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The black power movement
The black power movement
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Fred Shuttlesworth was a man of action, leading a new light on a darken city and across the nation. Surviving bombings, police arrests and clashes with the Ku Klux Khan, he became one of the most prominent Civil Rights leaders of his time leading the way of Civil Rights in hometown, Birmingham, Alabama. Working closely with Martin Luther King Jr, he famously one said “As Birmingham goes, so goes the nation” to Martin Luther King Jr. (Fred Shuttlesworth Biography) Fred Shuttlesworth is one of the bravest and dynamic leaders of the civil rights movement, but every great story; every great individual had to start from the bottom to end up as a success story. Freddie Lee Robinson was born in Meigs, Alabama on March 18, 1922. Freddie and his family moved to Birmingham when he was a toddler. After his mother, Alberta Robinson, divorced Robinson and later re-married to William N. Shuttlesworth. Freddie decided to change his surname to his step-fathers surname from Robinson to Shuttlesworth. Freddie wasn’t alone in the family; he shared a household with eight siblings while his father worked as a farmer and a coal miner, bringing little income to the family. Young Fred began working as a truck driver and later a cement worker. To earn larger amounts of money and make ends meat, his family began making moonshine liquor and selling it to the public. During a sale, Young Fred was arrested in 1940 for operating an illegal moonshine still; he was sentence to two years on probation. After his fiasco with the law, young Fred worked harder in school and gains his first accomplishment by graduating valedictorian of his high school. (Nordheimer, Jon) He continued his education graduating from Selma University with a B.A in 1951. Selma University ... ... middle of paper ... ...levision, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. . "Fred Shuttlesworth." Pbs.org. WGBH, n.d. Web. The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. Nordheimer, Jon. "Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, 89, Dies; Fought on Front Lines for Civil Rights." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. Schudel, Matt. "Fred L. Shuttlesworth, Courageous Civil Rights Fighter, Dies at 89." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. United States. National Park Service. "Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011)." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. United States. National Park Service. "International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
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
also exemplifies a compassionate leader, but another leadership quality of King’s was his unmatched trustworthiness amongst the black people of the 1950’s and 60’s. Martin Luther King Jr. lived during a time of severe segregation and hate toward the African-American people of the United States. Many African-American civil rights activists- such as Reverend George Lee, Lamar Smith, and NAACP State Director Medgar Evers- were victims of gruesome murders due to their efforts in the Civil Rights Movement (Austin, 2002). Martin Luther King Jr. too was killed as a result of his efforts as one of the leaders of the movement, and every time that King organized a demonstration, his followers also risked their lives by participating. Their trust in Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent demonstrations was eventually rewarded, as now the African-American people comprise an important part of
Picture this, having to travel over 10,000 miles to get something you really wanted accomplished. This is one of the interesting points Mitch Kachun brings up about Mr. Wright in his essay “Major Richard R. Wright Sr. National Freedom Day, and the Rhetoric of Freedom in the 1940’s. In this essay he not only tells the very interesting story of Wright’s life but he also goes in details about everything that came up in his way and what he did to change the world and mold it to what we see today. One thing Kachun reminds us in this paper is to never forget or past and where we came from, because if we do we will repeat it. Also to pay our respects to a wonderful man who paved the way for us African American college students to be in the place that we are today.
He continued to help the Civil Rights campaign even after his home was bombed and destroyed on Christmas in 1956. Not only was his property affected in attacks, but he was also beaten with whips and chains after demonstrations such as when he tried to integrate a public school. In Birmingham, after a demonstration, he and many others were slammed against a wall by the pressure of a fire hose. Shuttlesworth's determination and courage strong despite opposition is one of many admirable traits he possessed. Throughout history he has been admired by by people for his courageous actions. He has been widely praised by his co workers, and future generations so why should we not celebrate him as
The bombings and marches in Birmingham Alabama were major concerns for all civil rights leaders. During the 50’s and 60’s, civil rights leaders fought against injustice in different ways. Some civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Jessie Jackson fought against injustice with a pen. In 1963 Martin Luther King wrote a letter titled, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, and Jessie Jackson wrote, “Jets of Water Blast Civil Rights Demonstrators, Birmingham, 1963.” Martin Luther King and Jessie Jackson are two civil rights leaders of different generations, but with similar views concerning the Birmingham bombings.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
Jackson, Camille, “John Hope Franklin, Scholar Who Transformed African-American History, Dies at 94.” Duke Today (Durham, NC), March 25, 2009.
John Lewis is an African American man born on February 21st, 1940, into a sharecropping family in Pike County, Alabama (Moye, 2004). He grew up on his family's farm, and attended segregated public schools as a child. Even when he was just a young boy, Lewis was always inspired by the happenings of the Civil Rights Movement. Events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott or hearing the wise words of Martin Luther King Junior over the radio stimulated his desire to become a part of a worthwhile cause, and was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement ever since ("Biography," para. 3). Lewis went to school at both the American Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary, and received a Bachelors degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University. While at Fisk, he learned the philosophy of how to be nonviolent, and would soon incorporate that into his civil rights work ("John Lewis Biography," para. 3). While he was a student at Fisk University, Lewis began putting together sit-ins at local lunch counters to protest segregation. Many...
..., the combined fighting forces of Thurgood Marshall and the other “fighters” of the Civil Rights Movement were an important part fighting for the equality of all Americans. Thurgood Marshall said in his 1992 4th of July speech, “Knock down the fences that divide. Tear apart the walls that imprison. Reach out; freedom lies just on the other side” (Hitzeroth and Leon 99).
The Tuskegee Airmen were a fine example of many who had fought for equality between blacks and whites as well as many who had sought opportunity for blacks in those times, and had a high number of achievements and awards during their time in the military. Works Cited George, Linda and Charles. The Tuskegee Airmen. Canada: Children's Press, 2001. Brooks, Philip.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of a peaceful movement to end segregation in the United States this mission led him in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama where officials and leaders in the community actively fought against desegregation. While performing sit-ins, marches and other nonviolent protests, King was imprisoned by authorities for violating the strict segregation laws. While imprisoned King wrote a letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he expresses his disappointment in the clergy, officials, and people of Birmingham. This letter employed pathos to argue that the leaders and ‘heroes’ in Birmingham during the struggle were at fault or went against their beliefs.
Egerton, Douglas R. Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
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.
Levy, Peter B., The Civil RIghts Movement, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1998. Web. 24 June 2015.
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. had faith in his beliefs of equality, and that all people, regardless of race should be free and governed under the same laws. In the later part of the 1960's, Birmingham, Alabama, the home of King, was considered to be the most racially divided city in the South. "Birmingham is so segregated, we're within a cab ride of being in Johannesburg, South Africa", 1 when King said this he was only speaking half jokingly. In Birmingham the unwritten rule towards blacks was that "if the Klan doesn't stop you, the police will."2 When King decided that the time had come to end the racial hatred, or at least end the violence, he chose to fight in a non-traditional way. Rather than giving the white people the pleasure of participating in violent confrontations, King believed if they fought without violence for their rights, they would have a faster success rate. King also saw Birmingham as the major problem in America.