Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was formed in 1957 in hopes of advancing the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was the president of this organization from the beginning up until his dead in 1968. The church had a major role in this organization which can be known from the use of the word Christian in the title. The word christian showed the spiritual nature within the conference. King once said, "The SCLC is church orientated because of the very structure of the Negro community in the South."
The organization had three main purposes or wants when it was formed. These included:
1) White Americans to not stand by and meekly watch while wrongs were being committed against the black community. This point emphasised the belief by the SCLC that not all white Southerners were racist and gave the opportunity to bring whites on board the cause of the SCLC. By using the word ‘Negro’ in its original title, the movement effectively blanked out any chance that white Southerners might help them. The change in title overcame this.
2) Black Americans were encouraged to “seek justice and reject all injustice.”
3) All those associated with SCLC had to accept the philosophy of non-violence regardless of the provocation. The SCLC’s ‘motto’ was “not one hair of one head of one white person shall be harmed.”
The SCLC became a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and based itself off of nonviolence and civil disobedience. The acts were nonviolent because King did not believe that protestors should sink to the level of those who were segregating the blacks. The SCLC was involved in many things including, organizing the 'March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom', a campaign to register black voters, organizing a 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, and addressing poverty in many of the inner city ghettos. The organization still exists today proving that discrimination is still around.
Top picture: Martin Luther King Jr, president of SCLC from 1957 to 1968.
Bottom pictures: SCLC during protests
I think the SCLC was and still is an extremely important organization that's purposes are meaningful and thoughtful. I think the fact that the members were advised to “seek justice and reject all injustice” and their motto of "not one hair of one head of one white person shall be harmed" is inspiring and shows how this church oriented group made an impact on the civil rights movement.
ReplyDeleteI really admire those who were part of the SCLC especially Martin Luther King Jr. He did great things that in turn changed african americans lives forever. I also did not know the organization is still around today. We have made many improvements with segregation but the fact they are still around shows there is more that needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteThe SCLC and Martin Luther King Jr. played a very important role in this movement. They changed history completely and it's nice to look back and see how far we've come.
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