Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Political Science Women in the Civil Rights Movement Women in the Civil Rights Movement When I think about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, the first person that comes to mind is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom for me and many others was the embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement. My knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s has been limited to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. I don’t think that this limitation has anything to do with information not being documented, but for the fact that society tends to place an individual, particularly a male, upon a platform and focus upon that one person as being the significant leader of the cause. I do not necessarily disagree with this approach, but unfortunately, many people become excluded and unrecognized for their contributions for the same cause. Just as many have the conception that the Civil Rights Movement in itself began in the 1960’s. On the contrary, that was far from the beginning of the fight for freedom by African Americans. The fight for freedom and equality began when the first slaves were shipped to this country, there was always a will to be free and a struggle to obtain that freedom. For the purposes of this discussion, I will focus on another group that may have been somewhat overlooked within the Civil Rights Movement. The women in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s, who were not only contributors, but supported, worked extremely hard, and dedicated their lives in the fight for equal rights in this country. Without the women that were involved in Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King would not have been able to accomplish as much as he did. African American women played a more significant leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement than what chroniclers typically acknowledge. (Lisa Crumrine Klionsky, News UC Davis). Besides the more visible black male leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, both black and white women played important and key roles in the struggle for racial equality. Women’s experiences in the Civil Rights Movement can tell us a lot about the lives of ordinary and extraordinary women and their ability to access and be denied power in a movement for black liberation that was based on the idea of equality. There was an inherent contradiction within the movement for although many women were doing much of the organizing work; they still remained largely invisible while the men shone in the spotlight. Women of all different social classes and racial backgrounds participated in many different capacities throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Women that were involved in the movement could be found working behind the scenes or in the trenches along side the men helping to bring about social change throughout the movement. They could be found putting their bodies on the line in protest at segregated lunch counters, on buses for Freedom Rides travelling throughout the segregated South, as well as working door-to-door on voter registration drives throughout the South. (University of Florida: The Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement). Traditionally, women have played a role in the growth and development of children, and children are still strongly influenced by women, but, little emphasis has been placed on where, when, why and how women have assisted in shaping this country. Based on Charles Payne study of the Civil Rights Movement, women involved in the Civil Rights Movement canvassed more than men, showed up more often at mass meetings and demonstrations, and frequently attempted to register to vote. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 2). Because sexism and racism intersected, women involved in the Civil Rights Movement had to not only have the strength to stand up for the rights of African-Americans, but also to be able to stand up to the sometimes one-sided views of the men involved in the movement. There are several women who were leaders, who had the strength and courage to fight and advocate for freedom and equality. It is true that women were organizers throughout the movement, whether they were working with the male public and private leaders of the movement or men at the grassroots level. At some point, they all faced the opposition and ridicule of many of the men whom they worked along side simply because they were women. (University of Florida: The Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement). Following are a few of the women who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement, who I believe were not only an important part of the movement, but who played many roles to fight for the rights of African-Americans. Each women that I decided to focus on have different personalities, backgrounds, and their roles, whether as leader, organizer or just a quiet force behind the scenes, have been more than significant in the Civil Rights Movement. The strength of the movement may have been directly associated with the men, mainly because they were more visible than the women, which have received minimal recognition for their actions. In lieu of that fact, it was Rosa Parks who sparked the boycott of public transportation and Ella Baker who aided the formation of the NAACP and SNCC, and countless other women who were involved in the movement that have worked to accomplish civil rights for African-Americans. Ella Baker, who for nearly 50 years worked within many different areas of the Civil Rights Movement in various capacities. She helped not only to organize and run many of the larger civil rights organizations, but also profoundly influenced the newer organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was one of the organizations key leaders and the most important non-student involved in the phase of student activism. Ella Baker can also be recognized for her role in the creation of participatory democracy, which framed the call to direct action, not as a periodic response to crisis, but as part of a broader set of collective citizenship obligations and participation. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 53). She was also involved with the NAACP, in which she held the position of field secretary. She was later elected president of the New York branch. Ms. Baker can be characterized as a grass-roots activists, primarily because she was always concerned about the people within the community being directly involved in the movement. As she stated, “we tried to bring the NAACP back, as I called it to the people.” That was her main focus for bringing the New York Branch to Harlem, where it would be more visible to the community. The New York branch of the NAACP became one of the largest branches. She was critical of the national NAACP’s failure to emphasize the development of sell-sufficient local communities, and as a result, initiated a series of regional leadership conferences. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 60). Ella Baker’s concept of leadership was what she viewed as “group-centered leadership”. She believed that this pattern of leadership emphasized the role of the leader as a facilitator, as someone who brings out the potential in others. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 61). Ella Baker was also a part of SCLC in the latter 1950's, where she developed the “Crusade for Citizenship”, which was a drive to register black voters in the South. Although Ms. Baker was never seriously considered to be the acting director of SCLC, and only used as a holding action until the an appropriate minister could be found, she never let her focus and commitment sway from what was important to her, which was the movement. One of slogans that she used throughout her political work in the Civil Rights Movement, “Power to the People”, shows how dedicated she was to getting the people involved in fighting for their rights. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, pp. 60-64). Ella Baker has been described as a leader behind the scenes, but not a leader to be ignored. Without her work and dedication, many ordinary people might never have been exposed to the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks, who has been considered the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, was not looking for recognition or to be shone in the spotlight in the movement. She was a quiet, but strong-willed women, who for several years had worked for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and worked with the association’s Youth Council. (Williams, p. 66). Mrs. Parks became involved in fighting racial injustices that black people were being subjected to by segregationist and the laws of segregation. But on one particular day, December 1, 1955, she was as tired as any white person that worked that day, and felt that she had the right, as any other human being to sit where she wanted to on the public bus. She was of course arrested because she declined in giving up her seat that day to accommodate a white man, but her quiet strength and dignity launched a boycott of the Montgomery buses that would last almost a year. It was Rosa Parks active involvement with the NAACP that led to her arrest. Because of her character, considered to be soft-spoken and mild-mannered, she became the symbol that the Montgomery NAACP and the Women’s Political Council needed to challenge the laws of segregation. She continued to work behind the scenes for the NAACP and the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosa Parks may not have been an organizer, or a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, but I think that because of her, the Civil Rights Movement heightened to another level in that it forced African-Americans to really get involved and become a part of the movement. Just deciding to not ride the bus, was enough of an impact to effect the laws of segregation in Montgomery, which had a domino effect in other southern states. Every individual involved in the Civil Rights Movement couldn’t be the “leader”, everyone played a significant and pertinent part that effected the movement. Ms. Parks was no doubt the catalyst. Her quiet determination, principles and certainty of right and wrong in the face of diversity, made her an inevitable catalyst. (Williams, p. 74.) Anne Moody in my eyes is a woman who can be considered the epitome of the Civil Rights Movement. From her childhood through her adult life, the events that took place throughout her life, shaped her into the civil rights activist she eventually became. From early in her childhood, she had somewhat of a rebellious attitude, and wasn’t afraid to speak for what she believed to be right. She was born in Centreville, Mississippi to poor African-American sharecroppers. She received her early education in the segregated school system of the South. In 1959, she was awarded a basketball scholarship and attended Natchez Junior College, and later transferred to Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, where she became active in the Civil Rights Movement. Anne Moody helped organize the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and in 1963 participated in a sit-in demonstration at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter. (Britannica Online: Women in American History). Anne Moody had so much hope and aspirations for the Civil Rights Movement. Especially, when the movement prepared for the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many other leaders were going to address not only the marchers but the whole country. In her book, Anne Moody discusses how after the march, and on her way back to Mississippi, she thought about the fact that she had really forgotten what it was like to be out of an atmosphere of fear and threats. (Moody, p. 307). She stated “I never really think of going to a movie when I’m in Mississippi.” According to Anne Moody, “there was always so much work, so many problems, and so many threats that I hardly ever thought of anything except how to best get the job done and survive day to day.” (Moody, p. 308). Although Anne Moody eventually became disenchanted with certain aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, she never lost sight of the movement and continued her work for equality in the South. Anne Moody was an organizer as well as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, in that, she was dedicated to getting African Americans involved in voting and participating in the fight for their basic inalienable rights. She was a leader in a way that people could look at her life and see that it is possible to rise above your circumstances, and look beyond what you see. Yes, she had an impoverished childhood, and struggled against the pervasive racism in the South, but that never stopped her from fighting for her rights and the rights of all African-Americans. Fannie Lou Hamer rose to national prominence as a civil rights activists in the 1960’s. She was the youngest of twenty children born to her sharecropping parents, and she also worked beginning at the age of nine in the fields. Ms. Hamer was hit with the blunt force of living in segregated Mississippi, and I think that because of her circumstances, as she has been quoted saying “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Like many blacks living in Mississippi, Fannie Lou Hamer was poor and had little education. Watching her parent’s struggle in the racist system of the South, she came to the realization at an early age that something was wrong in Mississippi. She grew up determined to change things, and was willing to lose her life for freedom and equality. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 28). In the summer of 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer decided she had enough of sharecropping and took a bus to the courthouse to register to vote. She was of course arrested and suffered the consequences just because she wanted to register to vote and be considered a first-class citizen. Fannie Lou Hamer began working on voter registration programs for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). But the highlight of her political activism occurred when she and others formulated the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), in an effort to focus greater national attention on voting discrimination in the South. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 29). This new party included Fannie Lou Hamer as a delegate, and their purpose was to challenge the all-white Mississippi delegation on the grounds that not all people, mainly black people, because most were not allowed to vote, weren’t represented fairly. She eventually got her chance to speak to the Committee at the convention about the injustices allowed if an all-white delegation were to be seated from the State of Mississippi. Her live testimony was interrupted by a presidential press conference, but was televised later that evening, so that all of America heard of the struggle for blacks in Mississippi. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 32). A compromise was reached which gave voting and speaking rights to two delegates from MFDP. Fannie Lou Hamer was a courageous woman whose lifelong crusade to empower the poor through collective action and the personal costs of her ongoing struggle to win a political voice and economic self-efficiency for blacks in the segregated South constitutes her as a leader in her own right. (University of Illinois Press). Although women played extremely important roles within the Civil Rights Movement and were involved in every conceivable level of the movement, they often had to struggle to gain the respect of their male peers, some who were chauvinist, still holding on to their antiquated beliefs. Even so, for many women, their involvement in the movement was by far the single most rewarding, liberating and empowering experience of their lives. (University of Florida: The Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement). Bibliography: Britannica Online: Women in American History. (http://women.eb.com) Crawford, Vicki L., Rouse, Jacqueline A., Woods, Barbara. Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers &Torchbearers, 1941-1965. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Klionsky, Lisa Crumrine: News UC Davis 2/13/98. Book Casts New Light on Women’s Civil Rights Role. (http://www-pubcomm.ucdavis.edu). Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dell Publishing, 1968. University of Florida: The Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement. (http://www.clas.ufl.edu). Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). New York: Viking/Penguin, 1987. Word Count: 2633
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