a) Civil Rights
Civil rights are rights that protect individuals from unfair treatment
or discrimination by individuals, social organizations or Governments.
b) Human
Rights
They are the fundamental freedoms and rights enjoyed
by all individuals from their time of birth to the time of their death. They
are based on values such as independence, respect, equality; fairness and
dignity (Hamptonand Steve,32).
2) briefly
describe the origins and role in the Black freedom struggle of the following
organizations in at least four sentences:
a)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NAACP was formed in
1909 by black and white activists including Moorfield Storey, Mary White
Ovington and Du Bois in response to the violence against Black Americans in the
United States of America. The Association was established in New York City to
advocate the abolition of discrimination in transportation, voting, employment,
education, and housing; to fight for constitutional rights of African Americans
and oppose racism (Lawson 77)
b) Civil
Rights Congress
It was a civil rights
organization founded by William L Patterson in 1946.The organization came into
being after a merger of National Federation for Constitutional Liberties (NFCL)
and International Labor Defense (ILD) and National Negro Congress. It was
formed to defend the civil liberties and the constitutional rights of the
Americans not excluding Negroes and Communists. The organization was disbanded
in 1956(Hamptonand Steve 16).
c)
Congress of Racial Equality
It was an African American Civil rights organization
formed in 1942 by Bernice Fisher, George Houser, Bayard Rustin, and James
Farmer, all students based in Chicago. The main motive behind its formation was
ending racial discrimination in the United States of America and promotion of
better race relations in the country through the use of a pacifist, non-violent
approach
d)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
It was a civil rights movement formed in 1960 by Ella
Baker after students from the south broke out. Baker saw value in bringing
together student leaders from different universities to give young students a
voice in the civil rights movement. Baker was convinced that Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was by then led by Martin Luther
King Jr wasn’t in touch
with younger blacks who looked towards seeing fast progress (Hamptonand Steve 19).
e)
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
It was formed in 1964 in the state of Mississippi
during the Civil rights Movement by Bob Moses, Ella Baker, and Fannie Lou
Hamer. MFDP was formed as an alternative party to the Democratic Party of
Mississippi (DPM), a conservative party dominated by the whites. The party was
therefore formed to challenge the validity of DPM and encourage blacks to
participate in elective politics
f)
Lowndes County Freedom Organization
It was a political party formed in 1966 by African Americans in Alabama under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael. The party was formed to represent Black Americans in Lowndes County in Alabama. The formation of the fact was necessitated by the fact that the county population was made of 80% blacks out of whom none was registered to vote. It was therefore formed to organize voter registration for the blacks(Hamptonand Steve 26).
3. Please
provide a brief explanation of the role and contribution of the following
individuals to the Civil Rights Movement
a) Ella
Baker
Baker played active roles in endeavors of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee. Her contributions include the promotion of the first
peaceful grassroots associations in the Civil rights movement (Clayton and Dewey 30).
b) Gloria
Richardson
She was responsible for the formation of the Cambridge
Movement in Cambridge, which she was the leader. The movement was responsible
for fighting for the economic rights of unemployed and underpaid Cambridge
Citizens. She also played a role in the organization of Cambridge Nonviolent
Action Committee
c) Robert
F. Williams
Robert served as president for Monroe, a chapter for
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people based in North
Carolina. Part of his contributions includes advocating for armed resistance
against violence and oppression.
d) Diane
Nash
She was among the first members of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the time of its formation in 1960.She was
also a leader of the sit-in movement in Nashville. Her contributions include
fighting to desegregate lunch counters and protect voting rights for African
Americans (Clayton and Dewey 31).
e) Robert
“Bob” Moses
He played a role as the leader of SNCC. His
contribution include his active role in voter registration and education in the
state of Mississippi at the time of civil right movement
f) Rudy
Shields
He played an active role as a civil right activist. He
contributed to the movement by organization successful boycotts in
Mississippi’s 32 towns
g) Bayard
Rustin
He played an active
role as a leading activist in the civil rights movement. His contributions
include playing an advisory role to Martin Luther King Jr and helping in the
initiation of Freedom Ride.
h) Lonnie
King
He was one of the leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement. He led successful marches, economic boycotts, and protests that led to the desegregation of restaurants and stores in Atlanta(Clayton and Dewey 33).
i) T.R.M. Howard
Howard served as a civil rights activist. He also unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1958. He played an active role in the pursuit of justice for Till; a black boy murdered for flirting with a white woman and founded the largest black clinic in Chicago(Brown-Nagin and Tomiko 13).
4) We identified at least three arguments for
events that historians identify with the genesis of the Civil Rights Movement.
Please identify and describe the three mentioned in class.
5)
Identify three organized responses of white supremacists to the Brown v. Board
of Ed. Supreme Court decision of 1954.
Responses
include the creation of a committee to respond to the court’s decision by
Governor Thomas Stanley. Additionally, it led to the authorization of
localities to have the final say on whether they would want to desegregate
their schools. Finally, it also gave rise to legislation allowing localities to
skirt integration at their pleasure (Hamptonand Steve,61).
6) Please
distinguish the Civil Rights and the Black Power movements.
Both movements advocated for racial equality in the United States of America. However, while Black power movements advocated for an aggressive, violent approach to achieve these goals, while civil rights movement advocated for a non-violent approach (Clayton and Dewey 18).
Works cited
Brown-Nagin, Tomiko. “The civil rights canon: Above and below.” Yale LJ 123 (2013): 2698.
Clayton, Dewey M. “Black lives matter and the civil rights movement: A comparative analysis of two social movements in the United States.” Journal of Black Studies 49.5 (2018): 448-480.
Hampton, Henry, and Steve Fayer. Voices of freedom: An oral history of the civil rights movement from the 1950s through the 1980s. Bantam, 2011.
Lawson, Steven F. Running for freedom: Civil rights and black politics in America since 1941. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
