Civil Rights
By: Matt Reed
Moving toward equality
Approach and Exucution
Sit-ins were essential in many of the protests, the fact that sitting wasn't illegal, there was nothing wrong with merely sitting on the floor. Protesters would walk into segregated establishments and buildings of political interest, plant their butts, and wait. This doesn't sound like it would be very effective, but imagine your entire restaurant covered in completely by sitting protesters, refusing to move. You wouldn't be able to get anything done.
Many times the movement would promote they're views through picket signs. They would show up at places and crowd the streets in front of them, visually and verbally voicing their opinion and what they were fighting for. This would first and fore mostly be a distraction to those who were at work inside, but also slow the pace at which commuters could move in that area, getting even more attention.
Finally, and maybe the most inspirational of all the tactics was the mass gathering of those very protesters and revolutionaries to hear their leaders speak. Thousands would gather to hear the speeches and inspirational words of those very men that would organize and lead the marches and protests. It was at one such gathering that MLK gave his famous "I have a dream" speech.
An arrest at the Birmingham riots
MLK Giving a powerful serman
One of the many protests held
Ella Baker
She co-founded the organization "In Friendship" to fight Jim Crow laws in the south after being inspired by the Montgomery bus boycotts. Baker moved to Atlanta to help organize Martin Luther King's new organization SCLC. She also organized a voter campaign called Crusade for Citizenship. This is Just a few of the many examples of all that she did for the movement.
Fannie Lou Hamer
She later founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. More known for her impassioned speech she gave on the efforts she makes to register and vote, this made national broadcasts. She coined the phrase “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired", which seemed to embody the national movement.