Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)
- Background
- King rose to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56), after Rosa Parks’ arrest sparked a year-long protest.
- He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, uniting churches to promote nonviolent resistance against segregation.
- Inspired by Gandhi’s philosophy, King emphasized civil disobedience, love, and moral courage to confront injustice.
- Major campaigns:
- Birmingham Campaign (1963): mass protests against segregation; images of police brutality shocked the world.
- March on Washington (1963): 250,000 participants; King’s “I Have a Dream” speech pushed for federal action.
- Selma to Montgomery March (1965): exposed voting discrimination; led to the Voting Rights Act (1965).
- King later turned to economic inequality and anti-war activism, launching the Poor People’s Campaign (1968) before his assassination.
Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)
Background and Causes
- In Montgomery, Alabama, segregation laws required Black passengers to sit at the back of public buses and give up their seats to white passengers when buses were full.
- On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a respected Black seamstress and NAACP member, refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested.
- Her arrest became the spark for a citywide boycott of Montgomery’s bus system, organized by local civil rights activists.
- The newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., coordinated the protest.
Organization and Course of Events
- The boycott began on December 5, 1955, and lasted 381 days, with thousands of African Americans refusing to ride city buses.
- Protesters organized carpools, walking groups, and community support systems to sustain the boycott.
- Despite intimidation, arrests, and bombings of activists’ homes (including King’s), the movement remained nonviolent and disciplined.
- The NAACP and MIA filed a federal lawsuit (Browder v. Gayle) challenging bus segregation as unconstitutional.
Outcome and Impact
- In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
- The boycott ended in December 1956, marking the first major victory of the modern Civil Rights Movement.
- The campaign catapulted Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence and established nonviolent protest as a key civil rights tactic.
- It inspired future actions such as sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and the March on Washington (1963).
Definition
Civil disobedience
- The peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws as a form of protest.
Rise of Radical African American Activism (1965–1968)
- Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam
- Malcolm X rejected King’s nonviolence, advocating self-defense and Black pride through the Nation of Islam.
- After leaving the group in 1964, he adopted a more global, human rights-based view of equality.
- His assassination in 1965 inspired younger activists who were frustrated with the slow pace of change.
