Note: This post contains historical information related to racism and sexism that may be upsetting to the reader.

Context and Motivation

There are many reasons why it is important for people in general, and for me in particular, to learn more about the civil rights movement in America. Two major ones are as follows: First, the events that happened in recent history, whether we like it or not, shape the present and the future. In order to combat these negative influences, we should understand where they came from. Second, from a practical perspective, any current problems that we want to address now can benefit from an understanding of what worked and didn’t work for social movements in the past. Indeed, I have been seeking practical knowledge about what does and doesn’t work in building a movement. Other books that I have read on racism have been useful, but often take an academic appoach that lacks practical advice on how to make change.

After researching a few books, I fell upon Martin and Malcolm and America by James H. Cone. While this book is great, it focuses on two individuals whereas a movement is generated by a collection of people, not just leaders. Likewise, it puts a strong emphasis on male leadership. This is why I read the second book, Freedom’s Daughters Lynne Olson, which is about the contributions of women to black liberation. Below, I discuss my main takeaways from these books. I highly recommend reading both of these books.

Martin, Malcolm, and America Key Points:

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X grew up in very different circumstances, which substantially impacted their values. James Cone does an expert job of looking into their history and writings in order to capture how their upbringings influenced their views. Likewise, it is important for us as individuals to be comfortable with and humble by the knowledge that many of our values are somewhat arbitrary results of our circumstances and experiences. Going into a bit more detail, Martin grew up mostly shielded from racism, whereas Malcolm had to flee his home as a child due to violence from white supremacists. These experiences shaped what types of activism that they chose to engage in. Relatedly, a key point is that you can only understand the choices that each of them made by understanding the experiences and choices that the other made.
Religion played an essential role in both of their lives, motivating them to address challenges that seemed unsurmountable. For Martin, his desire to change and love those who were violent towards African American people was deeply rooted in his Baptist faith. For Malcolm, he found strength in the Black nationalism of Elijah Muhammad that let him believe that he was worthy of respect where all other societal influences demeaned him. Even though I am not religious, I have always respected the community that religion creates for people. Reading this book has deepened my respect for religion as a source of strength. While most of my personal investigation into religion has focused on the veracity of religion, this book exposed me to a new type of analysis that is concerned with how religion impacted people’s lives regardless of the truth of their beliefs.
What should White people do about racism? Martin and Malcolm had different answers that worked to different extents. While Martin sought to bring white and black people together, Malcolm saw white people as inherently evil for much of his life and preferred activist white people to work within their own communities. This is important to think about in the context of current work that I may engage in (e.g. being supportive in science, or other issues that I could get involved in). The main takeaway is that activists are going to have sharply varying opinions on the role of white people in the fight against racism (as do women on the role of men in feminism).
There is a great amount of value in leaders who are dedicated to learning about and creating change. While they found truth along different paths, both Martin and Malcolm were voracious in their pursuit of understanding why society was the way it was. In addition to studying, both were passionate in their desire for debate as they found it to be the best way to determine what was right and what was wrong. Furthermore, they were sincere in their desire for debate as both men were willing to change their views when they encountered new evidence. I think that this is interesting in the context of current liberal movements because, whether or not they like it, many liberal movements create a culture of fear where people with opposing view points don’t feel like they can safely express their views. (Some articles have been coming out on this topic lately, and I’d be happy to discuss this point if you wish.)
Civil rights issues are complex and benefit from multiple approaches and solutions. One thing that I have found is that many people in activism seem to feel that there is one right way to do things. Based on the history in this book, I’d like to suggest that it is important to note that the greatest progress is going to be made by pursing a variety strategies. For example, Martin sought to appeal to white people’s positive side, whereas Malcolm sought to build power among Black people. While they spent much time arguing about the corrent approach to black liberation, the movement benefited from both of their approaches. Likewise, I think that it is important for modern activists who often focus on ideological purity to be more open meeting people where they are at instead of shaming them. Interestingly, while Martin was initially perceived as an extremist by white people, once those people learned about Malcolm’s black nationalism, they were more open to listening to Martin.
While it is hard to summarize here, there is much benefit to be gained from learning about the details of the ideologies of Martin and Malcolm. For instance, what did they see as the core problems facing black people and what were the appropriate solutions? Likewise, there is a lot of misinformation about both of these people and a careful study of what they actually said can dispel many of those myths. For instance, many people incorrectly cite Martin as unconditionally denouncing violent protests, whereas it is more accurate to say that he would denounce those who took no action in the presence of oppression. Alternately, the media at the time sought to label Malcolm as an extremist due to his black nationalist views instead of critically reflecting on the truth of the mistreatment of black America that he spoke so passionately about.

Freedom’s Daughter’s Key Points:

One of the main points of this book is that women in the civil rights movement were essential to the movement (for instance, in their organizing duties, community building, putting themselves in danger). Furthermore, they were often pushed out of leadership positions because they were women. The rest of the book discussed different ways in which this manifest itself. Certainly, this is a continuing theme in social justice-focued communities. One interesting historical note is that since men were so violently emasculated during slavery, many women in the movement were happy to let men assert their masculinity by asserting leadership roles. Other women were negative about the treatment of women, but put up with it as they saw racism as a primary issue where solidarity was essential. This historical context is sometimes lost in discussion of this history in feminist works.
The book talks a lot about the SNCC, or the student nonviolent coordinating committee, which sought to have whites and blacks work together as one. One of the most interesting points for me is that while people in this group had a strong sense of community, the pressures from overall society took their toll on its members. For instance, while white women and black men weren’t allowed to be lovers in the country at large (and such a relationship could get a black man killed in the South), this group created an environment that allowed interracial relationships. But it then happened that many of the black women were jealous of the white women for sleeping with black men (perhaps rightfully so, as the purity of white women was the main ideological tool used in the South to justify the lynching of black men). The individuals in the group couldn’t separate themselves from years of divisive ideology that was commonplace in America at the time. So even though the group sought to insulate itself from society at large, the individuals in the group could only do so much to fend off these pressures. This is interesting to consider for current movements with a diverse membership that tensions are going to be unavoidable because we can only do so much to fight off societal pressure.
The civil rights movement as led by the church (including Martin Luther King) did not value the contributions of women and rarely allowed women to take on leadership positions. While these instances of sexism were mentioned in the previous book, this book made a much larger effort to emphasize the weaknesses of the civil rights movement estabilishment with regards to the treatment of women. There were many hard-working and capable women who did not get recognition for the work that they did.
There is a lot to be learned about the leadership style of Ella Baker. She was an activist who sought to empower other black people to fight for their rights. While many leaders in the SLCC were focused more on building their organization, she was focused on giving other people the tools to take on direct action. She took on many activist roles, including training the next generation of activists. There is a lot to be learned from the ambitious goals that she set and how she sought to empower average people.
Beyond these general points, there are many individual women who deserve a lot of recognition and credit. I will admit that compared to the previous book, it was hard to keep track of these names because there were so many women who contributed so much. I highly recommend reading the book so that you can learn more detail about the contributions and ideology of these female activists.
One of the most widely noted events in the civil rights movement was the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. The essential situation is that while blacks were allowed to use the busses in Montgomery, they were demeaned when they tried to use them (e.g. had to sit in the back, couldn’t use seats reserved for whites, insulted by the bus drivers). Many people were unhappy but didn’t know what to do. Prior to Rosa Parks, there were actually a number of women who also defied the bus rules. However, when female activists wanted to start a protest, the leadership of the black churches refused because the individuals in question weren’t respectable enough to be the poster child of the movement. Even when Rosa Parks did get arrested (and she was deemed to be of good moral character), there was still resistance to starting a protest. Women took charge in convincing male religious leaders to support the boycott.
Another very important story to consider is that of the Freedom Rides. In the 1960s, while segregation on the interstate bus system recently became illegal, it was dangerous for black people to actually use these buses in the South. Furthermore, each station had areas reserved for whites only that were technically illegal but still enforced by locals. The freedom riders sought to bring these inequities to light. The fear and intimidation used by southern whites was intense. Essentially what would happen is that once news of the the Freedom riders arrived in the south, a mob would form and violently beat the people who dared challenge the status quo.
While I am not an expert of this history, I couldn’t help but feel that the author excessively idolized the people that took the most risks for attaining change compared to the religious leaders who served as the cornerstones of their communities that were reluctant to join protests. Religious leaders had real reason to fear that their communities would be destroyed by challenging the status quo - black people at the time were essentially at war (e.g. getting beaten or killed when they spoke out). These church leaders played an essential role in providing a foundation for their communities and their reluctance to shake things up was justified. I feel that while it is easy to say in retrospect that certain protests worked out in the end, there were many instances of resistance that didn’t work out as well as those memorialized in history books.

Conclusions:

While I have hit some of the major points that stuck out to me, I highly recommend reading these books as they give a balanced and practical perspective on the history of the civil rights movement that is relevant today. There are so many important stories and pieces of context that I have not covered in this post. Many current organizers can learn a lot from studying what worked well and what didn’t in past organizations. And finally, as usual, I may be wrong in my analysis or summaries, so feel free to bring your thoughts to my attention so that we may discuss them.