Week 13 Reflection: Black Freedom Movement
The era of the Black Freedom Movement is a period I know very well as an African American woman. The 1960s was a time of social movements such as feminism, Native American rights, and gay rights, but the most successful demonstration of this time was the black freedom movement. The campaign had already been going on for decades, but more people became involved than ever before. Public attention from TV broadcasting had made it extremely useful to get their point across to Americans everywhere. The freedom movement worked to remove segregation, economic inequality, legal discrimination, and cultural attitudes against African Americans. African Americans weren't respected in society and mainstream America. The black freedom movement had several tactics to campaigning their beliefs, such as non-violence, taking legal action, and for the black panthers, self-defense.
In 1954, Thurgood Marshall went to court and argued that segregation did lifelong damage because it made one group of citizens seen as unfit. The supreme court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, you may know this case as Brown V. Board of Education. Following the case, the non-violence movement began in Montgomery, Alabama, where they used mass bus boycotts for 381 days. They demanded respectful treatment and ended up with the supreme court ruling that segregation on buses was illegal and led to the rise of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin went on to become the president of the Southern Christian Leadership conference and went to work along with other organizations like CORE and the SNCC. MLK orchestrated the Birmingham Children's Campaign and the March on Washington in 1963. In Birmingham, children volunteered to join the non-violent protest to take action toward integrating their schools. The Children's campaign proved successful because people all over the country saw these images of children being attacked and hosed down by police and thought it was unlawful. The March on Washington was the icing on the cake, though, 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where MLK gave his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. Martin's efforts were overall successful because, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and ended legal segregation and created EEOC to stop discrimination in employment and public institutions and the basis of race, sex, and religion. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 and outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes against blacks and authorized federal officials to protect blacks voting.
The discrimination of black people did not just up and end right there but the civil rights movement overall was a pivotal role in the freedoms we have today.
In 1954, Thurgood Marshall went to court and argued that segregation did lifelong damage because it made one group of citizens seen as unfit. The supreme court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, you may know this case as Brown V. Board of Education. Following the case, the non-violence movement began in Montgomery, Alabama, where they used mass bus boycotts for 381 days. They demanded respectful treatment and ended up with the supreme court ruling that segregation on buses was illegal and led to the rise of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin went on to become the president of the Southern Christian Leadership conference and went to work along with other organizations like CORE and the SNCC. MLK orchestrated the Birmingham Children's Campaign and the March on Washington in 1963. In Birmingham, children volunteered to join the non-violent protest to take action toward integrating their schools. The Children's campaign proved successful because people all over the country saw these images of children being attacked and hosed down by police and thought it was unlawful. The March on Washington was the icing on the cake, though, 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where MLK gave his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. Martin's efforts were overall successful because, in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and ended legal segregation and created EEOC to stop discrimination in employment and public institutions and the basis of race, sex, and religion. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 and outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes against blacks and authorized federal officials to protect blacks voting.
The discrimination of black people did not just up and end right there but the civil rights movement overall was a pivotal role in the freedoms we have today.
Young boy getting attacked by police dog at Birmingham Children's Crusade (1963)
Your picture really speaks for itself. It shows the cruel mistreatment that the students of SNCC faced while trying to fight for their equal right. It is very sad that it took all of this. The police officer is standing there very unbothered at the fact that he is treating another human with such hate. It is amazing that people still stood for what they believed in knowing that this was the treatment to come.
ReplyDeleteBrown V. Board of Education was really the case that kick started the civil rights era. Schools started to integrate and the black community started to push more and more for equality even though it was a hard thing to do. The black community was harassed and much more all in the name of being treated fairly. Without them doing the work they did who knows where "equality" would be today.
ReplyDeleteHey Martha! This picture speaks volumes, from the obvious violence toward the black man to the unphased facial expression of the white man. It really tells the entire story before reading. Nonetheless, Great post! i loved how detailed you were in explaining your perspective! Amazing choice of picture also!
ReplyDeletei am not martha but thank you!
DeleteI really love your photo you used to go with your reflection speaks a lot of volume in the picture. I loved how you went into depth about how you felt but also what you learned on week 13 so far. Just an amazing post Keep up the good work !!
ReplyDeleteHey, I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I like how you went in detail and talked about brown v. Board education. This time was the start of real freedom for black americans. During this time there was a real struggle for black people but they pushed through. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteHey i like reading your blog post. You outlines alot of the focal points that need to be discussed when you reviewing this time. These times were real for black people to try and overcome and eventually they did.But times were still hard as they were pushing through.
ReplyDeleteAleena, I enjoyed reading and learning new things through your blog post this week.You made sure to capture everything that occurred in 1960's America as well as reinforming me on what occurred in during this time period. It was hard being an African-American during the sixties because you had to deal with segregation. Lots of people during this time just wanted to feel a sense of unity amongst each other and they achieved this to a extent with the black freedom movements.
ReplyDeleteHey Aleena, I love how you dove head on into your post this week. I liked that you explained why the freedom movement came to be as well as the influence that leaders had on the community during this time.
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