Civil Rights Coalitions during the 1960s in Mississippi
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Communications
Minor
African-American Studies
Institution
University of Kentucky
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Anastasia Curwood
Department
African American& Africana Studies
Abstract
Over the past century, African Americans took part in building organizations to bring about equal rights and social change. Many organizations formed before Jim Crow but reached prominence during the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s were built on long-term strategies for gaining the right to vote, education, housing, and freedom from discrimination. Through organized nonviolent protests, the civil rights movement broke the pattern of segregation and began to help bring social change at the national level through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Throughout this time period, African American groups came together to combat racism and inequalities. Prior to the Civil Rights Era, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 to advance justice for African Americans. One of the organizations, founded in 1957, was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), established by Martin Luther King Jr. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded in 1942, got excited about the student activism and invited students to form their own organization called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) founded in 1960. These organizations came together in a Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) by 1962 in Mississippi; Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) is the primary focus of my research. My findings include campaign strategies from coalitions for citizen involvement, letters written to companies demonstrating discrimination against African-Americans, and details of meetings that prepared for events during Civil Rights. Dialogue and persuasion were very intentional in my research, the information was very detailed and civil rights participants had to prepare to be arrested or die. Coalitions knew that it was better to unite themselves than to try and accomplish things on their own. People who brought national change were civilians who had no national platform.
Civil Rights Coalitions during the 1960s in Mississippi
Over the past century, African Americans took part in building organizations to bring about equal rights and social change. Many organizations formed before Jim Crow but reached prominence during the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s were built on long-term strategies for gaining the right to vote, education, housing, and freedom from discrimination. Through organized nonviolent protests, the civil rights movement broke the pattern of segregation and began to help bring social change at the national level through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Throughout this time period, African American groups came together to combat racism and inequalities. Prior to the Civil Rights Era, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 to advance justice for African Americans. One of the organizations, founded in 1957, was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), established by Martin Luther King Jr. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded in 1942, got excited about the student activism and invited students to form their own organization called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) founded in 1960. These organizations came together in a Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) by 1962 in Mississippi; Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) is the primary focus of my research. My findings include campaign strategies from coalitions for citizen involvement, letters written to companies demonstrating discrimination against African-Americans, and details of meetings that prepared for events during Civil Rights. Dialogue and persuasion were very intentional in my research, the information was very detailed and civil rights participants had to prepare to be arrested or die. Coalitions knew that it was better to unite themselves than to try and accomplish things on their own. People who brought national change were civilians who had no national platform.