Dr. King: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was founded in 1957 and headed by Martin Luther King until his assassination in 1968. It grew out of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which has organized a successful boycott of the segregated city bus system in 1955-56, which resulted in the city's segregation laws being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Rosa Parks, the NAACP secretary in Montgomery, had become the test case to challenge segregated buses after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. In 1963, SCLC organized the protests against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama and the protests for voting rights in Selma, Alabama in 1965, which gained international publicity for the civil rights movement and led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These were the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history and two key parts of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society agenda. King later broke with Johnson openly over the Vietnam War, which other mainstream civil rights leaders were very reluctant to do, and was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers.

King and his comrades, who formed the Southern Leadership Conference, took notice to this and decided to launch Project C in Birmingham. Project C was aimed to protest the segregation system in the city through a nonviolent, peaceful form. (PBS)The turning point of all these protests was on April 7, 1963 when Connor lashed out violently of protestors who were participating in peaceful protests. (Amistad) The violent outbreak was completely uncalled for considering that the protests were peaceful. As a result, King decided that a protest would be held despite there being a law that he would be breaking. This law was passed on April 10, the State Court ordered that demonstrations were not permitted, but King had strong determination. On April

The turning point in King’s career came in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The SCLC launched a major demonstration to protest anti-Black attitudes in the South. Confrontations ensued between unarmed Black demonstrators and Birmingham police and firemen who used clubs, attack dogs, and fire hoses as a show of unnecessary force to quell the crowd. The publication of this demonstration and the incidents that ensued had profound effects across the country. It sparked protests across the country and prompted President John F. Kennedy to push for passage of new civil rights legislation.

After the radical bus blockade, Martin Luther King Jr. continued to strive and motivate other by being one of the most prominent leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. During the beginnings of his equality involvement, he first demonstrated his leadership capabilities through the establishment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, where he stood as president and made several dynamic changes on the base foundation of this organization (Cho). Moreover, the SCLC became a driving force into formulating specific civil rights transformations by their dedicating a majority of their efforts towards the abolishment of segregation through their practices of civil disobedience and nonviolent protests (Brunner 1). A significant

Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), bought the Black Civil Rights Movement and his desegregation concepts to Birmingham in 1963 for several reasons. The most pivotal of these reasons being his African American racial status and his Christian faith which drove him to fight for the rights his people deserved.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and African American civil rights activist. He was one of the most significant leaders in U.S history of non-violence, he is considered an icon and peace maker by many people around the world. Founding Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Atlanta Ga, in 1957 an African American civil rights organization that focuses to “educate youth and adults in the areas of personal responsibility, leadership potential and, community service; to ensure economic justice, civil rights and, to eradicate environmental classism and racism wherever it exist” (Nationalsclc.org). Sclc during a time of racism and violence towards the black population declared that segregation must end and that black people should

The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were an African American civil rights organization who joined forces in 1963 to build a campaign that would attack the city of Birmingham’s segregation system. For years, Birmingham, Alabama was considered the South’s toughest, most segregated and racist city in the south. A city where the governor of Alabama, George Wallace, and the chief of police, Eugene Connor, were both well-known racists who offered the KKK support through the Birmingham Police Department. Even though there was a great amount of barriers in this campaign, King and Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth led the campaign to accomplish its goal by placing pressure on Birmingham’s

Meanwhile, in 1963 King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), continued to fight for civil rights but this time they marched to Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was the worst city for the blacks in the south. King went to the city’s leaders and demanded that they change the laws about public places being segregated, but the leaders of Birmingham refused to change. Many blacks were afraid to protest because they were scared that they would end up in jail. King responded with, “If the road to freedom leader through the jailhouse … then, turnkey, swing wide the gates!” (Hakim 18). On April 12, 1963 King led a march down the streets of Birmingham. They headed towards City Hall, but never made it because the police stopped the

In spring of 1963 the SCLC, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Martin Luther King Jr, organized a movement in Birmingham, Alabama: Project C which is more commonly known as The Birmingham Campaign. The movement was to help push the integration efforts of African Americans. The Birmingham campaign was led to be series of nonviolent events such as lunch counter sit-ins, marches on City Hall and boycotts on downtown merchants. While the members of the SCLC kept their nonviolent demeanor many police officers used the force of high-pressure fire hoses and police dogs. These violent acts yielded some of the most iconic yet troubling images of the Civil Right Movement. Despite the horrible acts of this protest it is known as one of the

Martin Luther King Jr. knew of the constant racism and cruelty in Birmingham, Alabama and decided to lead a march in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, treasurer of the SCLC, led a group of fifty marchers toward city hall in Birmingham (Boerst, 12). Martin Luther King Jr. and the protestors wanted to stand up

With the success of the Montgomery boycott, black leaders began a new plan for the civil rights movement. In January of 1957, southern black ministers started the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Martin Luther King became the first president. "The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was the first civil rights organization led by black residents of the South, and the first to concentrate all of its attention on fighting Jim Crow within the region."2 It was at this time that Martin Luther King proposed his ideals of nonviolent resistance.

Civil rights groups such as the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) heavily influenced the abolishment of the Jim Crow laws. The ACMHR was a civil rights group that focused on demolishing segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. In the Birmingham Manifesto, the President of the ACMHR quotes the Declaration of Independence to relate civil rights in order to prove that they are people too and should be treated equally. Besides the ACMHR, another group that affected the civil rights movement is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). This group is led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr who was a very influential leader regarding civil rights. His wife, Coretta Scott King, wrote about his intentions in a 1969 LIFE Magazine

In the fifties, segregation existed in every state, but it was strongest in the South where Public Schools, transportation, hotels, and restaurants were all segregated. King convinced thousands of African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama to refuse to ride the city buses because they were segregated. For thirteen months African Americans in Montgomery walked to work instead of riding the segregated buses. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the Supreme Court forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration. After his success in Montgomery, King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which gave him a base to pursue further civil rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. In 1960 King moved himself and his family to Montgomery to devote more of his effort towards the work of the SCLC. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the civil rights movement. King argued that as African Americans made up ten percent of the population, they had considerable economic power. By selective buying, they could reward companies that were sympathetic to the civil rights movement while punishing those who still segregated their workforce. By boycotting, they were able to pressure the companies into hiring more African Americans. King wrote a book in 1958 entitled Stride Toward

The power dynamics that was displayed is whatever organization goes through in order to remain effective. Leaders will from time to time have find ways to deal with conflicts from their position. During the screen were J Edgar Hoover and president was talking about how can the they deal with Dr. King, the president was given a few options on how they could deal with Dr. King however, the president rejects those options. These options that was presented could be call shadow in conflict. A shadow in conflict “is a perspective that we refuse to take for all kinds of reasons; it’s a shameful, frightening painful, or socially offensive” (HAMILTON 2013 p 150).

King had a vision that one day all races would be treated equally. Being the educated man that he was, receiving his Doctorate from Boston University, Dr. King never saw failure as an option. King was a third generation Baptist Minister and was the Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Dr. King was from the South and was very familiar with the city of Birmingham which was known as the most violently segregated city in the United States. An affiliate of Dr. King’s invited him to Birmingham to engage in a nonviolent protest to which he agreed. During the nonviolent protest Dr. King was arrested for protesting without a permit. While in a Birmingham County jail cell Martin Luther King explains issues within the past day’s society that needed to be addressed including the church, the white moderates, and how he had been labeled an extremist.