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Prints and Photographs Division Civil Library of Congress,* LC — USZ62-116776 Rights:

A Hot Topics Hot Serials Supplement from DEFINITIONS Civil rights. The rights of personal liberty guaranteed to INTRODUCTION U.S. citizens by the 13th and ! 14th Amendments to the if the country would change its Constitution and by acts of ways. The North defeated the South and slavery was ended. Congress. The new governments in the Civil rights South passed laws granting Movement. An effort to more rights to blacks. But that establish citizenship rights for was short-lived. Soon there was blacks – rights that whites took a return to slavery-like conditions. for granted, such as voting and “” was the freely using public facilities. phrase used to describe laws that separated the races for everything, whether drinking from a waterfountain or attending school. Civil rights was not a hot topic among most Americans. But blacks were not sitting idly by. Some moved west, looking for places to start all-black towns without racism. Others left the South and moved north, settling in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. Wherever they went, blacks orga- nized and fought for their rights. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League, and other civil rights organizations were formed in the early 1900s. People such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington founded black colleges. Black newspapers such as the Philadelphia Tribune Martin Luther King press conference, , 1964. and the Chicago Defender U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph reported on lynching and other Mary MacLeod Bethune* Collection, Marion Trikosko, photographer. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress atrocities that black people suf- Reproduction Number LC-U9-11696-9A. fered. Writers such as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright t’s hard to say just when the wrote about the African began. Many people believe it began with the 1954 American experience. Political U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case called Brown leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois Booker T. Washington* v. Board of Education. In that ruling, which concerned and A. Phillip Randolph led marches the schools in Topeka, Kan., the court said that and wrote news- separating public school students by race was paper articles. unconstitutional and had to stop “with all deliberate Whites from speed.”I This decision shocked the country. But many various social Langston Hughes and political (above) people don’t know that Brown was the result of a Richard Wright (left) multi-year effort to stop school segregation. As far back movements W.E.B. DuBois as 1849, the Boston school system was challenged for its wrote articles (below)* racial policy. Brown was just one step in what became and attempted known as the civil rights movement. Others say the civil to change laws. rights movement started with the bus boycott in Events like these, together, were the Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 and 1956. A. Phillip Randolph* Actually, though, there has been a civil rights movement incubator from which since even before the United States was a country. In the the civil rights movement was born. 1600s, many black slaves ran away from slavery, a move This newspaper section will look at a toward winning their civil rights. Mennonites in Philadelphia few of the key events of that time period protested against slavery in the 1660s. Many blacks brought and at the work of one man in particular cases to courts, challenging their slavery. Lucy Terry was a — the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. slave granted freedom by the Massachusetts legislature. As America grew, so did the struggle for equal rights. This Hot Topics supplement was: Copyright 2009 Hot Topics Hot Serials Some states freed their slaves and granted rights to blacks. Written by John Colgan-Davis Edited by Ken Bookman Others ended slavery but allowed laws that discriminated NIE activities by Debby and Ned Carroll *Image from the Prints and Photographs Division, against blacks. After the Civil War (1860-1865), it seemed as Graphic Design by Berns & Kay, Ltd. Library of Congress

2 Civil Rights in the The Movement Begins NEWS

n the 1940s, in issue of segregation one that mies rather than send their Learning standards: understanding that close observation is one tool of social scientists, writing Farmville, Virginia, had to be addressed publicly. children to integrated schools. observations black and white The problem was no longer a Violence flared. The Ku Klux 1. Throughout this section, you will read about studentsI were segregated. local issue. It was now a Klan, an extremist white group, the struggle to make equal opportunities for all The black students were in an national issue – important all burned crosses, held rallies, people, no matter what their race. Have we overcrowded building — Moton across the country. and attacked blacks across achieved this? Consider African American and High School. In 1948, the The reaction of the whites the South. Other white organi- white relationships in your city or town today. school board decided to build in Prince County, Va., was the zations, such as the White What are your observations about what is going on around you? Write an essay telling what you three tarpaper shacks at same as in many communities Citizens Council, were think. Then, specifically focus on your local Moton to ease the overcrowd- in the South. The Prince formed. Many black leaders newspaper. Skim it to see whether there is equal ing. , a County school board built were attacked and/or mur- coverage of people of all races. Write your 16-year-old Moton student, led a new building for Moton, dered. Acts of violence were observations of what you see. a strike of students to protest but rather than eliminate designed to scare black 2. What would the country be like today if the the conditions and to demand segregation, it closed all public people to force them to Supreme Court had ruled the opposite way in the a new building. With the help schools from 1959 through stop their movement. But Brown case and said that “separate but equal” of the local NAACP, the Moton 1964. White citizens and the movement was just was okay and allowed it to remain legal? Are there stories in today’s newspaper that might be High students filed a lawsuit churches started “citizenship gaining momentum. different if that had happened? to force the county to desegre- schools” and private acade- gate. Things in America start- ed to change. And the violence, rather Brown v. Board of than halting the movement, Education was one of the most seemed to propel it forward. famous decisions in Supreme In Baton Rouge, La., Court history — partly T.J. Jemison started a bus because it reversed one of boycott. It lasted 10 days and the court’s own landmark did not significantly challenge decisions. An 1896 decision, segregation, but it was a sym- Plessy v. Ferguson, ruled that bol of a new determination by the “separate but equal” treat- African Americans. They were ment was legal. The Topeka, willing to come together to Kan., NAACP brought the make their dissatisfaction pub- Brown case. The NAACP had lic. And later, in Montgomery, long wanted to find cases to Ala., that organized outrage challenge racism and segrega- was about to change the way tion. Their chapter in Topeka, the nation did things. Kansas combined five cases, including the Moton High School case, and challenged the idea of “separate but equal” that kept segregation going. A team of attorneys, including (who later would become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court) argued the case before the Supreme Court. In May 1954, the Court ruled unanimously that “separate but equal” in public education was unconstitution- al. This was the first major Headline from the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott, “5,000 at Meeting Outline Boycott; Bullet Clips Bus”. victory for the budding civil George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James Nabrit, congratulating each other, following Supreme Montgomery Advertiser, December 6, 1955. Copyprint rights movement. It made the Court decision declaring segregation unconstitutional, 1954. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of from microfilm. Serial and Government Publications Congress, LC-USZ62-111236. Copyright New York World-Telegram and Sun Photograph. Division. (9-3). Courtesy of the Montgomery Advertiser.*

3 Martin Luther King Jr. In the mid-1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. lived in Montgomery, living examples of religious values, even if it meant going Ala. He had graduated from Crozier Theological Seminary and against the society. Their ideas gave King much to think about, from Boston University. He studied religious concerns, but he and in Montgomery he put those ideas into action. was also interested in how religion and social change could be On September 5, 1954, he preached his first sermon at connected. He had read several books about Mohandas Gandhi Dexter Baptist Church in Montgomery. He was nervous, but he and his nonviolent movement in India. He also read the works of had advice from his father. He made several changes that got more people involved in running the church and serving it. He Walter Rauschenbusch and Reinhold Niebuhr, two religious think- demonstrated his ability to work with all members of the church, ers who talked about the “Social Gospel.” That was the name and that impressed others. He became involved in the local given to a religious movement that stressed the need to act as NAACP chapter. His work was crucial for what followed in Montgomery because his skills as a leader and organizer At freedom rally, Washington Temple were being formed when he would most need them. Church/ World Telegram & Sun photo by In Montgomery, there had been two cases of blacks O. Fernandez. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-111157) being arrested for violating the “whites in the front” seating policy of Montgomery buses. The NAACP didn’t fight too hard after those incidents because it believed that the people involved would not get the support such an effort would need. However, when was arrested, things were different. Rosa Parks was an officer in the local NAACP. She worked as a seamstress and was dignified and well spoken. She was a perfect symbol for the protest. At first, blacks were asked not to ride the buses on the following Monday. Organizers of the protest were going to plan negotiations with the bus company. Tensions ran high with lots of different opinions about what to do. It was decided to boycott the buses for a longer time, until the racist policy was changed. Dr. King rose and spoke to the group. He talked about the need for unity and the fact that this was a “time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.” He talked about the justice of their cause. He spoke seriously, loudly, and forcefully about how the protest would be carried out. “There will be no crosses burned at any bus stops in Montgomery. … There will be no whites taken out of their bedrooms and murdered. Love and justice stand side by side.” He spoke about the need for the protest to be deter- mined but peaceful. A new mass movement was being born.

Above, Rosa Parks, three-quarter length portrait, seated toward front of bus, Montgomery, Alabama. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-111235). Left, Rosa Parks walks between her attorney, Charles D. Langford, and an unidentified deputy, on her way to jail, Montgomery, Alabama. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-111445).

4 Busy Being Born

The birth and the boycott city leaders and kept people were difficult. At first, black informed. He convinced African taxicab companies gave black Americans with cars to donate workers rides at cheap rates their time and vehicles to the to allow them to get to work. boycott. Others walked to and But the Montgomery City from work rather than ride the Council banned discount buses. This boycott was better rates. The state Attorney organized than the one in General banned the activities Baton Rogue. But it also ben- of the NAACP in Alabama. efited from another change in White business people and American life. The media had political leaders were deter- come of age. mined not to give in. Violence Television was new at the time. Most homes in America didn’t have a TV in 1953. Still, Left, Dr. King the media came to be an surrounded by newsmen, important part of the civil 1963 photo by Ernst Haas, (LC-USZ62-123456); top, Dr. King at Gracie Mansion, NYC, NY, 1964. rights movement. Networks World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico, (LC-USZ62-122988); above, Pickets at the Robert put money into national news, E. Lee Hotel, from the NAACP collection, and the Montgomery boycott (LC-USZ62-121495).* soon became a feature of Eventually, a federal court many news stories. Each event ruled that assigning seats based – the firebombing of King’s on race was unconstitutional. But home, King’s trip to New York Montgomery’s bus company was to raise funds for the MIA, and losing a lot of money from acts of violence by whites – reduced ridership, and other was reported. People in their white businesses suffered as living rooms could see what blacks expanded the boycott to life was like for blacks in the include them. With the courts South. Some of them sent against them, the bus company money to support the protest- and the city of Montgomery ers. The nation was interested accepted the federal order to in the boycott and in the nonvi- desegregate the buses. Skin olence of the marchers. This, color no longer decided where Martin Luther King, Jr., pulls up cross that was in combination with the Brown flared; King’s home was fire- people sat on a bus. burned on lawn of his home, as his son stands decision, meant that the issue bombed, blacks were beaten, next to him, Atlanta, Georgia, 1960. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper of segregation was being and another reverend’s home Photograph Collection* examined widely and closely. was bombed. This was about Civil Rights much more than who sat where on a bus. This was in the about the survival of a segregated society. NEWS Montgomery’s blacks Learning standards: founded the Montgomery skimming, letter writing Improvement Association (MIA) The media — that is, news organizations such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, etc. — to carry out the boycott. King played a big part in spreading the news of the ’60s had learned from the previous so that people around the country and the world bus boycott in Baton Rouge could follow what was happening and get involved that organization, consistent if they wanted. When elected officials take a stand, pressure, carpools, and financ- the media let people know so that voters can decide whether they want to support that person again. es would be important. He NAACP youth and student members marching with signs protesting Texas Can you find a politician in the newspaper with held rallies and kept people segregation laws, Houston, Texas. Visual Materials from the National Association whom you agree or disagree? Find one and write motivated. He negotiated with for the Advancement of Colored People him or her a letter telling how you feel. Records.* 5 THE MOVEMENT the black students from entering all-white Central High School. This brought on a national crisis – the governor of a state was using state troops to defy a federal order. The standoff was featured on the evening news every day. President Dwight Eisenhower negoti- ated with Faubus and thought they had agreed that the Guard would protect the students rather than bar their way. Instead, Faubus removed the Guard, allowing white mobs out- side the school to riot. Eisenhower finally assigned U.S. Army troops to H.B. Sanders, right, gives instructions to members of escort the students into school. a 10th grade class at McKinley Technical High School as the new District of Columbia public school term Slowly, the school was integrated. opens, September, 1954. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-134432). Army troops stayed in Little Rock for a year, accompanying the students just about everywhere they went. While many white citizens didn’t agree with the integration of their school, most stopped actively resist- ecause the Montgomery didn’t want the schools in were due to be integrated, and ing it. However, in Little Rock and bus boycott and the his state desegregated with white citizens were outraged. elsewhere across the nation, private B Brown Supreme Court blacks and whites going to Faubus called out the National all-white academies were formed as decision happened at about school together. Little Rock, Guard to prevent a way of avoiding integration. the same time, the two events the state capital, was the Many schools in the South did together led to even more battleground. The schools integrate peacefully. In some challenges to districts, white and black racism. Whites in teachers were integrated too several states so that the black students didn’t want to would have a peaceful transi- desegregate tion. Many districts started schools. Many busing black students to white white politicians schools to comply with the argued that the desegregation order. But that federal government all took time. was trying to make Some Northern school laws that should districts were just as segregat- have been made ed as Southern schools. Even by the states them- without segregation laws, selves. Some gov- housing patterns in the North ernors vowed that led to segregated schools. their states would In neighborhoods where only not give in to “fed- white people lived, the schools eral bullying.” One were all-white – and vice versa. of the best known Attempts to change this went of these conflicts on in the North until the 1970s. was in Little Rock, Busing could help to integrate Arkansas. schools, but the housing Orval Faubus patterns were much harder was the governor to change. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, 1958, holding sign reading "Against racial integration of all schools within the Little Rock school of Arkansas. He district." New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, (LC-USZ62-126829).* 6 A new wave of optimism spread the movement across the country as people got to other issues. involved in the civil rights move- He had published ment. The first civil rights bill in his first book, 80 years was passed in Stride Toward 1957, but many people felt that Freedom, and had it did not go far enough. appeared on national Demonstrations aimed at ending segregation interview programs Left, a group of civil rights protesters try to peacefully in theaters, restaurants, and schools took place. And a defending the sit-ins. resist arrest. Above, protesters walk toward the Edmund new tactic was gaining attention – the sit-in movement. The sit-in movement Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama on March 9. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a “symbolic” walk to the bridge The sit-in demonstration was simple: A group of blacks and spread. Cities found themselves after “Bloody Sunday,” a march on March 7 where state and local lawmen attacked participants with billy clubs whites would go to a whites-only establishment and sit there. dealing with scores of peaceful and tear gas and drove them back into Selma.* Whites would taunt them, threaten them, hurl objects at them, students who would not move. and beat them. But they would sit there, sing songs, and take the Arresting them did no good. They went willingly, refused to pay abuse. It was part of King’s nonviolent strategy. fines, and sat in jail gaining more media coverage. As other The sit-in movement had many roots. , a white events took place around the country – the presidential election Tennessean, had formed the Highlander Folk School years earlier. in 1960, violence against blacks throughout the South, and more legal challenges to segregation in the courts – the sit-ins added Highlander was a place where blacks and whites Left & below, Library met and discussed their racial ideas of Congress, Prints to the public nature of the movement. And there was more to and Photographs and experiences. People Division, Visual come. Students were about to challenge segregation for the who would later become Materials from biggest prize of all — the vote. the NAACP prominent in the civil Records. GETTING THE VOTE FOR BLACKS In 1960, , a Northern black man, came to the South to work with the move- ment. He had a radical idea – mass voter registration. Many states prevented blacks from voting by using a literacy test. The test required potential vot- ers to read and understand parts of the state constitution. Moses and his co-workers cop- ied the constitutions and set up schools to teach about them. Hundreds of people, black and white, came south to teach in these “.” The sit-in movements, the court cases, and these efforts helped civil rights remain an important national issue. Some whites got angry. Many rights movement explored ideas of and social of the black workers were jailed and attacked. Several were mur- change. , who worked with King, had been there. dered, and all-white juries frequently found the accused not guilty. So had Septima Clark, Robert Moses, and , people But the violence touched something in the American conscious- who helped the sit-in movement develop. When four freshmen ness. How could the United States allow such violence to occur? students from colleges in the Greensboro, N.C., area sat in at a Again, the federal government got involved, with the FBI and the Woolworth’s department store, the whole country watched. Justice Department bringing federal cases against some white Lawson and Clarke got King and members of the NAACP sheriffs and mayors. It would take years before blacks were able involved. King formed the Southern Christian Leadership to vote freely, but the tide was turning and by the mid-1970s, Conference in Atlanta. His presence lent a sense of seriousness some Southern towns and cities had black elected officials. to the sit-ins. He spoke to the media, raised funds, and linked Segregation was on the way out. Equality was on the march. 7 THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON The movement had tough years from 1960 to 1963. King was its spokesman and the pressure of that role was hard on him. Although there were other leaders and other groups, King, with his great speech- making talent and his many TV appearances, was in the spotlight more and more. He continued focusing on , which was something many Americans found intriguing. Although they were familiar with rebellions, non- violent protests – talking about “love” while challenging how things were – were new. A lot was happening – but not much was changing. King wrote another book. He raised money A police officer grabs Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. by for the cause. He took part in a Big the seat of his trousers in jailing him for leading an anti- movement in segregation march in Birmingham Alabama. April 12, 1963. UPI Telephoto. (LC-USZ62-120213)* Birmingham where he was arrested. He was working on the book, Letters From A Birmingham Jail, and, while in jail, he received messages from John F. Kennedy, who would later be elected president. Civil rights workers had been murdered, as had , a major leader of the Mississippi NAACP. Beatings, mass arrests, and countless marches occurred across much of the country. But segregation was still a fact in many places. Civil rights leaders figured that something big was need- ed. They decid- ed on a mas- sive march on Washington. It was a risky proposition. The Kennedy administration, the Washington, D.C., police, and civil rights leaders themselves were Civil Rights Photos from the afraid of rioting. But the lead- Washingtoniana ers knew that the time was collection of the Martin Luther in the NEWS King Library, Washington, DC. right for a major event. In Detroit, 125,000 people had evaluating justice in a tions. There were marched peacefully with King Learning standard: democratic society labor leaders, after Medgar Evers’ murder. Hollywood celeb- They decided to go ahead. Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward jus- rities, folk singers, civil rights work- The March on Washington tice.” It took a long time to convict some of the ers, students, religious leaders, and was held on August 28, 1963. murderers during the civil rights movement. more. More than 300,000 people Tens of thousands of people Do you think justice was served? What are the attended one of the largest mass took part — people of different effects of a long delay in prosecution on the meetings in the nation’s history. backgrounds, from all parts of victims’ families, the perpetrators, and society? Can you find evidence in the newspaper of a Labor and religious leaders spoke of the country, and of all occupa- situation involving justice? Write a summary of 8 one story about justice. THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church The racially motivated bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was one of the darkest days in Birming- ham’s history. City authorities did very little to bring the Big bombers to jus- tice. Nationally, the bombing gave the movement not just a face, but four faces – four young, innocent faces. Between 1947 and 1965, more than 50 bomb- ings occurred in Birmingham, result- ing in the city’s nickname, “Bombingham.” The church bombing followed heightened tensions in the city after a federal court ordered its schools to be integrated. Gov. George Wallace defied this order and urged his followers to do the same. This encouraged Birmingham’s segregationist bombers to act. It was a quiet Sunday morning – September 15, 1963. The spring of that year had seen many ugly events, including some where police and fire fighters used dogs and fire hoses on demonstrating blacks. That day, four little black girls prepared for Sunday school in the basement of their church. In that same basement sat a bomb, placed there to protest the forced integration of Birmingham’s public schools. Denise McNair, the unity of their cause with the civil rights movement. Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Addie Mae Collins were killed Celebrities spoke of a “new day dawning.” But the day belonged when the bomb exploded. Later that day, during the resulting riots, other to King and his famous “” speech. black youths were murdered. Each speaker was to have only 7 minutes. But halfway Some whites condemned the bombing. The FBI took over the through his 7 minutes, King began to preach. investigation from local authorities that had shown no real concern for He talked about not giving in to the “valley of solving the crime, despite strong evidence pointing to the bombers. Even despair” and urged people to continue the the federal authorities failed to convict anyone for the crime until 1977, struggle. He talked about a dream — mixing when one of the bombers was convicted. Bible quotes with quotes from the song The bombing outraged the nation. The blast, along with other awful “America.” He asked for freedom to “ring … Alabama events (such as the dogs and fire hoses of 1963, the beatings from the hilltops of New Hampshire … from of demonstrators as they began the march from Selma to Montgomery the Stone Mountain in Georgia.” It was a in 1964) contributed to the passage of the , the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the death of segregation in the South. speech that moved everyone who heard it to cheer and cry. The March on Washington succeeded. Civil rights for all were going to be reality.

9 Civil Rights Mississippi Burns in the during It was the summer of 1964, NEWS AFTERMATH later called the “Freedom Summer,” and there was ten- Learning standards: The March on Washington was a success, sion all around Philadelphia, power of hatred, comparingunderstanding and contrasting the destructive but there still would be many struggles before Miss. A voter registration drive Hate, which played a big part in the civil rights segregation would be wiped out. There was more there brought many college movement, is destructive. Do any articles in students from the North to today’s newspaper involve hatred? Compare the violence to be endured. Not only were the four school- role that hatred has played in the civil rights register blacks to vote. There movement with the role of hatred in today’s children killed in the church bombing in Birmingham, was violence. Workers had news. Identify ways in which the stories are been beaten and Mt. Zion similar and ways in which they are different. but there were mass arrests at demonstrations in the A.M.E. Church, a headquarters North. And there was the assassination of President for the workers, had been Kennedy in November 1963, after which Lyndon burned. , The murder of the three Johnson became president. For a while, it seemed , and men captured the nation’s as if the country was coming apart. Andrew Goodman attention. The federal government launched an investigation that became the basis for the film, “Mississippi Burning.” Local authorities refused to bring murder charges, even though there was evidence that local people, including the sheriff, either knew who committed the crimes or were involved. The federal government brought charges of civil rights violations and won several convictions, but the murderer of the three remained unknown. But then there was a break in the case. On January 6, 2005, Dr. King holding a photo of missing civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, NovemberEdgar 1964. Prints Ray and Killen, a 79-year-old Photographs Division, Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-122984).preacher, was charged in the murder. Evidence given in were three of the civil rights secret by people who knew workers. Chaney was black, details of the murder linked Schwerner and Goodman Killen to the acts. He pleaded white. They had been arrested not guilty and had a trial. on charges of speeding and Finally, 41 years after the mur- were taken to jail. After their ders, the jury came back with release, they disappeared. a guilty verdict and Edgar Ray The local Ku Klux Klan leader Killen was convicted of ordered their deaths. Six manslaughter. Crowd listens outside radio shop at Greenwich and Dey Streets for news on the assassination of weeks later, their bodies were President John F. Kennedy, November 1963. World Telegram & Sun photo by O. Fernandez. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-132849). found. They had been beaten and shot to death.

10 Other Leaders On the Move In the mid-1960s, blacks began to sense that it was possible to change the racial patterns of the United States. The big question: What was the best way to hurry that change along? Many continued to believe in the nonviolent ways of King. But others Black Muslim counter-demonstration at NAACP rally in Harlem, New York, N.Y. thought that King’s way was too slow or not forceful enough. From the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records, These people wanted things changed as quickly as possible. Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-125549). Ed Bagwell, photographer. Two of those people were and .

Malcolm X Stokely Carmichael Malcolm X was born Malcolm Stokely Carmichael first became known as a SNCC (Student Little. He had been in trouble with Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) volunteer during the voting the law for much of his life. He was registration drives in the South. A West Indian by birth, he had in jail in Michigan when he learned come to New York and was very taken with the struggle of blacks of the teachings of Elijah in America. In the South, he witnessed much of the brutality Muhammad and the Nation of associated with the movement, and he became dissatisfied with Islam. The , called its nonviolent approach. He thought that blacks should arm them- the Black Muslims, was a group selves for self-defense, that preached total separation of and he began to talk of blacks and whites. It called for Malcolm X* a separate black move- blacks to adopt what they saw as ment. He is credited a “Muslim” lifestyle of dedication to service and discipline. with starting the phrase Malcolm X did, and he quickly became a leader in the group. His “,” by which ability to organize people and speak well before the cameras and he meant that blacks his total dedication to the cause made him the most well-known needed to build their Black Muslim. own organizations, conduct their own Stokley Carmichael speaking at a Black Power rally. He called some nonviolent movement for freedom, civil rights workers hopeless and use violence if dreamers and fools necessary. This made because he saw no way him popular with many blacks and whites could younger blacks who work together for justice. were impatient with Malcolm X journeyed to Stokley Carmichael the slow change in Saudi Arabia. There his the United States. He gave many speeches around the country ideas began in which he seemed to be arguing for an overthrow of the to change. American system. Carmichael eventually left the Civil Rights United States and went to Africa, where He saw Muslims of all colors and ethnic groups he continued to attack what he saw as united in worship. He began to question many of in the NEWS the “twin evils” – white power in the ’s teachings. He thought per- United States and the power of the haps the anti-white stand of the Black Muslims American business system. As changes was wrong. His changing beliefs eventually led to Learning standard: occurred in American life, his message his break from the Black Muslims, and he start- convey messages understanding the use of symbols to found fewer followers. Eventually, he faded ed his own organization in New York City. He had Symbols are a powerful tool to call people to action. from the news. He died of cancer in 1998 Think about some of the symbols throughout history just begun putting the new organization together — the fist of the , the Nazi in the African country of Guinea. He was a when he was gunned down while giving a swastika, the cross, the Star of David, the AIDS ribbon, controversial figure and, to many, the symbol speech. He was 39 years old. For many African etc. Also consider commercial symbols and logos, such of black outrage. But despite his actions and Americans, his death came too soon. He as the Nike swoosh or the McDonald’s arches. Find sym- beliefs, Stokely Carmichael reminded many remains a powerful symbol to many blacks bols in the newspaper and add them to the list. Discuss white Americans that many blacks were what these symbols have in common. Then design a unwilling to wait for “gradual improvement” today who admire his dedication to justice symbol that represents something you care deeply about. and his pride in being a black man. and that many of them were angry and considering violence as an option. 11 King Continues the Work

After the success of the March on Washington, King decided to keep going. As freedom schools and voter registration drives continued, he traveled the country and the world speaking of the movement. He branched out, linking his ideas about civil rights to larger issues, such as the Vietnam War and the troubles of poor people. This was risky, and King did lose some support because of those issues. But he kept working. There were triumphs, too. The anger over the violence led

Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Freedom Summer brought hundreds of new civil rights workers into the South to register voters and to teach. More and more blacks were demanding an end to segregation in housing and other aspects of their life. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed. Across the North, cities slowly changed housing codes and other laws that discriminated. Congress was debating an "Open Housing Act" that would end discrimination in housing. King experienced some personal triumphs as well. He was on the cover of Time magazine and, in 1964, he became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He met with the President. In some ways, his message was being recognized. But by 1967 “Black Power” had become the cry of new student groups that did not embrace King’s idea of an integrated, Senator Robert Kennedy discusses school with young Ricky Taggart of 733 Gates Ave./World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico. nonviolent LC-USZ62-133361* movement. Groups such as The sanitation workers, mostly black, the Black had been on strike for a while. For King, this Panthers talked was a situation that illustrated the issues of about armed economic and racial justice. He traveled to defense. There Memphis, met with strike leaders, and led a were protests march. He also spoke at a church rally and against the gave a speech that seemed to predict his Vietnam War own death. He spoke of having been to that turned vio- “the mountaintop,” referred to the lent, and sever- “promised land,” and said, “I may not get al political there with you.” It was one of his most groups had Lyndon Baines Johnson signing the Civil Rights Bill, April 11, 1968. (LC-USZ62-95480)* powerful sermons. come out in On April 4, 1968, while King was standing on favor of violent the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, a revolution. Even one of King’s marches turned violent, something shot rang out. King fell. Aides rushed to help him. that had never happened before. King was taken to a nearby hospital where he King was troubled by the violence. He continued to argue that was pronounced dead. The most influential black issues of the war, civil rights, and economic justice were connected. American of the previous 20 years had been killed He criticized the war as a waste of resources that could be better by an assassin’s bullet. The police arrested a man spent at home. He spoke about housing discrimination, slum neigh- named James Earl Ray, who was convicted of the borhoods, and the poverty of much of black America. This made crime. He later claimed his innocence, and many many of his former supporters angry, but he spoke out anyway. He people still say the crime has not been solved. took part in a housing demonstration in Chicago, spoke at anti-war Shock and anger filled the nation’s black commu- rallies, and thought of organizing a "Poor People’s Campaign" to nities. Many communities broke out in riots, which highlight problems of poverty. went against what King had believed. Neighborhoods President Lyndon Johnson had made wiping out poverty a goal of burned, cars were overturned, and stores were his administration, and King felt that the time was right to address looted. It was a sad time. The man who had the issue. He introduced his "Poor People’s Campaign" with an preached nonviolence and had helped change a announcement that he would lead another "March on Washington," nation was gone, and it seemed that his dream for this one to try to collect money to fight poverty. He also got involved nonviolence had died with him. 12 with sanitation workers striking in Memphis, Tenn. Music and the Movement

More than 300,000 people attended the March on Washington in 1963. That number is huge and the sounds they made echoed all over Washington, D.C. But it wasn’t the sound of a large, Civil Rights rowdy crowd. It was the sound of voices raised in powerful in the and purposeful song. People swayed back and forth, NEWS clapped their hands, and creating poetry from raised their voices to the sky. Learning standard: prose This music was part of the Songwriters often look at current events glue that held the civil rights when writing lyrics. Try your hand at movement together. The bond writing a poem based on a story in the was forged, not only by politics newspaper. Choose a story that is “rich” and determination, but also by — that is, one that includes some vivid and descriptive words. Then collect some song. The songs of the civil of those words and fashion them into a blank-verse poem, based on the story rights movement were based they appeared in. on black religious and oral tra- ditions. Many of the songs were gospel and church songs Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing a crowd on a street in Lakeview, N.Y., May, 1965. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-111162). that had been changed to reflect the ongoing struggle. sung and chanted at mass rich in song as the civil rights some of which actually made “I Shall Not Be Moved,” a song meetings and demonstrations. movement. Or a movement in it to the top of the popular about an individual’s determi- Sometimes, before a rally or which songs are so impor- music charts. America was nation to stay faithful to his march, participants would tant.” Songs gave the civil- singing a new song. religion, became “We Shall Not gather at a church to organize, rights workers inspiration and Today, we can hear echoes Be Moved,” a song about not and the music brought the strength. of these songs in the music of giving up in the face of police people together. Many times, As the movement gained many popular artists, from U2 dogs, racist sheriffs, and the groups would be arrested, and, national attention, people far to Eminem to Kanye West to Ku Klux Klan. Likewise, the while being taken to jail, they away from the actual struggle Wyclef Jean to Lauryn Hill. most famous song of the era, would burst out in one of the picked up the songs. TV news When a musician writes and “,” was “,” as they and radio shows gave all of sings about conditions in the originally a gospel song about came to be known. Even in America a sound that world today, he or she is fol- one person’s statement of jail, the singing continued, giv- announced that change was in lowing in the footsteps of a faith. It became a powerful ing strength to the marchers the air. The message was even powerful and glorious tradition. statement of the civil rights and letting them know that heard overseas. Movements in The civil rights movement movement’s determination. In they were all in the struggle other countries adopted songs depended on people who were the 1960s, that song could be together. This became one of such as "We Shall Overcome" willing to march, sign petitions, heard wherever groups of the highlights of the move- and "Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody register to vote, and stand up blacks and whites who ment. Songs have been a part Turn Me Around" to inspire to brutality. Singing became believed in change were gath- of protest movements since their members. Popular another important piece of the ered. And it spread the move- ancient times, but as American music was affected movement. Such is the power ment faster than the news. Newsweek magazine said in too. These songs inspired folk- of music to stir the soul to In the early days of the 1964, “History has never singers and others to write action. movement, these songs were known a protest movement so songs about world conditions, 13 The First Black President

in November, 2008. hat has happened in the W Obama, son of a white years since King’s assassina- American mother and black tion? A great deal. Segregation African father, grew up in is dead, wiped out by laws and Hawaii, Indonesia, and different attitudes. The number Kansas. He went to of middle- and upper-class Occidental College in blacks has increased. Blacks Los Angeles, where he and whites work side by side got involved in poli- in many occupations. These tics. He transferred to are all things that were impos- Columbia University in sible when Barbara Johns led New York. He worked students out of Moton High. in Harlem as a com- A new generation of African munity organizer, and American leaders emerged to then moved to carry Dr. King’s dream forward. Chicago and worked Foremost among them, Barack for a church-based Obama, who was elected group in a poor com- President of the United States

Then, Obama served munity. Obama realized several years in the Illinois that big changes come State Legislature. He had orga- from changing laws and nized voter registration drives political situations. He and spoke up for reform of was accepted at Harvard campaign laws. He surprised Law School. He was a many people then by being great student and the first able to successfully gain sup- African American elected port from white working class president of the Harvard neighborhoods. Then, he was Law Review, a special jour- overwhelmingly elected to the nal, or magazine. United States Senate, repre- Obama could have senting Illinois. He had prom- made a fortune as a law- ised to work for policies that yer. He chose to go back to would continue King’s ideas – Chicago and work for a people of different back- small law firm that focused grounds working together to on civil rights. They stood improve life for all. up for poor people who had problems finding places to live or work. It wasn’t glam- orous. It didn’t pay much. It was exactly what Obama wanted to do.

14 A Dream Realized?

Photos courtesy Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. visiting refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan, 2004, in his role as a member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. opinions. She describes her Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Democrat, California. Although the highest job as intended to “promote achieving, Obama wasn’t the international security through only African American leader to Photo by Nathan Britton Jesse world peace.” She is definitely emerge. Another is following the path laid out by Does the election of an , the son of Jackson Jr. Dr. King. African American president , a friend and Governor Deval mean the “dream” of civil co-worker of Dr. King’s. The of Massachusetts rights for all has been real- Patrick elder Jackson started an was elected in 2006. He grew ized? Maybe. But, maybe the dream has taken a giant organization called the up in modest circumstances leap but still needs to move Rainbow Coalition. His son’s and was the first in his family first experiences were with forward. It was never about to attend college. He went to that organization. He was Harvard and graduated with one single achievement, but, rather, equal opportunity elected to the House of honors. Later he served under Representatives in 1995, President Bill Clinton in the for all -- in jobs, in housing, where he has been a voice for in life. nation’s top civil rights post. poor and minority people. By The civil rights

representing his community in movement of the Congress, Jesse Jr. is carrying 20th century forced Civil on the tradition of both the nation to look

Dr. King and his own father. at itself and to try Rights in Barbara Lee to act, in the words

is a member of the House of the Declaration of the NEWS of Representatives from Independence, as one

California. An outspoken that believes that “all comparing, contrasting voice for minority concerns, men are created equal.” Learning standards: Ms. Lee also sits on several In the 21st century, the Are Americans working for a country in important international com- nation acted on that belief. which all citizens have equal opportunity? mittees in Congress. Her first Now, many Americans con- Find someone in the newspaper who is help- ing that cause and someone who is hurting political experience was in the tinue to work for an America the cause. Create a T-chart comparing the California State Assembly, in which all citizens have the two people and their actions. where she gained recognition opportunity to go as far as for her ability to work with their talents can take them. people with different political Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts 15 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU LEARN MORE Books Links Oh, Freedom! The Southern Poverty Law Center Kids Talk About the Civil www.splcenter.org/ Rights Movement With the People Who Made it Happen The Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/ By Casey King and Linda Barrett Osborne, foreword by Rosa Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement Parks, portraits by Joe Brooks; www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/index.htm Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Interviews by young people www.bcri.org/index.html with participants in the civil Civil Rights Museum rights movement accompany www.civilrightsmuseum.org essays that describe the history of efforts to make Note: Because of the changing nature of the Internet, some of equality a reality for African Americans. these sites may no longer be accessible.

The New African American Urban History Extensions By Kenneth W. Goings and Raymond A. Mohl [editors], This newspaper section covered the work of just a few people in the Sage Publications, 1996. struggle for equality for all. There were many others. Go online to This collection of essays covers: 1) the transplanted social customs find out more about the contributions of each of these people. of rural blacks to the North, 2) the experience of newly urbanized ■ blacks as household wage laborers, 3) black working-class opposition ■ Oliver Brown in the Jim Crow South, and 4) overviews of black Americans as city dwellers from the early to late 20th century. ■ ■ Medgar Evers Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell ■ Their Own Stories ■ Viola Greg Liuzzo ■ By Ellen Levine. Thurgood Marshall Inspiring accounts of courage, the stories of children who contributed ■ to the movement. ■ Huey P. Newton ■ A. Philip Randolph Now Is Your Time: The African-American Struggle for ■ Freedom ■ By Walter Dean Myers. Harper Collins, 1991. ■

The Civil Rights Movement Finally, a discussion question: Does racism still exist? Explain your thoughts in a journal entry. By Peter B. Levy, Greenwood Press, 1998. This one-stop reference is ideal for student research of the civil rights movement.

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