SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

OCCUR when
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
ACT COLLECTIVELY
at the
RIGHT HISTORICAL
MOMENT
  Last updated Jan­08    © SF Freedom School 2007
 
 The Southern Freedom
Movement
as
A CASE STUDY
of how
social movements
   
 Some of the MAJOR EVENTS OF THE 
SOUTHERN FREEDOM  MOVEMENT

Leading to:   CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS
  1957                1960                       1964             1965

AND Freedom from Fear  and   Freedom of Association 
1954 Brown v Board 1965
1960 Sit Ins Selma
1955 Montgomery 
bus boycott 1961 Freedom Rides

1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer

BUT NOT FREEDOM FROM POVERTY

OR FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION
   
 The Great Depression 

World War II  Korean War 

Gandhi ­ Indian Independence

Events Occurred In the Context

Of Larger Historical Forces

African anti­colonial movements
1955 ­ Bandung, Indonesia

LYNCHING
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
   
 Waco, Texas---
1916

"This is the barbeque we had last night. My picture is to the left with a cross over it. Your son, Joe.”
   
 Oklahoma, 1911

14 year old boy and his 35 year old mother

Picture taken for postcard reproduction

50 people on bridge, posing for several hours. The

photographer had to row out into the middle of the
river and upstream enough to get everyone in the
picture.
   
 World War II                 CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS
1957       1960          1964                 1965

Gandhi
1954 Brown v Board

1957 SCLC  
King
1911 NAACP
1955 Montgomery  1965
1908 Springfield IL bus boycott Selma
Race riots
1960 Sit Ins
SNCC
1942 CORE
1961 Freedom Rides

1964 COFO 
NAACP local chapters in S.
est by black WW II vets Freedom Summer

LYNCHING
Panic of 1907 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
Plessy 1896
1955 Bandung Conference 
   
African anti­colonial movements
 ORGANIZATIONS:
­­Build Infrastructure and Coalitions
­­Develop experienced activists 
1910 --- NAACP  
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

1942 --- CORE 

Congress of Racial Equality

1957--- SCLC
Southern Christian Leadership Conference

1960 --- SNCC  (snick)

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

1964 --- COFO 

Council of Federated Organizations = NAACP, CORE, SCLC, SNCC

   
 NAACP Silent March - 1917

   
 World War II 
National Association for
Gandhi the Advancement of
Colored People 
1954 Brown v Board

1911 NAACP 1944 Smith v Allwright

1908 Springfield ILL 1946  Morgan v Virginia
Race riots
1917
Silent March
IN SOUTH:
1915  local chapters
Protests against and 1964 COFO 
Birth of a Nation  youth chapters Freedom Summer
   MFDP

LYNCHING ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot

Panic of 1907
Plessy 1896 Bandung Conference 
    African anti­colonial movements
 1947 Journey of Reconciliation

   
 World War II 
Congress of
Gandhi Racial
Equality

1947 Journey of Reconciliation

1942 CORE 1961 Freedom Rides

1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer
Community centers

Lynching
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
Jo Ann Robinson, in 1950              becomes president of Montgomery 
Women’s Political Council                       (est.1946 by Mary Fair Burks).

Claudette E.D.
Colvin,  9 months before Rosa Parks’ arrest
Nixon 
15 yrs old is Arrested  asked Parks to
for not giving up her  be test case.
bus seat to a white person (Nixon is the local 
Robinson calls for NAACP 
boycott after Parks arrested.   president,
Susie WPC and  Pullman
McDonald NAACP call  Porters union 
leader,
upon King member of 
to lead new  Montgomery
Welfare
Mary Louise organization­­ Montgomery League, and 
Smith Improvement Association  member of 
­­to organize and sustain boycott Montgomery
Voters League. 
)
Aurelia Browder and Claudette Colvin were the plaintiffs in NAACP 
  case:         
 Browder v Gayle, which ended segregated city buses 13 months after boycott began
 World War II 

Gandhi
Southern Christian
Leadership Council

1957 SCLC  
King Citizenship schools
1955 Montgomery 
bus boycott 1965
Selma

1964  COFO 
Freedom Summer
Freedom Schools

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 1960 Nonviolent Sit­Ins

Ella Baker and King invite 
students to Baker’s 
alma mater ­­
Shaw University 
to create SNCC

Bob Moses goes to Mississippi in 1961 as SNCC 
organizer.
Becomes co­chair of COFO in 1964, organizes MFDP

In 1965, 
SNCC begins 
to organize around 
the concept of BLAC K P OWER  
in Lowndes County, Alabama. 
Stokely Carmichael uses expression in Meredith March 
in 1966
   
 Nashville Sit­Ins 1960 ­­ the DISCIPLINE of NVR

Goal:HUMAN DIGNITY AND FREEDOM

THEOR Can’t defeat segregation by violence (whites have 
monopoly over the use of force). Activists a tiny number so need 
Y:  sympathy of the white majority and the active support black 
middle class. 
Strateg end segregation in all public places downtown ­­ 
y:  dramatize issue and win over opposition. 
Recruitm • September 1959, Lawson holds workshops once a week, few 
attend!
ent • First Nashville sit-in, April 1960, 25 students
and • Second sit­in, 600 students
Tactic
Training:  Research: Find an issue that black women cared
s:  about
-- Lunch Counters
Research: Anticipate opposition tactics to sit in at lunch counters
Escalate conflict: Mass arrests of “nice college
kids” provokes outrage among black community --
they are ready to boycott downtown stores
Seize the issue they give you: Bombing of black lawyer’s home 
 
creates opening to meet with mayor ­ agreement reached to 
 
desegregate public facilities. 
 World War II 

Gandhi Student Nonviolent

Co-ordinating Committee

1965
Selma

1960 Sit Ins
SNCC

1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer
Voter Registration
MFDP

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 World War II 
Interaction of 
Gandhi CORE and SNCC

1960 Sit Ins
SNCC

1942 CORE 1961 Freedom Rides

1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer
Community centers

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 World War II 
Interaction of 
Gandhi NAACP and CORE

1911 NAACP

1946 Morgan v VA
1942 CORE
1961 Freedom Rides
1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer
Community centers

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 World War II 
Interaction of SCLC 
Gandhi and NAACP
1932 ­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Highlander Folk School
Rosa Parks
1957 SCLC  
King Citizenship schools
1911 NAACP
1955 Montgomery 
bus boycott
E.D. Nixon 1965
Selma

1964  COFO 
Freedom Summer
Freedom Schools

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 World War II 
Interaction of SNCC 
with NAACP, CORE, 
SCLC

1965
Selma

Youth chapters 1960 Sit Ins
SNCC
1961 Freedom Rides
NAACP local chapters in South 
Established by black WW II vets 1964 COFO 
Freedom Summer

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
 World War II                  CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS
1957       1960          1964                 1965

Gandhi

1932 ­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Highlander

1954 Brown v Board 1957 SCLC  
King Citizenship schools
1911 NAACP
1955 Montgomery  1965
1908 Springfield ILL bus boycott Selma
Race riots
1960 Sit Ins
1946 Morgan v VA
SNCC
1942 CORE 1961 Freedom Rides

1964 COFO
NAACP local chapters in S. Freedom Summer
est by black WW II vets • Community centers
• Freedom Schools
• Voter Registration

Lynching highpoint 1898
Plessy 1896 ­­­­­Cold War­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 1963 Kennedy shot
  African anti­colonial movements
 
MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SUMMER - 1964 

   
   
   
   
   
 Fannie Lou Hamer 
speaking at the National Democratic Presidential Nominating Convention
   
 The Importance of Infrastructure
A Philip Randolph and Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
    1925­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­1950

1932 ­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Highlander­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
1908 Federal Council of Churches­­­­­­­­­­­­­1950 National Council of Churches

1910 NAACP
1957 SCLC 
NAACP local chapters
Youth chapters Churches 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Local independent civil rights organizations­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
e.g., Women’s Political Council
e.g., Montgomery Improvement Association
e.g., Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

1942 CORE 1960 SNCC
Local chapters  College Campuses
Friends of SNCC

   
 THE SOUTHERN FREEDOM
1954 Brown v Board MOVEMENT
1960 Sit Ins
1955 Montgomery  1965 Selma
1961 Freedom Rides
bus boycott
1964 COFO Freedom Summer
Leading to:   CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS
1957 1960 1964 1965

eedom from Fear Freedom of Association

NOT Freedom from POVERTY

or Freedom from DISCRIMINAT
   
 Martin Luther King Jr.   
April 14, 1967 
at Stanford University

. . . the struggle is more difficult today because

we are struggling now for genuine equality. It's much easier
to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee a livable
income and a good solid job. . .

. . . . so many people who supported morally and even

financially what we were doing in Birmingham and Selma, were
really outraged against the extremist behavior of Bull
Connor and Jim Clark toward Negroes, rather than
believing in genuine equality for Negroes. . . .

   
 Martin Luther King Jr.   
April 14, 1967 
at Stanford University

. . . . the white backlash is merely a new name for an

old phenomenon. It's not something that just came
into being because of shouts of Black Power, or
because Negroes engaged in riots in Watts, for
instance. The fact is that the state of California voted
a Fair Housing bill out of existence before anybody
shouted Black Power, or before anybody rioted in
Watts. It may well be that shouts of Black Power and
riots in Watts and the Harlems and the other areas,
are the consequences of the white backlash rather
than the cause of them.
   
 Martin Luther King Jr.   
April 14, 1967 
at Stanford University

. . . . And so there is a great deal that the Negro can do to

develop self respect. There is a great deal that the Negro must
do and can do to amass political and economic power
within his own community and by using his own resources.
And so we must do certain things for ourselves but this must
not negate the fact, and cause the nation to overlook the fact,
that the Negro cannot solve the problem himself. . .
. . the Civil Rights movement must now begin to organize for
the guaranteed annual income. . . . if we can spend $35 billion
a year to fight an ill-considered war in Vietnam, and $20 billion
to put a man on the moon, our nation can spend billions of
dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on
earth.
 
..  
 Vincent Harding
From Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker (1981)

“. . . . This country has been changed [by the Southern 
Freedom Movement] . . . . Because this country has been 
changed, we must change too if we are going to continue to 
carry on the struggle . . . . You move into a struggle with 
certain kinds of visions and ideas and hopes.  You transform 
the situation and then you can no longer go on with the same 
kinds of visions . . . because you have created a new situation 
yourselves.  And if anybody has taught us how to be flexible 
and change and 
recreate our ideas
 and our thoughts as time has gone on, Ella Baker has done 
that.”

   
 Social movements occur when everyday
people act collectively
at the right moment in history

What to do in­between social movements?
• Build infrastructures/organizations
• Create coalitions and community
• Study and understand tactics, strategy and issues
• Develop a repertoire of organizing skills
• Write songs, poetry and plays

ND study the Southern Freedom Movement

s a case study of how social movements happe