On 1st December 1955, , a middle-aged tailor's assistant, who was tired after a hard day's work, refused to give up her seat to a white man. After the arrest of , King and his friends, , , and helped organize protests against bus segregation. It was decided that black people in Montgomery would refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated. King was arrested and his house was firebombed. Others involved in the also suffered from harassment and intimidation, but the protest continued. For thirteen months the 17,000 black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from the small car-owning black population of the city. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration and the boycott came to an end on 20th December 1956.
The on 28th August 1963 was a great success. Estimates on the size of the crowd varied from between 250,000 to 400,000 gathered around the Lincoln memorial in August 1963 to hear speeches by leaders of civil rights organizations where King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. Other speakers included , , , (), and . Lewis' speech sent a different message than King's speech. While both leaders embraced a desegregated society with equal rights for all, Lewis felt the federal government wasn't doing enough, Lewis was angry and the speech he had prepared reflected it. He was so angry that several civil rights leaders and the Catholic Archbishop participating in the event constrained Lewis into moderating his speech.
King wrote a numerous of books including Stride Toward Freedom in 1958. The book described what happened at Montgomery and explained King's views on non-violence and direct action. Stride Toward Freedom was to have a considerable influence on the civil rights movement. This book influenced a small group of black students who read the book and decided to take action themselves these people started the first ever sit-in and followed the teachings of King.
When groups of black and/or white protestors began to act peacefully they were attacked by; Police, Fire crew and the general public who were passing. King realized that this would be in the papers and on TV. He began to use the media to get more supporters to gain civil rights. Once some of the public saw how hoses were being used on the protestors and how they were beaten, abused and generally spat at they too began to support the Civil Rights movement. The more King used the media the more support he gained; many supporters were arrested, injured or murdered due to their colour and background of their ancestors.
King was/ is the most well known freedom rights supporter/leader but was not the only one who helped gain the Civil Rights Act. Other factors included; World War Two, 1,154,720 black Americans were conscripted or joined the army. In the army they were discriminated against and barred form certain combat roles in the forces. Some blacks decided that the war had nothing to do with them, and it was unlikely to benefit them in anyway. If they didn’t join the army they worked in factories, either way they were generally paid a higher wage. This proved they were able to do such work and provided foundations for the Civil Rights Movement.
In Greensboro, North Carolina the first sit in took place, a small group of black students read the book and decided to take action themselves. They planned the night before and on 1st February, 1960, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil and Ezell Blair, started a student sit-in at the restaurant of their local Woolworth's store which had a policy of not serving black people. They received little reaction and remained for an hour until the store closed. In the days that followed they were joined by other black students until they occupied all the seats in the restaurant. The students were often physically assaulted, but following the teachings of King they did not hit back. After a week of escalation including a telephone bomb threat, the store manager temporary closed the store.
This non-violent strategy was adopted by black students all over the Deep South. Within six months these sit-ins had ended restaurant and lunch-counter segregation in twenty-six southern cities. Student sit-ins were also successful against segregation in public parks, swimming pools, theaters, churches, libraries, museums and beaches.
In October, 1960, students involved in these sit-ins held a conference and established the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The organization adopted the Gandhian theory of nonviolent direct action. Even though King wasn’t involved with the sit-ins he gave his full support. The sit-ins achieved desegregation of restaurants and cafes, sit-ins began to spread between states and towns to achieve this.
Many other Civil rights leaders were involved to gain Civil Rights but all wanted to achieve different things, such leaders are as follows;
Malcolm Little, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 19th May, 1925. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader, Marcus Garvy. In 1952 He changed his name to X, a custom among Muhammad's followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders. X signified Malcolm’s lost tribal name. Intelligent and articulate Malcolm was appointed a minister and national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. His charisma, drive and conviction attracted new members. In 1952 there were 500 members who went up to 30.000 in 1963, and Malcolm was largely credited for this achievement. In addition to the media, Malcolm’s vivid personality had captured the government’s attention. As membership of the Nation of Islam grew the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agents infiltrated the organization and secretly place bugs, wiretaps and cameras to monitor the activity.
Though there were many different Civil Rights Groups involved with the movement they all supported different views on how and why the Civil Rights Act should have been passed, but they all believed that black Americans deserved the equality they had wanted for so long. Desegregation of schools, cafes, restaurants and buses were achieved through protesting and long campaigns but it was just the foundations of the Civil Right Movement that was about to come. State laws were passed, Federal Laws were also passes and bothe the Civil Rights Act, in 1964, and the Voting Rights Act a year later.
Martin Luther King worked hard with many people to gain the Civil Rights they deserved, he was disliked by much of the law forces and the public, he was also adores and respected for both his perserverance and bravery.
One man alone can not be heard but a groups voice is greater. And with the greater voice they were able to speak against discrimination and achieve their awards. King is seen as one of the greatest men of all time but if investigated and looked into other leaders and protestors arise.
I do not believe King was the most important factor of the Civil Rights Movement just one man part of a great effort. All the leaders believed in something different and all men and woman worked towards their goals, to achieve the one main thing they all wanted, equality.
