Taking it to the streets: Grassroots activism in the United States By Gale, Cengage Learning on 11.10.17 Word Count 2,265 Level MAX On September 20, 2015, around 100 protesters blocked the light rail line in St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest the treatment of Marcus Abrams by St. Paul police. Abrams, who was 17 and had autism, was violently arrested by Metro Transit Police on August 31, 2015. During his arrest, he suffered a split lip and multiple seizures. The Black Lives Matter movement is an example of grassroots activism today. Photo: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr Grassroots activism is a group of like-minded citizens working together for a common cause. Anyone from any socioeconomic background, of any race, in any area of the country, and at any age can be an activist. All that is required is a commitment to making change, whatever that change may be. Grassroots activism can be as basic as handing out leaflets in a community to raising awareness of an issue, such as unsafe drinking water. Activists may also take more drastic steps to make change, such as chaining themselves to a building scheduled to be demolished to make a point and then have a face-to-face conversation with community leaders once they have their attention. Activism at the state level might be in the form of picketing or protesting legislation that is up for vote, such as same-sex marriage or the legalization of marijuana. Grassroots activism at the federal level is usually more intense, simply because it often involves organized protests and marches in Washington, D.C. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. The Civil Rights Movement The most famous and effective use of grassroots activism in the United States was the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, when black Americans, like-minded white Americans, and members of other races sought equality for black Americans. There were three major campaigns of the movement, each held in the South (one in Montgomery, Alabama; one in Birmingham, Alabama; and one in Selma, Alabama), where there was the highest concentration of African-Americans. Each campaign implemented the exact same strategy: civil disobedience, such as when blacks sat at the counters at whites-only diners; or get-out-the- vote efforts, which assisted blacks in registering to vote. Another civil disobedience tactic used was boycotts, such as when in Montgomery, Alabama, black residents refused to ride the public transportation buses after Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on December 1, 1955. At the time, blacks had to sit at the back of city buses or stand if all of the bus seats were taken by white passengers. During the boycott, activists handed out leaflets while black ministers and community leaders publicized the plan to refuse to ride the bus on December 5. Ninety percent of Montgomery's black residents boycotted buses that day, causing the city to lose money. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929– 1968), a charismatic, black civil rights leader, got involved and the boycott was extended throughout all of 1956, causing the bus company to lose $250,000 in revenue. The boycott ended on December 20, and its success was undeniable: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the segregation (separation of races) of public transportation illegal. It was a major step on the journey toward equality, and it began with grassroots activism. Teaching A Lesson Sometimes grassroots activism leads to the passing of major legislation, as happened with the Montgomery bus boycotts. At other times, its value lies not in achieving a particular goal, but in the lesson it teaches. Such was the case of the antiwar movement during the 1960s and 1970s. Many Americans were in favor of United States intervention in the Vietnam War (1954–1975) by 1961. By that time, Communist North Vietnam had been bullying South Vietnam for seven years, and many believed that if America did not come to South Vietnam's aid, North Vietnam's actions might encourage other communist (a political and economic system in which all goods and services are owned and controlled by a central government) countries to act aggressively. Political leaders argued that it was in America's best interests to get involved. As a capitalist (system in which goods and services are privately owned and controlled, thereby encouraging healthy competition) country, the United States felt threatened by communism, as did other countries around the world. America signed a military and economic aid treaty with South Vietnam in 1961, and troops began arriving immediately. Americans grew tired of the war as it dragged on year after year. Casualties increased, as did the cost of funding the war. An antiwar movement (also known as a peace movement) formed, made up primarily of young adults and intellectuals on college campuses across the country. Their This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. activism was limited to writing about the war in their campus newspapers, establishing on-campus organizations, and engaging in other campus-based activities. In 1965, the United States began heavily bombing North Vietnam. By 1966, nearly 200,000 U.S. troops were deployed (that number would grow to 550,000 within three years). Activists began questioning their country's motive for participating in a war that really had nothing to do anyone on American soil. Tens of thousands of American soldiers were dying, as were countless innocent Vietnamese peasants. American planes were dropping toxic chemicals throughout the jungles of Vietnam, causing untold environmental damage. In an effort to maintain a strong presence overseas, the United States had implemented the draft (mandatory service in the military), and because deferments (postponements) were given to college students, most of the Americans forced to fight in Vietnam via the draft were uneducated, lower-income boys and men. As a result, ethnic minorities were assigned to combat more frequently than drafted white men. As the U.S. government sent more and more troops overseas, the antiwar movement escalated and protests, marches and demonstrations spilled over from college campuses across the country into the streets and other public areas. Their cause was aided by television, which brought the violence of war into the living rooms of Americans in a way that had never happened before. U.S. media had virtually no interest in the war when it began; reporters covered it only in terms of the communist threat, a direct reflection of America's state of mind at the time. No one was particularly concerned about sending troops abroad or what was happening to them once they landed in Vietnam. But once the U.S. bombing began, a U.S. press corps numbering in the hundreds went to Vietnam to cover the war. Now the average television viewer could see first-hand the horrors of the war. Reading or hearing about wartime suffering is different from watching it happen. The country that once supported the war was having second thoughts, and suddenly, the peaceful protests of an antiwar movement became emotional, sometimes violent. As President Richard Nixon (1913–1994) ordered more troops to Vietnam – even after he had promised to do just the opposite – Washington, D.C., saw its share of marches and protests. When the National Guard fired on a peaceful protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine in 1970, the American public had had enough. Some of the students who had been shot in the 13 seconds of gunfire were not even protesters but merely students walking by the protesters. Students across the nation went on strike and college campuses closed. Escalation of the war continued into the 1970s, despite evidence that South Vietnam and the United States were losing. Leaked documents (those that were intended to be kept from the public but were made available anyway), revealed that the U.S. government had deceived the American public about what was truly happening in Vietnam. American troops were being ordered to massacre entire villages of innocent Vietnamese, most home to women, children, and the elderly. Furthermore, it became evident from the documents that neither the government nor the military This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. were truly optimistic (hopeful) about the outcome of the war, despite what was being reported in the media. The public questioned the government's credibility and became cynical and distrusting. A cease-fire in January 1973 brought U.S. troops home, but in April 1975, North Vietnam once again attacked South Vietnam. North Vietnam eventually defeated South Vietnam and the two countries united under one Communist government. While the antiwar movement did not end the war all by itself, it certainly made the U.S. government hear its citizens, and the government came to understand that it is not possible to win a long, drawn-out war without the support of its people. Occupy Wall Street On September 17, 2011, Adbusters, a Canadian anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization, initiated a peaceful protest movement that began in New York City's Zuccotti Park, located in the Wall Street financial district. The movement became known as Occupy Wall Street, and its purpose was to raise public awareness of and to protest three issues: corporate influence on democracy (the ability of the majority of Americans to control society through a representational government), the lack of consequences for corporate greed that contributed to the global crisis of financial insolvency (inability to repay debt), and the increasing disparity (uneven distribution) of wealth.