Alabama Civil Rights Movement Essay

“We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools”( Martin Luther King Jr.). Between 1961 and 1964, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) led a voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama. It was a small town with a record of consistent resistance to black voting and black people in general. Between 17 and 50 people were injured in the first march known as “Bloody Sunday,” with one woman, Amelia Boynton nearly beat to death. Members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were persuaded by local activities to make Selma’s intransigence to African Americans voting. There were six hundred marchers assembled in Selma on Sunday, March 7. The march to Selma, Alabama was one of the most historically

The march from Selma to Montgomery took place in 1965. 1965 was the peak of the Civil rights movement and ultimately when it ended after the passage of two key new laws. African Americans had endured

The Negro community has waited over 300 years to achieve equal constitutional rights. Martin Luther King who was their voice and their leader, was invited in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama, to help assist with a nonviolent direct action campaign. The unjust segregation taking place in the city of Birmingham needed immediate attention. In spite of, King’s efforts to negotiate with the local and national communities as

The NAACP was an important part of the civil rights movement during the late 1950s and the early 1960s. The NAACP was founded in 1909 and fought for colored equality everywhere in America. NAACP supported a lot of rights marches like the March on Washington in the 50s and 60s. In the 1970s, the NAACP decided to enlarge its reach of desegregation from United States to the entire world. The NAACP had helped the March on Washington and the Selma to Montgomery March to influence many great outcomes of the marches.

July 6, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs The Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination and mentions the use of “affirmative action to overcome the effects of prior discrimination.”

In Alabama, people, specifically civil rights leaders, marched from Selma to Montgomery to demand equal voting rights for African Americans (History, 2010). This illustrates that despite the fairness that was finally given in public accommodations, there was still a strong desire for equality in voting rights at that time. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held on August 28, 1963. This gathering brought 250,000 people, including leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., to speak for economic rights for African Americans. This shows that the Heart of Atlanta Motel case encouraged more people to get involved in fighting for civil rights.

On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of peaceful demonstrators to the steps ofthe capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, wherelocal African Americans, the Student Peaceful Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had been working hard (publicly) for voting rights. King told thegrouped together crowd: ''There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more motivating/bringing about than the holy trip of (priests, bishops, deacons, etc.) andordinary people of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its(involved in a fight/beat-up) Negroes'' (King, ''Address at the End of/final opinion of the Selma toMontgomery March,''

On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had been campaigning for voting rights. King told the assembled crowd: “There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes” (King, Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March, 121).

The film Selma focuses on the struggle for african-americans who still faced discrimination, even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had legally desegregated the South. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought alongside other civil rights activist to make the march from Selma to Montgomery, despite opposition from the police and mobs. The film focuses on MLK and other SCLC leaders, and black Selma residents who march to register for their right to vote. However, they are often met with force by the white crowds and police who often stop them with violence and even fatal deaths for the peaceful protesters. As MLK, the SCLC, the SNCC and other marchers prepare the Selma to Montgomery March across the EDmund Pettus Bridge, they are brutally

This march was part of series of civil-rights protest in Alabama during 1965. During these times there were very racist people and racist policies. Registered black voters in the south was involved in the 54 mile march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. When they reached Montgomery they were encountered by deadly violence from local authorities. The protesters were under protection of the national guard. They finally reached their goal. Martin luther king Jr., student nonviolent coordinating committee (SNCC) and the southern christian leadership conference (SCLC) all participated in the march. On March 21st US Army joined and federalized alabama national guardsmen escorted them across the Edmund pettus Bridge and down highway

The African American made hard efforts to achieve the same civil rights that the white Americans had, like voting rights and non-discrimination at organizations. The significant advances were made in 1920s and 1950s; however, they become successful in achieving their major rights in 1960s and so considered as the major turning point in history of America. The march by African American in 1963 influenced the behaviour of white American and the Martin Luther King also added inspirational comments about the African Americans in his speech and provided them with hope of approval of civil rights and one year later in 1964, Civil Rights Act was passed.

March 16 saw a demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama in which 580 demonstrators planned to march “from the Jackson Street Baptist Church to the Montgomery County Courthouse” (Reed 26). These protestors included a large number of northern college students. They met a police line a few blocks from the Courthouse and were forbidden from proceeding because “they did not have a parade permit” (Reed 26). Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. Riding into the small group of protestors, they forced most to withdraw, but a few stood fast around a utility pole where horsemen began to beat them. “A posseman

The beginning of the Civil Rights movement started in 1948 when president Truman signed Executive order number 9981 which stated that the armed forces had to treat all races, colors religion and national origin the same. Ensuring that finally African Americans would finally be treated equal while risking their lives for their country. Then in 1954 Brown v. Board of Education went to the Supreme Court, and the court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, allowing for desegregation of the United States. The ruling annulled the previous Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated separate but equal facilities; the courts said when separate it is almost certainly not equal. On December 1st 1945 Rosa Parks Refused to move to the back of the bus to let a white person sit, she was arrested and her arrest inspired the Montgomery bus boycott. The African American society refused to ride the buses, and the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association led the boycott, his name was Martin Luther King Jr. While the bus boycott would last for a year until the buses were desegregated, King would preach the method of civil disobedience and non-violent protests, just like Gandhi used in India to gain freedoms for his people. In 1957 the Governor of Arkansas had to send in the National Guard to integrate a white high school in Little Rock Arkansas. This showed how much resistance African Americans had to

The happenings in Selma, Alabama during the year 1965, served as a catalyst to the Voting Rights Act, which eliminated any discrimination at the polls all over America, and the catalyst for these happenings in Selma was Jimmie Lee Jackson. The historical drama, Selma, tells the story of Selma, Alabama in 1965. It is not a documentary therefore, some details were changed, exaggerated or left out due to the fact that this is a historical drama. The movie, Selma, serves the purpose of showing the events in Selma and how they influenced the conclusion of the movie, the passing of the Voting Rights Act by Lyndon B. Johnson. This film is considered a drama therefore, some things are dramatized to compel the audience to feel a certain way, however,

As a matter of fact, on March 7, 1965, began the Selma Protest, it was a protest consisting of 600 colored people to demand fairness in voter registration. Discrimination and