...castigated by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi try to avoid this trap by evading any violent confrontations. Far from being termed as cowardice, non-violence requires tremendous self-control, courage and a ready heart to endure pain, suffering and death. Non-violent strategies dwell on the strength that they reduce the moral legitimacy of those who persist in their use of violence against non-violence. This loss of legitimacy is a double sword in that it leads to efforts in coalition building that eventually leads to the condemnation of the violent parties, and it often culminates in the imposition of sanctions on the party by the international community. Nonviolence is a strategy used to counter the use of violence. It can also be used against any illegitimate use of legal and political force (Miller 2005). For nonviolence to be successful, the involved parties must base their actions on moral principles. They...
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...people to the level of the 'oppressors'.This is seen in Gloria Naylor's essay "The Meaning of a Word". I am also a believer of this doctrine. “Words start wars and end them"(Roy Williams, Web). A little over 50 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered one of the memorable and influential speeches in history. During this time period, there were many civil rights movements occuring throughout the entire nation. The majority of African Americans in the U.S.A. especially in the south were faced with racial discrimination and Jim Crow Laws which allowed the legal segregation of black and white people even though "All men are created equal" (Thomas Jefferson, Web). These 'Laws' meant that colored people could not use the same bathrooms, parks, educational systems, bus stations and could not even use the same churches as whites and had to sit in the back of the buses while whites sat in the front. In 1955 an African American lady by the name of Rosa Parks sparked the fire that intiated these major civil rights movements. In Montegomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of...
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...had a long struggle in gaining their civil rights. When most people think of the Civil Rights Movement in America, they think of Martin Luther King, Jr. Delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize the following year, secured his fame as the voice of non-violent, mass protest in the 1960s. But "the Movement" achieved its greatest results, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, due to the competing strategies and agendas of diverse individuals. Even black Americans, the primary beneficiaries of this landmark legislation, did not agree on the tactics that should be used to secure the equal protection of their rights. Several important black leaders shaped the debate over how to achieve freedom and equality in a nation that had long denied them their civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. first came to national prominence through his leadership of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56. This mass protest helped desegregate public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama. A gifted preacher and committed pacifist, King thought that non-violent, direct action against racial segregation provided the best means of securing the full integration of blacks into the mainstream of American life. As he wrote in his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," "I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek." The connection between means...
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...X. On October 15, 1966 two college students by the name of Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense on October 15, 1966, in the west side of Oakland, California. The name was later shortened to the Black Panther Party, the organization tried to set itself apart from African American cultural nationalist organizations, such as the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Nation of Islam, to which it was commonly compared. Although the groups shared some philosophical and tactical features, the Black Panther Party and cultural nationalists differed on a few basic points. For instance the African American cultural nationalists generally grouped all white people as oppressors, the Black Panther Party distinguished between racist and non racist whites and allied themselves with the non racists. Also, Cultural nationalists generally viewed all African Americans as oppressed, the Black Panther Party believed that black capitalists and elites could and often did exploit and oppress others, particularly the African American working class. The Black Panthers Party stopped activity and ended in...
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...War I which ended in 1918, Germany had to give up land and was banned from having any armed forces, which was caused from the Treaty of Versailles. Germany surrendered many material goods like cannons, machine guns, planes, trench mortars, and even railroads after World War I. Germany felt a huge war guilt and was embarrassed with the defeat if the war. The start of the second world war was influenced with the rise of Adolf Hitler. When World War II began on September 1, 1939, our government, movies, music, publishing, and fashion contributed lots of support for the war. The Treaty of Versailles caused Germany to surrender many things which caused them be in a poor economic state. Since Germany was in a horrible state, Adolf Hitler rose to become a Führer to the people of Germany do to his spectacular public speeches. Hitler promised to make his country better and quickly began to arm Germany again and to seize land from other countries, thus breaking the Treaty of Versailles. He also had a hated for Jews and used them a scapegoat. Hitler was a huge fascist. “Fascism an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” (Webster). It opposed the capitalist views of other nations like the United States. His goal was to take over all of Europe to turn in into a fascist nation. On September 3rd, 1939, the Prime Minister of Britain, Chamberlain, declared war on Germany when German forces stormed the Polish frontier. It involved...
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...traits of leadership, emergent leader, credibility, honesty, integrity, visionary, follower-centric, transformational and charismatic, quality Profile Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, (born on October 2nd 1869 in Porbandar, India – died January 30th 1948 in New Delhi, India) was a leader of Indian Nationalist Movement opposing British rule, considered to be ‘Father of the Nation’. His father Karamchand Gandhi served as a high official to the ruler of Porbandar State (Rajkot). When he was 13 year old he was married to Kasturbai Makhanji according to the customs of the region which believed in early child marriage. In 1885 his father died along with the son which was born to the couple earlier in the same year. Later they were blessed with four more sons. At the age of 19 he went to London to study Indian Law at University College of London where he was trained to be a barrister. In 1891 he returned home to practice law at Bombay when failed he traveled to South Africa in 1893 on a one year contract with an Indian Firm located there. Political Career Civil Rights Movement in South Africa The political career started here where he launched a Civil Disobedience Movement against the racial behavior meted out to Asian immigrants. It was here in South Africa that he developed his political views, leadership skills and ethics. Racial humiliation and discrimination was met by most of the Indians which was not new in the culture hence led Gandhi to defend his dignity as a human...
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...inequality, an unfair situation in which some people have more rights or better opportunities than other people, created division and discord. Injustices such as the denial of full citizenship rights, equal opportunity in education, jobs, access to transportation and public facilities experienced by African Americans led to The Civil Rights Movement in the United States and a time of social unrest. The Civil Rights Movement was about the campaign of African Americans who had visions of equality and sought social change. Janie Mae Overton was an African American woman who, along with many others, was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Her involvement included participation in non-violent demonstrations, sit-ins and marches against inequality and social injustice which was the African American experience....
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...terrible price had to be paid, in a tragic, calamitous civil war, before the new democracy could be rid of that most undemocratic institution” (G. Loury, 2015). A huge part of this time period was the Civil Rights movement. This movement was led by strong leaders that helped secure equal opportunities and privileges for African Americans. Although slavery was not officially outlawed until the 13th century amendment was passed, at end of the war slaves were set free. In M. Stevens (2015), “Fasts about the Slave Trade and Slavery, The Gider Lehrman Institute of American History,” slave trade and slavery itself has been thoroughly described. Steven starts off by stating that the United States had the highest natural increase in slave population. He then goes into slave trade, and explains what a slave would go through on a normal work day. This ties into the fact of the actual cost of slaves, and how vastly it changed through the years. The following line from the text demonstrates this idea, “During the 18th century, slave prices generally rose. Though they fell somewhat before the start of the revolution, by the early 1790s… Prices rose to a high of about $1,250 during the cotton boom of the late 1830s, fell to below half that level in the 1840s, and rose to about $1,450 in the late 1850… At age ten, children's prices were about...
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...the Anti-Nuclear Movement by Howard Ryan (howard@netwood.net) Preface 2 Part I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Problems of Nonviolent Theory Nonviolent Philosophy 6 Moral View: Violence Itself Is Wrong 9 Practical View: Violence Begets Violence 13 Nonviolent Theory of Power 21 Voluntary Suffering 24 Common Nonviolent Arguments 34 A Class Perspective 49 Part II 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Gandhi: A Critical History Father of Nonviolence 56 Satyagraha in South Africa 59 Textile Strike 66 Noncooperation Movement 1919-22 70 Religious Conflicts 80 Salt Satyagraha 87 Congress Ministries 97 The War Years 101 Independence and Bloodshed 111 Part III 17 18 19 20 Nonviolence in the Anti-Nuclear Movement Nonviolent Direct Action 120 Consensus Decision Making 123 Open, Friendly, and Respectful 136 Civil Disobedience 142 Epilogue 151 Notes 154 ©2002 by Howard Ryan. All rights reserved. Readers have my permission to use and distribute for non-profit and educational purposes. Critique of Nonviolent Politics 2 Preface (2002) Critique of Nonviolent Politics may be the only comprehensive critique of nonviolent theory that has been written. I wrote it between 1980 and 1984, while living in Berkeley, California. Since 1977, I had been active in the movement against nuclear power and weapons which, in California, focused its protests at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant near San Luis Obispo, and at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Labs where nuclear weapons are designed. Nonviolence was the prevailing...
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...The Black Panthers vs. The Black Panthers The sixties was a time in American society where the youth from the post-war baby boom era became teenagers and the young adults. The movement from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in the revolutionary ways of thinking and change in the cultural of the American way of life. With an extreme admiration of no longer being an image of their predeceasing generation, young Americans wanted and demanded change. These changes affected education, values, laws, entertainment, and the way of life for several citizens around the country. As society, it is extremely important to understand that although the valiant efforts and impact that African American’s had, particularly in the 1950’s and 1960’s, in helping restructure American culture, many of the racist views of the past still play apart in American society. The 1950’s is often described as the calm before the storm of the 1960’s. During this time period, society was very much conformed to the views of conservative living. The desire for security during this era, reinforced by McCarthyism at home and the Korean War, created was known as the cold war culture. During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under President Truman and Eisenhower. Because of extreme paranoia caused by Communism following WWII, conformity in the United States became an ideal way to distinguish American culture from the rest of the world. Conformity...
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...half that followed, civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring about change, and the federal government made legislative headway with initiatives such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Many leaders from within the African American community and beyond rose to prominence during the Civil Rights era, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Andrew Goodman and others. They risked—and sometimes lost—their lives in the name of freedom and equality. Advertisement Freedom MarchPlay video Freedom March Bet You Didn't Know: Rosa ParksPlay video Bet You Didn't Know: Rosa Parks Condoleezza Rice: Memories of Dr. KingPlay video Condoleezza Rice: Memories of Dr. King BACKGROUND Because large segments of the populace–particularly African-Americans, women, and men without property–have not always been accorded full citizenship rights in the American Republic, civil rights movements, or “freedom struggles,” have been a frequent feature of the nation’s history. In particular, movements to obtain civil rights for black Americans have had special historical significance. Such movements have not only secured citizenship rights for blacks but have also redefined prevailing...
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...Minelik Sisay 11/13/12 Professor Greene Pettus Bridge as a Place of Memory Selma, Alabama became the focus of the Civil Rights Movement as activists, such as John Lewis and Dr. King, worked to register black voters. Martin Luther King’s voter registration movement worked on a city-by-city approach, gathering national attention. Other civil rights leaders, such as John Lewis and William Hosea, worked more locally in the most dangerous areas of the Deep South for African-Americans. While both worked to register voters, King’s method is better characterized as an attempt to change the public discourse about race in this country, while John Lewis’ method attempted to change public action. Led by John Lewis and William Hosea, “Bloody Sunday” occurred as a result of the fight for freedom and equality. In order to make some headway against centuries of legally sanctioned racism and discrimination, the United States government began to promote and support the Civil Rights Movement. The relatively scarce attention the march in US history textbooks is quite disappointing in a sense that it illustrates an event that is not fully depicted. The battle fought on the bridge, in a way, is being fought till this day. Voter registration laws, though not as harsh as Jim Crow literacy tests, create barriers that restrict minorities from having the opportunity to vote. By surveying a few of the patterns of inequality that still prevail in many sectors of American society, this essay will explore...
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...Civil Rights The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was accompanied, or followed, by civil unrest and armed rebellion. The process was long and tenuous in many countries, and many of these movements did not fully achieve their goals although, the efforts of these movements did lead to improvements in the legal rights of previously oppressed groups of people. Table of Contents Malcolm X…………………………..pg. 3 - 5 Martin Luther King Jr. ……………pg. 6-7 Rosa Parks ………………………….pg. 8- 10 Stokely Carmichael…………………pg. 11-14 Marcus Garvey………………………pg. 15-17 Frederick Douglass…………………..pg. 18-20 John Brown…………………………pg. 21- 23 Medgar Evers ………………………pg. 24- 25 Nat Turner…………………………..pg. 26- 27 Homer Plessy……………………..pg. 28-30 Malcolm X [pic] Malcolm X May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965), born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz,was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. Detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. He has been called...
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...Mississippi ratifies 13th amendment abolishing slavery ... 147 years late Academics prompt ratification after noticing that 1995 move to accept amendment detailed in Lincoln had not been completed * Share77 * * * 1 * inShare0 * ------------------------------------------------- Email Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln. Photograph: David James/AP Mississippi has officially ratified the 13th amendment to the US constitution, which abolishes slavery and which was officially noted in the constitution on 6 December 1865. All 50 states have now ratified the amendment. 1. ------------------------------------------------- Lincoln 2. Production year: 2012 3. Countries: India, Rest of the world, USA 4. Cert (UK): 12A 5. Runtime: 150 mins 6. Directors: Steven Spielberg 7. Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lee Pace, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones 8. More on this film Mississippi's tardiness has been put down to an oversight that was only corrected after two academics embarked on research prompted by watching Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated film about president Abraham Lincoln's efforts to secure the amendment. Dr Ranjan Batra, a professor in the department of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saw Spielberg's film and wondered about the implementation of the 13th amendment after the Civil War. He discussed...
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...Critics of negative screening charge that merely excluding companies for their socially repugnant practices has no net impact, because there is always someone out there that willing to buy their shares instead. They assert that screening offensive companies may make the investor feel better about where they are putting their money, but they are not helping encourage social change and environmental improvement. But negative screening still has an appropriate place in the quiver of tactics used by socially responsible investors, to be complemented by positive screening and shareholder activism, and will remain the most palatable starting point for many. It is also important to note that while one investor excluding their investment from a company because of a particular activity will not make that company mend its ways, its the cumulative effect that's important. This is analogous to voting in a national election, where individual votes collectively create a "voice." For example, the recent struggles of the tobacco industry illustrate the cumulative and emergent effects of investor and consumer advocacy over its health effects. Most people imagine that the majority of companies included by positive screening are smaller companies embarking on products that may contribute to the world's future economic and environmental sustainability. Alternative forms of energy that produce less pollution, such as solar power, wind power, and hydrogen fuel cells, constitute a rapidly growing...
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