Contribution of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement
March 1963 marks the most memorable day in history when events of Civil Rights Movement took place. Many citizens gathered at the nation’s capital to chant and pant the racial discrimination exhibited in the U.S.A society. People received the great Martin Luther’s statement of ‘I have a Dream’ with a lot of impact as it challenged the U.S society to lead a future life without discrimination of race. Even though King advocated for racial equality among other leaders, there was one voice, which still had no say in the society. Women, to be more precise black women never had the opportunity to participate in the March. This paper analyzes the role Black Women played to ensure the success of Civil Rights Movement to promote good governance based on the book “African Woman, the Original Guardian Angel” by Ishakamusa Barashango.
Black women greatly contributed to the movement but due to discrimination, their efforts could not have been acknowledged. The African American woman was determined to fight for her rights and her family right (Ishakamusa 24).Thus, when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference planned the movement, Black women on the other hand including the Council of Black women planned to go on a march concerning their visibility. Negro movement became more vital after the assassination of Medgar Ever in 1963 who was a Civil Rights activist. Men felt that women were trying to defile the main aim of the March when they kept on asking gender-related questions. Majority of the men believed that women were going for the March with a divided attention, their aim being sexism and not racism.
In the local communities, black women mobilized citizens to join the March and were in charge of the movement capital. These were vital roles which if neglected, the March could be deemed unsuccessful. Black women were good in mobilizing people as they have a convincing power ((Ishakamusa 36).Amidst all the support that women contributed to in the March, it was a great disappointment when women were given a minimal attention in the March after all the engagements with other organizations. Height and Hedgeman being the most powerful women behind the sexism drive, they were told that a black singer by the name Jackson would represent all interests of the African American women who yearned for Civil Rights justice. To the women, this was an addition of salt to injury since Mahalia Jackson was a famous gospel singer who could stand against racism but would not grace the platform as a Civil Rights speaker.
Rustin and other organizers tried to underestimate the power of black women in the move as some other men fought for women direct representation in the March. Pauli Murray who served as a consultant to J.F. Kennedy’s Presidential commission stated that it was very bitter for Negro women to get a token recognition in the great historic March. Although, he was not surprised since most men were the organizers of the March and socially they were expected to take on social roles. Even though women were disappointed by the move, they had no choice but to still support the move because it was advocating for racism in which they were also included. Women felt that end of racism would mean equal treatment by the government (Crawford et al 43). They felt the need to terminate the race issue as it was of more significance as at that time as compared to their sexism issues.
Since the beginning of the March, black women were known to be at the fore front for calling Civil Rights organizations, church congregations, and different communities to join the March. Even the though the movement was mean to fight racism, through examination it is proved to be gendered. The gender of the black women only allowed them to serve as clerks and in domestic positions within the organization of the Civil Rights. Anytime they deviated from their roles to pick up bigger roles, they always crossed line with the men who worked at the same organization. This discrimination was despite the fact that Black women could perform better than men in the bigger roles, because a black woman has the interest of everybody at heart (Ishakamusa, 34).The movement experienced some changes in the ideology from 1960-1970, female involvement and ideological differencing being the most significant issues. There has always been different ideologies in the struggle of the blacks to get liberation in America. They employ radical stance and conservative stance as ways of achieving liberation.
Organizations for example the Black Panther Part for Self-Defense had males as the leaders in its initiation. It did not create a conducive environment for women as they were neglected to formal leadership and membership involvement only. The female were panthers became active in receiving orders from superior males and defended brigades. Black women also organized for many demonstrations without fear of being killed by the military, due to their bold nature (Collier and Franklin, 26). Also, the Black women taught the uneducated people how to recite and write to enable them to participate in fight for freedom and liberation together. Black women suffered under tough circumstances and this cruel oppression gave them the ego to fight for their own liberation and lives. Their involvement in the racial discrimination March was in their benefit too. Often at times they received unfair treatment during their search for houses and jobs, and experienced segregation by the whites in public facilities.
Prominent Women in Civil Rights Movement
Many African American women took part in this race, but among them there are some individuals that need to be acknowledged because of their impact in the movement. Rosa Parks being one of them, she joined Association for the improvement of Black People and worked on African Americans (Crawford et al 38). Later, Rosa became an activist for civil rights activists throughout the Alabama. The people considered Rosa as the mother of freedom as she used her actions as an ordinary black woman to show the significance of African American individuals struggling for Civil rights. She became significant sign for the association. Some of the other vital women included Ella Baker, one of the founder members of Martin Luther’s Conference. Through her period in the organization, Ella persuaded and convinced more people to join the movement. She organized for more support from the North to help in financial aids and materials to help those in the Southern Organizations. She acted as a good example to many black women and encouraged the women more to fight for their rights.
Septima Clark is also not ruled out as she noticed that many Whites used the illiteracy of the blacks to stop them from casting their votes. This motivated her to construct a program specifically targeting the blacks to educate the people on how to write and read. Majority of Black learnt how to recite and write through the help of Clark and the knowledge helped them to fight for their rights and to vote. Clark’s contribution shows that Black women had compassion for others and they cared for the welfare of the society (Crawford 36). Her interventions not only helped the blacks to know how to read and write but it gave meaning into their lives and saw the need to pursue their dreams.
Fannie Lou Hamer was a dedicated woman who led a life dedicated to fighting for racial injustice and promoted black Americans choice to vote and indulge in politics. She was amongst the founder members of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964 and later ran for Congress the following year (King 68). Even though she did not achieve the seat, she lived a life full of legacy that shall not be forgotten. She served the people whole heartedly and her goal was to rule everyone equally.
Dorothy Height focused on improving the lives and opportunities for both African men and women. Height worked in conjunction with other activists including Martin Luther King to advocate for the Human rights movement. She had a significant duty in the 1963 movement and assisted in founding National Women’s Political Caucus (Chisholm 33). Dorothy’s dream was to see equal distribution of opportunities regardless of race.
Diane Nash was an influential student leader who helped in founding Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and led the rights to vote movement. She was fearless advocate who gives a good example to students on the powers they have to create change. Jo Ann Robinson spearheaded the Bus Boycott in 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested (Collier & Franklin 47). She distributed more than fifty thousand flyers informing black Americans to boycott use of city buses. Her belief helped propelled Civil Rights Movement as she had strong faith in nonviolent protests.
The mentioned black women greatly contributed in Civil Rights Movement through changing many African Americans’ lives among other women not mentioned above. Also, there was black widow who lived in the South Salma who offered her house as a resting point and a campsite for the activists (King 68). These women not only gave useful resources to the activists but also provided moral and spiritual for the activists. Throughout the movement, women were known for singing human rights’ songs mostly in the house of God to bring hope to the hopeless black Americans. Easy lyrics made them sing in unison but the strong links that resulted from the song gave more strength to push on for their rights and helped them be persistent.
Effects of the Movement
A huge success came the way of the blacks as they achieved freedom of their rights in 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was highly beneficial to women’s rights that has only been a dream before (Chisholm 31). The act advocated for equal right and this made some Black women to gain entry into some professions that were only allowed for the White women while the educated women managed positions in science and business fields.
There were two main institutions where mobilization took place including political activities. These were the black churches and the Historical Black Colleges and Universities. These venues especially the church and the school served a major role in training of leaders and politicians of high social status (Crawford et al 49). Even though there was no full representation of the black societies in the institution, there was a provision of a social base to be accessed by the civil rights activists because of the available resources that might be required though their course.
Role of the Black Woman’s Religious Nature
Black woman’s religious and divine nature played an essential role in fulfilling the goals Civil Rights Movement. Black women have a close relationship with God (Ishakamusa 26). The significance of the church existed during slavery even before the great Martin Luther King was born. These African American churches still do pray the same way as they used to in the olden days, through spirits of ancestors coming deep within their souls. Due to the oppression, segregation, and rejection that the blacks received, they had nowhere to turn to but only God. Black women sang songs to bring hopes to the believers and improve their persistence in this quest. Additionally, through churches, black women could easily mobilize citizens to join the movement. They advocated for peace between one another and exercised their ability to lead from churches.
Women represented half of the black’s population though they could not participate in the NAACP just as men did because court trials would not allow for female representation. It would not be easy because there were many few black and fewer female attorneys in the courtrooms (Chisholm 35). Secondly, qualifications for NAACP membership majorly catered for the middle class hence costs for participations was so high for black women to get involved in the group.
In conclusion, Black women gave the basic strength, created various concepts, and organized different activities throughout the Civil Rights Movement. They were known for propelling the resilience and helped in the struggle to pursue liberation and freedom. Due to their gender and race, they were minimized from having institutional powers that hindered their operation to some level. As others put it that women are organizers while men are leaders, women in the quench for Civil Rights assisted in organizing goals, conveying crucial information, they also mediated some conflicts, coordinated some of the activities. These are skills that women majorly got from how they led their families. This study shows that black women leaders were more trustworthy as compared than men due to the fact that women could not capitalize easily off their activities.
Works Cited
Crawford, Vicki L, Jacqueline A. Rouse, and Barbara Woods. Women in the Civil
Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers, 1941-1965., 1993.Print.
Collier-Thomas, Bettye, and V P. Franklin. Sisters in the Struggle: African
American Women in the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement. New York:
New York University Press, 2001. Print.
CHISHOLM, SHIRLEY. "Race, Revolution and Women." Black Scholar, vol. 42, no .2,
Summer2012. Print
Ishakamusa Barashango. African woman the original guardian angel. Afrikan World Books; 1st
Edition, 1989. Print
KING, HELEN H. "The Black Woman and Women's Lib." Ebony, vol. 26, no. 5,
Mar. 1971, p. 68.
