exploration 4

According to Wikipedia Floyd Mann was born August 20, 1920, in Davidson, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. He was schooled in Davidson and Alexander City, Alabama. He joined the United States Army Air Corps, serving as a tail gunner on a B-17, where he flew 27 combat missions including the first daylight raid on Berlin. He received numerous awards including the Distinguished Flying Cross. Mann was the Director of Public Safety for the state of Alabama in 1961, when the nonviolent Freedom Riders came into the state seeking an end to segregations. The governor at the time asked Mann to protect the riders and he agreed as long as he gets the proper resources, but in many occasions he didn’t because he sympathizers with the KKK segregation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Mann

Diane Nash

            Diane Nash, a civil rights activist, was involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Her support for the civil rights movement emerged when she transferred to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville provided first-hand experience with Jim Crow Laws and she decided to try nonviolent protest, which was learned through James Lawson. She participated in sit-ins and loved the idea that she was selflessly helping others. She was arrested twice and carried out each sentencing rather than pay bail, even when she was pregnant.

            Diana Nash and her work involved with Civil Rights is the definition of selfless. She risked her life and happiness to help others fighting for equal rights. As a pregnant mother, jail should have been the last place she should have gone but her dedication to civil rights was far too strong to back out of. If dedication existed to this degree among the majority of people around the world, fewer problems would exist. When goals are set and the work is put into it, an impact is made and leadership follows.

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_nash_diane_1938/

SCLC

SCLC stands for Southern Christian Leadership Conference.They championed the idea of nonviolent direct action.Martin Luther King Jr. was the original leader of SCLC.The SCLC members organized marches and protests. Between 1960 and 1964, the number of full-time SCLC staff members grew from five to sixtyThe SCLC is still around today.
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In April 1963, the SCLC led protests and boycotts in Birmingham, Alabama, that prompted violent police repression. The police officers were showing violent actions to these peaceful demonstrators. SCLC started quite a few new operations in order to get people on board. they started The Poor People's Campaign, Chicago Freedom Movement, and Operation Bread-basket.These new operations brought in new leaders like Jesse James.



http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Southern+Christian+Leadership+Conference

Z. Alexander Looby

              Z. Alexander Looby devoted a lot of his life to the civil rights movement. He was born in the British West Indies in the year of 1899. After the death of his father in 1914, he immigrated to the United States. Looby received a degree in law at Columbia University. In 1926, he was offered a job at Fisk University in Nashville. In 1946, Looby teamed up with Thurgood Marshall and defended twenty three African Americans who were being accused of murder after riots in Tennessee! The two were able to get all 23 found not guilty. This was a big moment for Looby. Just a short six years later, Looby was elected to Nashville's city council, becoming the first African American to serve since 1911. In 1960, he was the head of the twelve member defense team, sponsored by NAACP to represent the students participating in the "sit-ins." Just a few weeks after Looby arranged the release of 100 student protesters, his home was blasted by dynamite and destroyed. He was not harmed but later died in 1972 of a prolonged illness.

           I found it super cool that Looby was just a small lawyer and ended up becoming apart of the city council! It is evident that Looby was a supporter of the civil right movements! He wanted to support these students and protestors no matter what happened. Even if it cost him his life.

http://ww2.tnstate.edu/library/digital/looby.htm

James Farmer of CORE

James Farmer was an important figure for the civil rights movement. He was a civil rights activists and leader in American Civil Rights Movement. James also helped plan and lead the 1961 Freedom Ride. He was a co-founder of the Committee of Racial Equality (CORE). This was an organization that tried to bring an end to racial segregation. They were big believers of doing this with nonviolence. James was the first leader of CORE and was also the chairman from 1942 to 1944. James Farmer died on July 9, 1999 from severe diabetes.
What was interesting to me about James Farmer was how smart and invested he was in his education. They said he was an outstanding student and really focused. What was shocking was he skipped a couple grades and was enrolled at Wiley College in Texas at the age of fourteen! He sadly experienced a lot of discrimination here. But from there he went to Howard University's School of Religion. he graduated from there and then started CORE, because he was so against war. It is great that he was such an educated children during that time period. He really gave him a huge advantage.
James also took a huge part in the first African American sit in in Chicago.  They say that this sit in was what sparked the fire of desegregation. It went public and gave African Americans the confidence to act out.

http://www.core-online.org/History/james_farmer.htm
http://farmer.umwblogs.org/james-farmers-importance/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/james_farmer.htm

Stokely Carmichael

Stokely Carmichael was born on June 29, 1941 in part of Spain, Trinidad. He moved to the United States in 1952 and attended high school in New York City. He entered Howard University in 1960, and soon afterwards joined the student Nonviolent Coordinating committee (SNCC). He also become a part of the freedom riders, and became chair men of the SNCC. Stokely delivered his famous “Black Power Speech”. He later joined with Charles V. Hamilton to write the book Black Power: the politics of liberation in America. He died of cancer on 15th of November 1998. 

Something interesting about Stokely was a quote of his “the secret of life is to have no fear; it’s the only way to function”. This was interesting because, he has been arrested over 32 times and when he was part of the SNCC they had to practice nonviolent techniques. So I guess this is how they survived throughout all of this turmoil. Also the time Stokely was around was referred to as the “Black Power Era”. I thought it was so interesting how he was so different from every other black activist, because of how strongly he dealt with the native black culture and establishing a community exuding the white community.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcarmichael.htm

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/stokely_carmichael.html

  

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

This was an awesome video and very interesting. it was very inspirational that it was college students just like me who were the ones making the difference and pushing the civil rights movement forward. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to be able to sit in a restaurant and know that you're are without a doubt going to get arrested and you might be beaten to death. the amount of will power those students showed was amazing. so much can be learned from this and one of the most important things to take away from this is that you can make a difference. even one person standing up for what they believe in can make a difference and to never be afraid to fight for what you believe in. one of the most important quotes i heard that stood out to me was "If you're able to keep calm, yo' re able to think quicker." Being able to keep calm and not fight back when you're being attacked would be the hardest part to me.

John F. Kennedy

Throughout the 1950s the civil rights campaign was rapidly gaining momentum, striving not just for freedom of all Americans--as was won in the civil war--but equality among them. In the North this movement was making progress, desegregating schools and stores and defending the rights for all citizens to vote. In the South, however, progress moved as a snails pace, if at all, met with resistance from radical white separatists who were unwilling to relinquish their prejudice views and vowed not to go down without a fight. The Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs the Board of Education gave the black community grounds for demanding integration of school systems, yet southern states responded with outright disobedience or delay, and at times turned to violent means to intimidate black citizens out of forcing the issue.

So when it came time for the 1960 election, the black community looked to their leaders for guidance on which presidential candidate would be most beneficial to their civil rights movement. In the end, it was a sympathetic call to Martin Luther King Sr. by John and a diplomatic call to Coretta Scott King, a Georgia judge, by Bobby that won Martin Luther King Jr. his freedom from a prison in Atlanta, and won the Kennedys the White House.

Once elected to office, President Kennedy and his brother, Robert Kennedy, were reluctant to push the civil rights issue too hard. Already on shaky ground following a close and controversial election, the Kennedys did their best to remain neutral and so avoid the animosity of southern politicians. However, when violence erupted in the south in resistance to peaceful, non-violent civil rights protests, the administration could not stand idly by, and offered the activists the protection of federal troops, an act that inspired hatred from many southern radical separatists who felt their stately rights were being infringed upon by federal tyranny.

President Kennedy's last show of support towards the civil rights movement was his efforts in pushing the Civil Rights Act through the legislative branch. Unfortunately, he was assassinated before he could see it signed into law, but even in death he was a source of inspiration, winning many legislators over to pass the bill in his honor.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Civil-Rights-Movement.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/kennedys-and-civil-rights/

Research from Jordan: Mayor Ben West

 

Mayor Ben West (March 31, 1911 – November 20, 1974) was the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee 1951-1963, which happened to be during the Civil Rights movement.  This made West a pivotal character in the movement due to his position and for the simple fact that he was white.  Before I talk more about West's role in the movement though I would like to first give a glimpse into his life prior to the events of the movement.  West came to Nashville as a boy when his parents moved there for work.  As he grew up he attended Cumberland Law School and Vanderbilt University.  In 1934 he became an assistant district attorney, which was the start of his career in law and politics.  He later became a Senator for Tennessee and while in the Senate he passed legislation that brought back single-member district elections, which in turn allowed for a rebirth of black voting power in city politics.  In 1951 he won the election to become mayor of Nashville.  It was in this role that we see him make his most influential change on the Civil Rights Movement.  In 1960, during the heart of the movement, West made an appearance at city hall where he was interviewed by Diane Nash.  In this interview Nash asked him, "Do you believe it is morally right to discriminate against a person solely on the basis of his or her skin color?".  He said that he couldn't discriminate against a person based solely on the color of their skin.  His stated that the reason behind this belief was that "Sometimes a man has to answer, and not a politician" which I felt was one of the most powerful quotes of the whole movement.  This is especially important because it came from a white, male and he was the mayor of a very segregated city nonetheless!  This statement was political suicide in the eyes of his constituents that put him in office, but was a powerful tool in the fight against racism for the activists.  His role in the movement after his comments at city hall was much smaller but it is still important to note what a large impact West had on the movement and how he may have changed history forever.  The two most interesting  parts of my research were that statement he made at city hall in 1960, and that he came from a low income, working class family and rose to the position of Senator and Mayor.  This subject/person  is important because although he was never part of the protests during the Civil Rights Movement he held a lot of power and with it he influenced the choices of other people in favor the movement.

http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2003/02/18_wells_city-councils.htm

Research from Morgan

Exploration 4

 

 

 



 

The Black Panthers' were an all black party supporting the abolishment of slavery and the creation of equality. They were around from 1966 to 1982. The Black Panthers were founded in California by Huey Newton and Bobbly Seale. Their popularity grew very quickly and all over the United States, so popular they produced their own newspaper. To soften the public image of the party the Black Panthers they created social insitutions designed to get rid of poverty and the improve the health of the black communities. The most well known programs were its armed citizens to evaluate the behavior of the police officers and its Free Breakfast for Children program. They party even had their own offical dress which consisted of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, and  loaded shotguns.

One thing that caught my attention was that the Black Panthers at one point were so radical that they were a danger to the United States' security. Also I found it very interesting that they had a set of rules. It's interesting to me because most of the people in the group wanted to escape people trying to control them so I am surprised that the group worked for so long. The party also used a lot of violence to try and solve the problem which was interesting because they weren't afaird to show the weapons. http://blackpanther.org/Legacy1.html

Exploration 4 John Lewis

John Lewis did learn the systematic study of the techniques and philosophy of the nonviolence movement. He also became one of the founders of the SNCC organization, which later on became a head lead to the nonviolence movement. Throughout the years of 1961-1964, John Lewis was an active role in the protests of the nonviolence movement. After the civil rights movement, John settled in Atlanta, Georgia were he later elected for the city council. In 1986 was elected to be a member of the House of Representatives, and since than he was involved  in politics in many different ways.
Most important and interesting Ideas about him was that he was able to be elected for the House of Representatives, even though his own parents was prevented from voting, In addition of beaten, and threatened to be in jails. I also found that he was arrested in 2009 outside the embassy of Sudan, while he was protesting  the obstruction of aid to refugees in Darfur.


http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/lew0bio-1

SNCC and Diane NASh

The subject I chose to research was SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and Diane Nash because she played a large role in the movie we watched and was an active leader in the SNCC and participated in the infamous freedom rides, along with many more campaigns to achieve racial justice.

The SNCC is an orginization that was a large part of the american civil rights movement during the 1960's. They focused on their actions and perserverence to make statements that they wouldn't stop trying to change the view on African Americans and the equality that was deservered until the change actually occured. Members of the SNCC particpated in the lunch counter sit-ins and the freedom rides and many more events to help racial equality.

Diane Nash was an active member of the SNCC and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). She particapated in the lunch counter sit-ins and was arrested several times. She also made a major impact with the "jail, no bail" movement, once in jail they would not accept the chance for bail and stay in the time that they gave her.

http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/index.html

James Zwerg and the Freedom Riders

James (Jim) Zwerg

Born November 28, 1979 in Appleton, Wisconsin

Was known for being a Civil Rights Activist, and a member of the Freedom Riders.  He lived with his Mother, Father and brother Charles and was very active in the Christian Church. Jim was taught that all men are equal no matter what color they are.He became interested in civil rightsthrough his roommate Robert Carter, who was an African American from Alabama.

Freedom Riders and Jim Zwerg 

 The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), was who began to organize these so called Freedom Rides. The first Ride Went from Washington DC, involved thirteen black and thirteen white riders who rode into the South challenging White Only lunch counters and restaurants. Annison is the town in which one of the busses was ambushed and attacked. Meanwhile, at a SNCC meeting in Tennessee, Lewis, Zwerg and eleven other volunteers decided they would be the reinforcements. Zwerg was the only white male in the croup in TN. He recalled: 

"My faith was never so strong as during that time. I knew I was doing what I should be doing"

  After Zwerg was arrested for not moving to the Blacks only section of the bus, three days after, the riders regrouped and headed to Montgomery. Zwerg was first off the bus, where his suitcase was grabbed out of his hands and smashed into his face until he fell to the ground. Another man stopped and put Zwerg’s head between his knees so others could beat him. The attackers knocked his teeth out and showed no signs of stopping, until a black man stepped in and ultimately saved his life: Zwerg claims;

"There was nothing particularly heroic in what I did. If you want to talk about heroism, consider the black man who probably saved my life. This man in coveralls, just off of work, happened to walk by as my beating was going on and said 'Stop beating that kid. If you want to beat someone, beat me.' And they did. He was still unconscious when I left the hospital. I don't know if he lived or died."

 

Zwerg was denied prompt medical attention because there were no white ambulances available. He remained unconscious for 2 days and stayed in the hospital for 5 days. He said he had had an incredible religious experience and God helped him not fight back and that he was at peace, a peace he never again felt in his life. In a speech he gave, in his hospital room hes said

"Segregation must be stopped. It must be broken down. Those of us on the Freedom Ride will continue.... We're dedicated to this, we'll take hitting, we'll take beating. We're willing to accept death. But we're going to keep coming until we can ride from anywhere in the South to any place else in the South without anybody making any comments, just as American citizens."

 

Zwerg later on was presented with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Freedom Award. He is now a retired minister and lives in Arizona with three children... 

AN INTERVIEW WITH JIM ZWERG: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/skindeep/zwergtranscript.html

 

Bobby Kennedy

               

Robert Kennedy more commonly known as Bobby Kennedy is the brother of former late president John Kennedy or JFK.  Bobby Kennedy started his political as a lawyer in the international security section that led the prosecution of suspected soviet spies in American territory.  Bobby Kennedy is much better known for his humanitarian works and his term as the attorney general of the United States.  Bobby worked his entire term as attorney general to help groups such as the freedom riders and a strong supporter of the Martin Luther King Jr. movement.

                Bobby Kennedy was one of the strongest political supporters of desegregation and his largest showing of that was when he forced the cooperation of the Alabama governor to give the freedom riders protection when they arrived on their second to last stop I in one of the most racist towns in the united states, Montgomery, Alabama. One of the most surprising things to me about Kennedy has to do with his schooling.  It did not surprise me that he went to Harvard school of law but that he was forced to drop out and join the navy due to the happening of the Second World War.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkennedyR.htm

Exploration 4

Malcolm X May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965), born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. Detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.

 Part of Malcolm X's impact had to do with the way he stood apart from other African American leaders. Not only did he reject the nonviolent ways of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his followers—a civil rights movement that worked toward the gradual integration of African Americans into American society—but he also took issue with black churches and the role Christianity played in subduing the legitimate aspirations of African Americans. Still, Malcolm outgrew his role as Black Muslim dissenter, rejecting as well the black separatism of the Nation of Islam. This aspect of his evolution is reflected not so much in his public speeches as in his autobiography, in which he treats his life as a political and spiritual pilgrimage that ultimately led him to question his more radical views about revolution and the white power structure.

 http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/Malcolm-X.htm

Mike's post to show links, etc.

If I was writing on Bull Connor, I'd introduce and overview who he was in this paragraph.

In the next, I'd share two main things I took away from my research and that I think are important.  I'd explain why.

I would put a picture in here like this. 

I would include a link to a source I used, like this.  http://beck.library.emory.edu/southernchanges/article.php?id=sc13-3_008

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

Jordan Dunlea

English 1110 10:10am

Mike Lohre

1/23/13

Exploration 3- King’s Dream

            Martin Luther King Jr. was such an inspirational figure in history that even today we set aside one day every year in memory of his life and accomplishments.  The actions that made him famous were his strides towards equality for black people and an end to racism/segregation.  Direct action was one of the methods he employed to achieve his goals but it is important to note that his form of direct action was non-violent.  Direct action is when people take action to shed light on a problem and then work towards an end to said problem.  It involves clear goals that the participants strive for and the entire group must be very unified or else the strategy is bound to fail.  In the case of the Civil Rights Movement direct action was seen in demonstrations such as the bus boycotts, the sit-ins and the freedom rides.  I felt the most memorable moment in the Nashville movement was when the activists first started their sit-ins and nobody really knew how to react.  I felt this was important because people had never seen such behavior before and it left a big impact on the way people felt about the issue which caused a lot more people to flock to the movement.  I thought the mayor of Nashville was a good source of info in the film as he provided a political perspective and the perspective of a white man.  Possibly my favorite line in the film is when he says “Sometimes a man has to answer, and not a politician” which was referring to questions asking if it was morally right to segregate/discriminate, and at that point he sided with the civil rights activists.

           

A lot can be learned from this movement that can still apply to modern life.  One is that violence is not the solution to our problems.  Another lesson is that people can accomplish so much when they are unified under one just cause, especially a cause they are willing to suffer and die for.  I thought a lot of the interviews with activists like John Luis stood out because he provided a perspective of what it was like on “the front lines” of the movement.  He is also an interesting person to look into because he is now a senator which is quite a jump in political power from somebody who didn’t even have equal rights with white people only 50 years ago.  I enjoyed this film, as it gave a unique perspective on the civil rights movement and was full of useful information.
  

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

The civil rights movement that overtook the 50's and 60's was a such an empowering period of time that taught people the value of equality between blacks and whites. A big thing that stood out to me in the film was at the very beginning when they were doing the sit-ins at the local restaurants. It's crazy for me to think that it all led back to simple sit-ins with black college students from Fisk University. That was so incredibly brave of those students to go out there knowing they will be arrested as every group before them did. The non-violent direct action they used during the civil rights was very brave as well. I personally don't think i would have had that kind of strength.

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

                I absolutely loved the video. It was so inspiring realizing that college students could help start a movement in a country. Those students didn’t care if they were thrown in jail or almost beaten to death because they knew that their country needed help. They made sure not to retaliate against the violence, instead they took workshops on how to stay calm and create more non-violent protests. “We had workshops in nonviolence, and the workshops helped,” one said. What stands out to me is the number of protests that they came up with. Not only were there sit-ins and bus rides, there were also silent walks and boycotts of businesses and services. It amazes me the number of ways to protest for equal rights.

                I think that there are many things one can learn from this movement. For starters, you have to be brave. You can’t back down because you’re scared of what might happen. You have to stand up for what you believe in. Also you have to stay calm, through everything. Many of the protestors you see keep a calm persona throughout all the madness going around them. If you’re able to keep calm, you’re able to think quicker.