Without Jimmy's death where would they be? The courage of Jimmie Lee Jackson led to one of the greatest events in American history, The March to Montgomery. This march sparked the movement of The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which changed lives for coloreds extremely. Without the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson they would have never had the courage to take the march to Montgomery, and earn their right to vote. His killing was a milestone in the Civil Rights movement. In 1965, there was nothing as dangerous as a nighttime protest in Alabama. Violence against Civil Right workers, marchers, peaceful protestors, could happen at anytime and the 500 people coming from the sanctuary of Zion United Methodist Church Feb. 18, 1965, were aware of it. Yet they
The civil rights movement of the sixties is one of the most controversial times of the last century. Many, if not all, who lived through that time, and the generations following were enormously impacted. At the time passions ran so high that violence at peaceful
Howell Edmunds Jackson was a Senator from Tennessee; born in Paris, Henry County, Tenn., April 8, 1832. He is best known for his role in the Pollock Income Tax Decision of 1895. This Tax Decision was when a bill was passed as part of a general reduction in tariffs, although President Cleveland was no fan, letting it become enacted without his signature. Letting a bill become a law without the President’s signature was an enormous stand against the president and Howell Jackson was a part of this type of rebellion.
The American Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and 1960s generated massive international following and controversy, which made the movement one of the most important in U.S. history. The movement’s legacy can still be felt today, with the positive aspects, such as voting rights to African Americans and wide spread desegregation of public facilities, still being felt in the United States, and in many similar models across the globe. Although there were many “battlegrounds” where civil issues were debated, many people who know of the movement today would argue that the movement’s heart was rooted in the Deep South, ironically where it could be argued that the mentality of people living in the area at the time were the most violently opposed to such civil rights. In contrast, those who championed the Civil Rights Movement chose the tactic of nonviolence, at least at first, as a tool to dismantle racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality. They followed models that Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists had commissioned, using principles of nonviolence and passive resistance. Civil rights leaders had understood that segregationists would do anything to maintain their power over blacks. So, in consequence, they believed some changes might be made if enough people outside the
Alabama was often the epicenter of civil rights activism and steadfast perseverance for African Americans during the 1960s. It is where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led his congregation and where four little girls were murdered and 22 citizens were injured when the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed. It is also where Dr. King and other activists planned the march on Washington, where he and others leaders like John Lewis were met with violence but ultimately claimed victory in the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965. And who could forget the powerful images of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade of 1963, where young, non-violent protesters were met with high-power water hoses, beaten with batons and threatened by police
The Selma to Montgomery March influenced Lyndon B. Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act to gain the voting equality in the South.
During the Civil Rights Movement, churches served as places of refuge and inspiration. For example, on March 26, 1958, as shown in March, Jim Lawson conducted a workshop on non-violence at First Baptist Church in Downtown Nashville. Though this was a small gathering, it was one point where the importance of applying nonviolence across the country to fight the evils that everyone faced- “The evil of racism, the evil of poverty, the evil of war” (Lewis and Aydin 1:77)- began to be emphasized. These were evils that many had battled for thousands of years, and the Civil Rights Movement aimed to defeat some of them directed towards African Americans. Lawson conveyed his ideas with a sense of urgency; it was important to establish philosophies, discipline, and understanding as soon as possible. Reflecting on
March 7, 1965 about 600 people arrived in downtown Selma, Alabama to walk in the famous march known as Bloody Sunday. The civil rights leaders organized this march because of the blocking of black peoples’ votes. This march wanted to call attention and stress the denial of black’s constitutional right to vote. There were many places that blacks were not allowed to vote, including Mississippi, Alabama, and Dallas, all places that black people had the highest percentage of the population. Before the march, doctors were telling the protesters how to react when there is violence. The protesters were aware that there could be tear gas, clubs, cattle prods, bombs, snipers and even more. Because of the recent death threats, Dr. King was not
Even as the inspiring words of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech rang out from the Lincoln Memorial during the historic march on Washington in August of 1963; racial relations in the segregated South were marked by continued acts of violence and inequality. On September 15th a bomb exploded before Sunday Morning services at the 16th street Baptist in Burmington, Alabama- a church with a predominantly black congregation that served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls, aged 11 to 14, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie
The great era of civil rights started in the 1960s, with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s stirring "I have a Dream" speech at the historic march on Washington in August of 1963. At the same time Birmingham Police Commissioner "Bull" Connor used powerful fire hoses and vicious police attack dogs against nonviolent black civil rights activists. Although these years proved to be the highlight and downfall of civil rights in America, even with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act being passed, time has repeated these tumultuous events again in the present.
The public was able to witness for the first time the violence and police brutality used against many civil rights activist. The majority of the civil rights demonstrators in Alabama that day were high school students. The pictures of these children being attacked by dogs and sprayed with water from high-powered fire hoses were very disturbing and shocking to most viewers. It gave a more accurate and sympathetic account; one that the public hadn’t seen before,
This highlights the evidence of opposed forces causing CRM to fail as the white public brutality attacked them. In 1963 the Birmingham campaign took place bull Connor police chief “set dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators, 1300 children were arrested in two days.
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
His courageous actions, that tragically resulted in his death, inspired and strengthened the Civil Rights Movement. Jones claims in his article titled "Who Mourns for Jimmie Lee Jackson?", "Had it not been for the murder of Jimmie Lee, it is probable that “Bloody Sunday” would not have occurred"(Jones). His murder was the straw that broke the camels back, it pushed activists over the edge and this is clearly portrayed in the film Selma. The portrayal of Jimmie Lee Jackson in the film Selma is very true too life; the only exaggeration is his death however, it was changed to further move the audience to feel as the characters are feeling in that
In the March of 2016, I had the opportunity to travel to Selma, Alabama with a group of Dare 2 Be Real students on the Civil Rights Research Experience. While in Selma, we were blessed with the chance to get to meet a very influential part of the civil rights movement of the 1960s: Ms. Joanne Bland. Ms. Bland was only 11 years old when she marched on The Edmund Pettus Bridge on the historic “Bloody Sunday.” Young, small, and only a few meters behind John Lewis and
If Martin Luther King Jr. did not protest the March on Washington, african americans would still be facing political and social injustice, something Martin Luther King Jr. took upon himself to help all minority people through act of civil disobedience. That day, internal marshals were told to be in the crowd for precautionary reasons, but were irrelevant since the 200,000 marchers chose peace (civil disobedience) instead of violence. For his brave actions, it resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a huge change in