Civil Rights Movement: Go Tell It On The Mountain

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

The 1960s was an era of the civil rights movements that African Americans held to end segregation and racism. Although African Americans faced abundance of hindrances throughout their strive for equality, they responded with increased courage, hope and determination.

Through out grade school we as the general public are presented with an extremely small amount of information on the Civil Rights Movement, that of a sample size to give us a general idea of what truly went on through out the country and the Deep South. Our foundation on the education of this historical moment is based on are these big names such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks, who are not only known country wide but world wide. There are hundreds, thousands, and quite possibly millions of civil rights activists who are lesser know or even known at all. In Howell Raines novel My Soul Is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South, Raines expressed the oral history of these lesser-known individuals and their

The African Americans managed to solve their conflict and resolution through acts of non-violence and struggle. Even though the actions taken by Malcolm X were of good intentions, they ended up causing a ripple between African Americans. On the other hand Martin Luther King Jr. identified that if people were going to respond to hatred with more hatred then there will be little chances for change and substance which was never understood by Malcolm. He was, of course, powerful and strong as an Africa American commanding huge followers and believers, but things did not end well as Malcolm X dies in the hand of his own people. This meant that change cannot be made through dividing a nation but through uniting the people. Therefore Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s would have not had the same impact if they had been led by Malcolm X instead of Martin Luther King.

The civil rights movement was not completely successful but it had done more than any other movement trying to gain rights and equality in the past. While you could argue that the civil rights movement had started from the times of slavery for the sake of this paper I will be referring to the civil right’s movement as the time period from the 1960s through 1980s. Now when looking at his era it is important to look at the culture of the American public, starting first with the 60s you get a sense of anti-government & anti-war that could relate to some of the things the black power movement was fighting. This is a time where you can find a sense of

I was apart of the NAACP and I made many speeches and I gave blacks hope that one day we will get along with whites. The Little Rock Nine made history, they were a group of nine African Americans that attended an all white school on Arkansa. They had protection from troops that helped keep them save from the angry whites. All of this lead to the March on Washington, this was a big rally that was about having freedom and jobs. There was more than 200,000 people their to support us, there were songs be performed such as civil rights songs that were for encouragement that we slao sang during the marches .This was very important to us so we could get our equality rights and make a difference. At the rally they were many speakers that gave important

For more about music in the Civil Rights Movement, read these two Folklife Today blog posts on “Tracing the Long Journey of “We Shall Overcome” and “Photographs of the Southern Freedom Movement in the Alan Lomax

There were hundreds of thousands of onlookers, twenty-one shots, four assassinations, one nation, and a changed world all effected throughout the 1960s. There were many distresses throughout the 1960s. Some of the main ones included the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy. The aftermath of all these deaths greatly affected the United States and the people in it. Each one of these men had a huge impression on a certain group in America that they broke a barrier for. The nation mourned and wept over them, and felt for their families. These sequences of deaths began in 1963 with the death of John F. Kennedy.

Institutions (such as schools, prisons, hospitals, churches, military, mass media, etc) are all collective systems meant to dictate how the masses who believe in and follow them, live and act. Each institution has its own collective set of rules, often times mostly unspoken, to guide what others in the institution should be doing in terms of right and wrong. But these rules are never fixed and may fluctuate with changes in leadership or environment among other things. The fluctuations of these rules mean that they must often be tested by people more on the fringe of the institution in order to determine where the heart of the institution stands at any given moment. That testing of boundaries, in and of itself, constitutes deviance and helps to explain how institutions meant to discourage it accidentally encourage it.

Dr. King lived in a United States of America that had changed very little in its the treatment of African American citizens since the period of reconstruction after the Civil War. The Civil Rights Movement in 1963 was organized with help from King and other influential leaders. The movement struck at some of the most notable areas afflicted by racial inequality. Why We Can’t Wait centers on the pursuit of civil discourse that unfolds in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the most racially segregated cities in America at the time. Each of the components of the Civil Rights Movement alone would not have so successfully innovative. It was only the sum of its parts, together, that made it so ground breaking at obtaining equal rights for all races. The

The Civil Rights movement was one of the many protests going on around the world that fought for civil liberties among mass people. All over the world countries were taking down flags that once flew through the wind, which made this the peak time to join the revolution in gaining rights for African Americans in the United States. During this time many black people were sick and tired of being told how and when to do things by a white person. Entire black communities in southern states were completely alienated. They were not allowed to use the same bathrooms, water fountains, parks, theatre’s, gas stations, restaurants, or even to sit in the front of the buss. After years of this discrimination and brutality from white people, including

The American Civil Rights Movement is personified through several prominent personalities. These figures exhibited strong character throughout their careers in activism that revolutionized the ideals and opportunities of the 20th century, standing as precedents for courage and perseverance in the face of widespread systemic oppression. However, not all of these figures received the acknowledgment and acceptance that their legacy deserved. One such figure was Bayard Rustin, a lifelong Civil Rights activist in the African American and LGBTQ communities whose experiences exemplified the hardships faced by American minorities. His career was defined by perpetual conflict and confrontation as both sides of the Civil Rights Movement attempted to demonize and discredit him. Despite this obstacle, Bayard Rustin’s controversial decision-making and sheer tenacity made him an influential force in the ongoing fight for equality in the United States of America.

The Civil Rights movement is one of the most important acts to change the way not only African Americans were able to live their lives but all races and colors. It would slowly break down the social, economic, political, and racial barriers that were created by the The Age of Discovery and Transatlantic Slave trade. I believe without the Civil Rights acts our country would result to be no better than what it was when the Emancipation Proclamation just took effect. In the 1950s and long before, Southern folk, who were white had created a system that would interpret them as a superior race over blacks. The system would defend whites rights and privileges from being taken away from them while establishing terrible inhumane suffering for African Americans. In the South blacks were controlled in all aspects economic, political, and personal, this was called a “tripartite system of domination” - (Aldon D. Morris) (6) Though it isn’t as prevalent racism and discrimination towards other races that aren’t white is still found in America and can be in schools, the workplace, even when you are in the general public but you no longer see discriminating signs saying “Whites” or “Blacks” or Colored” along the front of bathroom, restaurants, and shopping malls doors. Nor do you see people being declined the right to buy a home based on their color or access to school and an equal education being declined because one didn’t meet racial requirements. The acts of violence towards

Outside the black community, white artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez played a prominent role in civil rights movement. They raised issue of civil inequality, while performing songs like: “The Times They Are a-Changin” and “We Shall Overcome” during the “March on Washington for Jobs and freedom”.

“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” by Pete Seeger became a popular anti-war protest song during the 1960s. This song did not only protest against the Vietnam War but also made their generation more aware about the global problems. Songs like “Not Ready to Make Nice” by Dixie chicks about freedom of speech was written after they received death threats for singing against the Iraq war, protests against the violation of human rights. But music is not only used to protest, it is also used to give hope and optimism. “We Shall Overcome”, a song sung by Guy Carawan together with the Montgomery Gospel Trio and the Nashville Quartet, is perhaps the best known example of civil rights song. Instead of blaming the government, this song registered a feeling of hope and faith among African-Americans during the civil rights movement.