triggered outstanding leadership accomplishments. More recent historians
Robert F. Williams was one of the most influential active radical minds of a generation that toppled Jim Crow and forever affected American and African American history. During his time as the president of the Monroe branch of the NAACP in the 1950’s, Williams and his most dedicated followers (women and men) used machine guns, Molotov cocktails, and explosives to defend against Klan terrorists. These are the true terrorists to American society. Williams promoted and enforced this idea of "armed self-reliance" by blacks, and he challenged not just white supremacists and leftists, but also Martin Luther King Jr., the NAACP, and the civil rights establishment itself. During the 1960s, Williams was exiled to Cuba, and there he had a radical radio station titled "Radio Free Dixie." This broadcast of his informed of black politics and music The Civil Rights movement is usually described as an nonviolent / peaceful call on America 's guilty conscience, and the retaliation of Black Power as a violent response of these injustices against African Americans. Radio Free Dixie shows how both of these racial and equality movements spawned from the same seed and were essentially the same in the fight for African American equality and an end to racism. Robert F. Williams 's story demonstrates how independent political action, strong cultural pride and identity, and armed self-reliance performed in the South in a semi-partnership with legal efforts and nonviolent protest nationwide.
The many leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, little rock nine, John Brown, Linda Brown, Ruby Bridges, Frederick Douglass, Plessey Scott, JFK, and Malcolm X. All of these men and women had a great influence on the movement’s success in the United States and helped end racial segregation. It all started in 1954 in the Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. The people who were involved were John Brown and Linda Brown. This happened because of the separate but equal law created 60 years earlier in the Plessey vs. Ferguson case when Plessey lost and created separate but equal laws.
The Civil Rights Movement is the story of the struggle of African-American people and their fight for equality. Although exceptional leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ralph Abernathy fought long and hard and carried the burden of the movement on their shoulders, they were not alone. The struggle was fueled by the commitment and the hard work of thousands of everyday people who decided that the time had come to take a stand.
Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.
Historically, the Civil Rights Movement was a time during the 1950’s and 60’s to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights. Looking back on all the events, and dynamic figures it produced, this description is very vague. In order to fully understand the Civil Rights Movement, you have to go back to its origin. Most people believe that Rosa Parks began the whole civil rights movement. She did in fact propel the Civil Rights Movement to unprecedented heights but, its origin began in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was the cornerstone for change in American History as a whole. Even before our nation birthed the controversial ruling on May 17, 1954 that stated separate educational facilities were inherently unequal, there was Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 that argued by declaring that state laws establish separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. Some may argue that Plessy vs. Ferguson is in fact backdrop for the Civil Rights Movement, but I disagree. Plessy vs. Ferguson was ahead of it’s time so to speak. “Separate but equal” thinking remained the body of teachings in America until it was later reputed by Brown vs. Board of Education. In 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and prompted The Montgomery Bus Boycott led by one of the most pivotal leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. After the gruesome death of Emmett Till in 1955 in which the main suspects were acquitted of beating, shooting, and throwing the fourteen year old African American boy in the Tallahatchie River, for “whistling at a white woman”, this country was well overdo for change.