One particular name that is hugely synonymous with the civil movements and whose name cannot fail to be mentioned whenever the civil rights movement is referenced is Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was born on 5th January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Being the child of a church Minister, young Martin was naturally expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. He became a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and this where his journey with the Civil Rights Movement started.
King went to Boston for college studies. He later moved to Montgomery with his new wife, Coretta King who he had met at Boston. By this time, he was already an outspoken member of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1955, Martin Luther King led one of the largest social protests of the civil rights movement (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). This was the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The Montgomery’s bus system was historically a system that segregated blacks and whites. Black people, referred to as Negroes were relegated to the bus’ back and were required to give up their seats whenever a white person required them to do so. In addition, blacks had to enter the bus at the rear end and in fact sit at the rear seats unlike their white counterparts who entered the bus at the front and sat at the front seats. Many blacks had no choice but to abide to this segregated system since most of them could not afford to buy automobiles and the buses were crucial to them for getting to their work places (Adamson, 2009). However, there occasionally arose a couple of individuals who bravely resisted this from of segregation. For instance, in 1955, 15 years old girl named Claudette Colvin openly challenged the bus segregation and was subsequently arrested. Months later, another woman, Mary Louise Smith refused to give up her seat to a Caucasian passenger and she was also arrested. However, neither of these arrests mobilized the Montgomery African American community like the arrest of Rosa Parks that happened a year later. Rosa Parks was a black woman who worked as a seamstress and who was also the secretary of the NAACP in Montgomery. Rosa Parks was traveling by bus one day and like the rules dictated, she at a bench at the rear end of the bus. Her bench was the front most reserved for blacks. However, whenever an extra white passenger entered the bus, the black travelers on that front mist bench were required to stand up. When a white man entered the bus, the bus driver requested Parks and her fellow black travelers to stand and move back. Unlike her colleagues who without a question complied, parks refused to stand. She was subsequently arrested at fined for her actions (Adamson, 2009). The arrest of Parks sparked off angry reactions from the black community and civil rights leaders unlike the reaction that had greeted the former two women who had opposed resisted segregation. A citywide bus boycott was planned. Martin Luther King was at the forefront of this boycott. The initial stages of the boycott were successful and many blacks obliged and did not bode the buses. Many resulted to carpooling, cycling, walking and even some unconventional transport means like riding mules. During a meeting to determine if the boycott continues, King gave a strong speech calling for the continuation of the boycott and many supported him (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). King stated that “I want it to be known that we’re going to work with grim and bold determination to gain justice on the buses in this city. And we are not wrong. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong” (Adamson, 2009). The boycott was hugely successful and made a strong statement to the Montgomery’s city council. About three quarters of the Montgomery’s bus riders were blacks and their boycott was enough to bring about an economic distress to the city. King’s support of the boycott had serious consequences on his personal life. For instance, his house was frequently firebombed but King constantly encouraged his followers not to result to violence. King and several others were indicted for conspiracy to interfere with an established business activity and in fact spent two weeks in jail (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). However, the actions of the black residents of Montgomery increased the pressure of racial equality across the country (Adamson, 2009). In 1956, a court ruled that the Alabama’s state segregation bus rules were unconstitutional. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court after an appeal by the state and this resulted in the ending of the boycott. Later on, the city passed a law that stipulated that blacks could sit anywhere they liked in a bus. The success of this boycott resulted in King and co gaining a lot of attention from the rest of the country as nationalists.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott led to the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Montgomery Bus Boycott had prompted similar boycotts in cities across the South. At the height of this boycott, leaders of several Sothern protest groups met on January 10-11 1957 in Atlanta Georgia to from a united regional organization as well as manage protest in the South (Our History/sclcnational.org, n.d). At the end of this meeting, the 60 leaders from several southern states declared that they had formed the Southern Leadership Conference on Transportation and Non-Violent Integration (Our History/sclcnational.org, n.d). They also gave out a document with several declarations stating that civil rights were an essential part of democracy and that segregation should end completely. In another meeting held on 14th February 1957 in New Orleans, the organization’s name was shortened to Southern Leadership Conference (Our History/sclcnational.org, n.d). Martin King was elected the president of this organization formed to fight for civil rights. The organization’s name was again changed to Southern Christian Leadership Conference at a convention held in August 1957 in Montgomery (Our History/sclcnational.org, n.d). King was a strong influence to this organization’s ideals (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). The SLCC united all the various civil rights organizations and brought them under one roof. The word “Christian” was used instead of the common “Negro” to emphasize on the organization’s spiritual nature and so as not to black out any white individuals who wanted to help in the civil rights movement (Adamson, 2009). As the president, Martin Luther King was at the forefront of this organization’s activities. He coordinated various activities meant to advance the goals of this organization which sought to grant civil rights to all American citizens. The SCLC for instance helped blacks in vote registering, opened several citizenship schools and preached for the use of non-violence in all of its campaigns (Adamson, 2009).
However, not all the activities and campaigns of the SCLC were successful. For instance, its involvement in civil rights issues in the city of Albany, Georgia. The local branch of NAACP together with another organization named the “Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee” had organized several mass protests to oppose the city’s segregation rules. However, unlike other southern cities, massive divisions and opposition plagued the protest here. Conservative blacks oppose the mass movements and there was a lot of opposition from the whites. By the mid- December of 1961. More than 500 protestors had been arrested. The leaders of the protests decided to invite Martin Luther King to encourage the black community to keep the momentum and continue advocating for civil rights. However, King and other protestors were severally arrested. Another aspect was that the Albany authorities led by the police chief Laurie Pritchett di not react to the protest brutally. King and co understood that the civil rights movement lifeblood was the publicizing of the ernomous unjust that existed in the American south. However, Albany’s authorities refused to take the demonstration’s bait (that is reacting angrily) and there was limited media coverage of the civil rights campaign in this particular city. Protestors started diminishing one by one and King was unable to convince wiling marchers. It became clear that Martin Luther King had proven to be not effective and he therefore left and admitted that he had been unable to meet the movement’s goals. The campaign in this city was therefore deemed a failure and not much changed here (Adamson, 2009).
However, the opposite happened in Birmingham. Birmingham activists in 1963 launched a very influential campaign referred to as “The Birmingham Campaign (The Birmingham Campaign/PBS, n.d). The campaign involved citywide marches and protests, lunch counter sit ins and several business related boycotts (The Birmingham Campaign /PBS, n.d). Martin Luther King together with other leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference joined the city in the campaign aimed at the segregation system. The city official obtained injunctions against the protest and King and others were arrested but were later released on bail. Leaders of the protest proposed using children as part of the demonstrations so as to sustain the overall campaign (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). Students from all over Birmingham joined in the campaign. The city authorities reacted angrily to SCLC civil rights demonstrations and campaign. The use of high-pressure fire hoses and police dogs against demonstrators, including the children shocked a lot of people (The Birmingham Campaign /PBS, n.d). The television was rife with clips of violence being used on non-violent people. This provoked outrage countrywide and the city had no option but to start moving towards desegregation.
The organizations demonstrations later spread to other parts of the country. For instance, on 23rd June, 193, the famous “Detroit Walk to Freedom” took place in Detroit, Michigan. The march was attended by prominent figures including the city’s Mayor and various organizations leaders who all gave speeches calling for equal rights for all citizens (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). The main aims of the march were to speak out against racial brutality in the south as well as in the north as well as inequality in education, housing, wages and hiring practices.
Another major occurrence that the SCLC under the leadership of King was involved in was the famous “March to Washington for Jobs to Freedom”. Here, about 250, 000 people marched in the City of Washington up to the legendary Lincoln Memorial for racial equality and justice to all American citizens (Adamson, 2009).
It was at the end of this march that King gave his famous “I have a Dream Speech”. Speaking to the 250, 000 supporters of the civil rights movement, King called for an end to racism. In his speech, envisioned a future America where everyone would enjoy equal rights and segregation would be completely absent. King’s speech is widely heralded as a rhetoric masterpiece (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). The speech was brilliantly crafted and unlike other civil rights movements, it was relatively calm in terms of not invoking any form of civil disobedience. It was simply a statement that illustrated the beauty and essentially the benefits of an equal American where everyone enjoyed equal rights and justice. One of the famous lines of the speech is "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!" (Rappaport and Collier, 2001) The speech was indeed a huge success for the entire civil rights movement and set forth a journey towards the achievement of equal rights.
The events discussed above significantly shaped the civil rights movements. Being at the forefront of these events, the events had a deep impact on him. One could have though that they would overwhelm him but Martin Luther King was unlike any other Civil Rights Leader and he brilliantly handled them (Rappaport and Collier, 2001). He made sure that although not present physically, his support was always felt. The contribution of these events to the American Civil Rights history cannot be overemphasized. They helped to move America from a backward nation stagnated by racial inequality and injustice tendencies towards a democratic nation where members of all races enjoy equal rights and freely interact and where there is common justice for all.
References
Adamson, H. (2009). The civil rights movement: An interactive history adventure. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press.
Our History | sclcnational.org. (n.d). Retrieved January 12, 2014, from http://sclcnational.org/our-history/
Rappaport, D., & Collier, B. (2001). Martin's big words: The life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
The Birmingham Campaign | Civil Rights Movement | Black History | PBS. (n.d). Retrieved January 12, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement-birmingham-campaign/#.UtJegtIW2c4
