On Sunday March 7, 1965, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Council without the help of Martin Luther King did a march along highway 80 from Selma to Montgomery, The Capital. Demonstrators began the march from Selma to the State Capitol in Montgomery. They were demonstrating for African American voting rights. Just after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the demonstrators were brutally attacked by state troopers and deputies, right in front of the media for the whole Country to see. This caused a huge uproar all over, after viewing “Bloody Sunday”; many people came to join the cause and wanted to march again with SNCC and SCLC.
The images of Alabama law enforcement beating the nonviolent protesters were shown all over the country and the world by television networks and newspapers. The visuals of such brutality being carried out by the state of Alabama helped shift the image of the segregationist movement from one of a movement trying to preserve the social order of the South to a system of state-endorsed terrorism against non-whites. [23] The marches also had a powerful effect in Washington. After witnessing TV coverage of "Bloody Sunday," President Lyndon Baines Johnson met with Governor George Wallace in Washington to discuss with him the civil rights situation in his state. He tried to persuade Wallace to stop the state harassment of the protesters.
The MIA(Montgomery Improvement Association) was formed with Martin Luther King as president. Leaflets were passed around the black community urging them to stop using the bus services. The effect was immense, with countless buses in Montgomery empty. An MIA meeting of 7000 was held in Holt Street Baptist Church, where it was decided that the boycott would continue. At that meeting Martin Luther King gave an inspiring speech that spread the boycott further among blacks.
Fighting for Freedom In a “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., King explains why he was in Birmingham. In 1963 King guided fifty-three African-Americans through Birmingham to protest for Civil Rights. King wrote this letter to answer a letter he had received from eight clergymen saying that, “such demonstrations were unwise, untimely, and extreme”. King replies to their letter from a Birmingham jail explaining why he was there and why all the actions that have taken place were necessary. In this letter Martin Luther King Jr. shows that he is there for his fellow people and justice.
august 28th 1963----"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. [1] 19. August 28, 1963.----March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. Attended by some 250,000 people, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage.
The baby boomers were a persuasive generation that changed political and ethnical views and various academic, cultural, industrial, and political activities. They were living in the times of post-war and have fought for change because they were living in a period of time where the war on inequality was still predominant. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. voiced at a march with his now famous I have a dream speech in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, where more than 300,000 multi-colored faces marched as one to protest for racial equality. They also fought against the war instigated against Vietnam because they were very active when it came to politics. They were contemplated of their emphasize on freedom, and they banned employment discriminations in firms.
(www.americanhistory.about.com) Thousands of Americans from all walks of life and races put their lives on the line to take a stand against racial inequalities. This diverse and courageous group consisted of not only African and Hispanic Americans it included a cross section of religious leaders and university students. The tactics used by the movement included mostly non-violent civil protests, court proceedings and organized marches. (www. school.familyeducation.com) The civil rights movement’s impact on our society and our culture is tremendous.
He gave hundreds of speeches a year that of which included his most famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1963 Martin and 250,000 demonstrators marched to the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered the speech that changed the Civil Rights Act forever. Martin’s words echoed through the crowd that August: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “That year Martin was named Time’s Man of the Year.
With charismatic and intelligent spokesmen such as Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights campaigners had brought the plight of black Americans to the attention of the whole world. The federal government had been forced to respond and the legislation of the nation had been changed to address the inequality and oppression experienced by millions of black citizens. For many black Americans, and also many sympathetic white Americans, the hope was that the USA was entering a new age of equality and meaningful civil rights for all citizens. By the mid 1960s, however, many black Americans were becoming disillusioned. Many Southern states continued to harass and persecute blacks regardless of the new legislation.
Martin Luther King put his dream to action by organizing a massive demonstration on the nation's capital organised by many organizations, all asking for peaceful change. On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington drew more than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that Martin Luther King made his famous "I Have a