Social Movement And Protest By Gemma Edwards Essay

Disobedience is a valuable human traits because through disobedience it have bring great change in the society which have impact all people around the world. For example people who disobedience the law to bring change in their society are such as Martin Luther king, Malala yousafzai, and Mahatma gandhi. These three people had a great impact on people's lives and change the society forever by disobedience.

An Analysis of ?The Ways of Meeting Oppression? Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement brought about many different views on how one?s oppression should be handled in America. ?The Ways of Meeting Oppression,? by Martin Luther King Jr., is based on how people handle oppression. According to Dr. King there?s a whole spectrum that ranges from violence to non-violence action in which the views are placed. Martin Luther King Jr. illustrates strategically how oppressed people deal with the three types of oppression, which are: acquiescence, violence, and non violence resistance.

During the 1950s until the 1970s, civil society protests in the United States of America formed a basis for many socially, politically and economically fuelled movements. The Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement are among the most notable of such civil protest movements. These movements aimed to improve the conditions of the Black community in North America after centuries of subjection to discrimination, oppression, segregation and racist policies stemming from the societal practices that originated during slavery in the US. Both the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement shared similar general aims in that both movements focused on the liberation of Black people from their oppressors; however each movement had distinct

Social movements are actions of history that have shaped the way societies run and the values their citizens uphold. The Black Power Movement is one example of a major social movement is the history of the United States. While it stemmed from and contains a purpose similar to that of the Civil Rights Movement, a shift in attitude and leadership gave the Black Power Movement (BPM) its own unique identity. Musicking and the use of music changed with the times to reflect this new movement and is arguably one of the central reasons the BPM is examined as its own tour de force in the push for equal rights.

America stands for equality, freedom, and choice, but upon looking into the history behind America the everlasting struggle of racism, bigotry, and inequality are revealed. Through the 1950s to the 1970s, the fight for civil rights by African Americans was prominent throughout America. Schools, restaurants, and all public facilities were segregated, African Americans were blocked from voting through literacy tests and poll taxes, and The KKK, a white supremacist group, would lynch African American men. The need for the immediate cease of these practices and the desire for equality gave way to the Civil Rights Movement. Leaders and groups arose from this movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party. The overall goal was to achieve rights but there were two significantly different methods of achieving this goal, non-violent civil disobedience and “black power”. The shift from non-violent civil disobedience to “black power” was caused by the emotional toll of being complacent during personal attack and the truth that immediate change calls upon the use of force, and the result of the shift was the further spread of violence.

This theory has played a significant role in helping mankind in the formation of social movements especially within contemporary society. It is imperative to note that Social movements are organized and sustained collective efforts that focus on some aspect of social change, and tend to persist over time in a more aggressive way compared to other forms of collective behaviour. Social movements may include actions that protect environments, defend the rights of the minority or promote social justice. The frustration- aggression theory argues that social movements are formed when frustration results in collective aggressive behaviour.

The black lives matter movement can be deliberated to be a new social movement as it looks at some of the actions which are grounded by policy making and the ideology as the root of collective action. A procedures that fits into this movement is the Collective Behaviour Theory. The theory refers to the events that emerge suddenly and don’t often conform to the laws or rules but as in alternative which is often base on the issues at hand. For instance the Black Lives Matter movement came together as a community as their collective identity matches one another. (Being African American or loosing someone to police violence) This also fits under ‘Grass-roots’ as it is driven by the ‘locals’ who are often

One of the most recent example of this is new form of mass mobilization structure is the success of Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2013. Black Lives Matter began with the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin. The movement was created by activists Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, and Alicia Garza to combat systemic racism and police brutality targeted towards African-Americans in the United States. In “How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight The Power,” author Bijan Stephen serves as a guide and leads readers through the difficulties of early civil rights activists in the 1960s and how the widespread use of social media has opened doors for many social activists today. "Social media could serve as a source of live, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real time. And it could swiftly push back against spurious media narratives with the force of a few thousand retweets" (Stephen 2015). Civil rights activists in the 1960s, during the Jim Crow South era, used traditional organizational tools

Due to the lack of a definitive definition of the term “black power” whites interpreted it as an “expression a new racism” (Rustin 430). In contrast, blacks thought of “black power” as a signal to whites that blacks would not tolerate the treatment that they had received. The Black Power movement created tension in which Rustin believed the movement “diverts the (civil rights) from a meaningful debate over strategy and tactics, it isolates the Negro community, and it encourages the growth of anti-Negro forces” (Rustin 430). Thus, this tension would prohibit the progression of the civil rights movement.

In life there are many situations where rebellion is required for change and improvement. Some are simple, like growing up and learning not to do certain things and others are more complex like when a group of people stand up for what they believe, for example, women’s rights and black’s rights. I believe that rebellion is healthy for any growing society. There are many things that we do not agree with, whether it is the law or our parent’s instructions. By rebelling we can change our society and/or ourselves for better.

Non- violent movements are a way for groups of people to achieve change and create an impact in the society. The labor, African American, and Vietnam anti-war peace movements were significantly successful in abolishing harsh working conditions, gaining civil rights for blacks, and withdrawing from the Vietnam War (Upchurch). Non-violent and violent movements have been used throughout history to evoke change in the society, obtain equality, civil rights, and peace. While violent protest result in the same changes, non-violent methods can ultimately go beyond local violent protest, spread nationally through movements, and protest without requiring violence. These events because of the non-violent

Since the term “black power” did not have a concise definition some whites interpreted the term as an “expression of a new racism.”47 On the other hand, blacks defined it as a signal to whites that blacks would no longer tolerate their violent treatment. Due to the tension the movement created Rustin deemed the Black Power movement as a threat to the civil rights movement. Rustin said that the Black Power movement “diverts the (civil rights) movement from a meaningful debate over strategy and tactics, it isolates the Negro community, and it encourages the growth of anti-Negro forces.”48 This tension would hinder the civil rights movement from moving forward.

One major link includes the fight between an oppressed group and their persecutors. Whether it’s the proletariat and the bourgeois in “The Communist Manifesto,” or the inequality of genders in “The Second Sex,” or the flight of the African Americans in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In all of these texts we are shown how easy it is for one group to abuse their power and create unfair rules and regulations only imposed on the more inferior members of society. Each group of oppressor thrives off of alienating, and subjugating their inferiors.

In Johnston, Laraña, and Gusfield’s discussion of New Social Movement (NSM) theory, they identify the concept as a “double-edged sword,” in that is has both related itself to the changing shape of society but also overemphasized the newness of its model, almost divorcing itself from previous social movement theories instead of acknowledging and assessing the similarities between them and integrating what is useful from theories of the past. As its basic framework asserts that social movements now are not as linked to class as they were in the time of the emergence of Marxism and at the height of industrialist society (as Resource Mobilization Theory might stress), new

person is not they will continue to obey because at least this way they feel as if they are a