Tag Archives: Martin Luther King

04/27/11

Practice What You Preach !

Martin Luther King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail April 1963 while serving a nine day prison term. This letter is very famous. Martin Luther King is originally from Atlanta but in the letter he explained “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and thats why he was in Birmingham conducting many non violent protests. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the south. I title this post “Practice What you Preach” because in his letter Martin Luther King critized many clergymen for being afraid to support him and help fight for equality. A lot of white moderates and clergymen criticized what Martin was doing and they thought that he was being too extreme. They thought  that the blacks just needed to be patient and eventually there will be equality. Martin disagreed with them in his letter he stated “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro.” Blacks were tired of waiting; they were ready to fight and the younger generation also more aggressive than before.

During the 1960’s we see a lot more school aged kids fighting for equality. It can be assumed that the rise of protesting by students has roots in the 195o’s era change. I think that many were inspired by the Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. According to Foner, in May of 1963 when King made a bold decision to send young black school children to protest was a huge triumph for the Civil Rights Movement. Schoolchildren were beaten up by nightsticks and dogs, and sprayed by high pressure fire hoses and this caused a revulsion not only throughout Birmingham or the United States but around the world !

 

 

 

04/26/11

The Black Movement

Black riot in the 1960s

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement concerning African Americans continued to grow. This is a battle that blacks in America had been fighting for years, and while there was some advancement through various legislation, there was still great unrest in the black community. Violent outbreaks began in black ghettos; these conflicts involved angry blacks and mostly white police. They first broke out in Harlem in 1964 and began happening in various ghettos such as Los Angeles and Detroit. This violence was so widespread that many citizens feared a racial civil war would come out of it. While government recognized the riots and outbreaks, there were no outright proposals for any kind of change.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The unrest that caused this violence spurred from the rampant legal segregation that had existed. During the 1950s, many began to fight it, no longer able to deny its injustice. However, it was in the 1960s that opposition began to turn so violent and recurrent.

04/25/11

At least we are moving, trying to Integrate

There have been many events after the signing of the emancipation proclamation that freed slaves that moved the country towards equality for slaves.   It was a slow process, but after world war 2 and during the 1950’s the civil right movement moved with great force.  This movement finally took off in the 1960’s and became a full fledge movement.  There was a need to get blacks out of poverty, many feeling that it was one of the ways that freedom can be acquired, alone with equality.  The fights for better education, access to public accommodations, and voting that evolved in the 50’s allowed blacks to start fighting for better economic issues pushing for more government action.

Black Power movement at the Chicago Freedom Movement Rally, Soldier Field (Freedom Sunday)

 

04/15/11

Birmingham, We shall Overcome

According to Foner, the high point in protest was in the spring of 1963. There were many demonstrations that took place in cities and towns in the south which put emphasis on the black discontent over inequality in education, employment, and housing. In one week there were 15,000 arrests in 186 cities. Birmingham was marked as one of the most dangerous cities. There were over fifty bombings of black homes and institutions since WWII. Martin Luther King was among one of the many leaders invited to come to Birmingham during these protests. He was serving a 9 day prison term in April 1963 for violating a ban on demonstrations when he developed the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.  In this letter he related the abuses faced by black southerners from police brutality to the daily humiliation of having to explain to their children why they could not enter amusement parks or public swimming pools.

One of the significant things King has done was make a bold decision to send black schoolchildren into the streets of Birmingham. The images of what was going on in Birmingham during this time was a triumph for the civil rights movement. The events in Birmingham cause white Americans to decide whether they had more in common with fellow citizens demanding basic rights or with violent segregationists. The events in Birmingham are related to the Civil Rights movement which began in the 1950s. Martin Luther King began fighting in silent protest over the rights of African Americans during this time. The fight to gain advancement at this time was  working through massive resistance and protest.