Women of the movement
Trailblazers who paved the way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and those leading today.
After he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement for聽protesting segregation聽in April 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. penned his landmark聽,听urging fellow clergy to support his work against racial injustice.
In May of that year, hundreds of peacefully demonstrating children were attacked in Birmingham, Alabama, with fire hoses, batons and menacing police dogs.
Just days later, the聽聽鈥� a Black-owned establishment where white business owners, city officials and civil rights leaders had reached a compromise to desegregate the city 鈥� was bombed, and four people suffered minor injuries.
The civil unrest in Birmingham captured the nation鈥檚 attention and prompted President John F. Kennedy to call in federal troops. Compelled by the images of peaceful protests met with brutal violence, Kennedy backed a comprehensive civil rights bill that was sent to Congress on June 19, 1963 鈥� a week after civil rights activist聽Medgar Evers聽was assassinated in Mississippi.
That August, King delivered his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech at the March on Washington. In September, the聽聽was bombed, killing four young girls. These watershed events further galvanized public support for the civil rights bill, but Kennedy himself would not live to see it pass 鈥� he was聽.
Kennedy鈥檚 civil rights bill fell into the hands of Lyndon B. Johnson, his vice president and successor.
Fifty-six years ago today, on July 2,1964, President Johnson signed the聽聽into law. It ended segregation in public places. It also banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. And it set the stage for the聽,听which outlawed racial discrimination in voting.
鈥淢ore than 100 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law, the formerly enslaved abolitionist聽聽said, 鈥業f there is no struggle, there is no progress,鈥� and this sentiment was echoed in the sacrifices of those who suffered and laid down their lives for the civil rights we enjoy today,鈥� said聽Tafeni English, director of the聽Civil Rights Memorial Center, which is operated by the 澳彩开奖 in Montgomery, Alabama, and honors martyrs of the movement.聽
鈥淭he words of Frederick Douglass still ring true today in the clarion calls for racial justice following the recent murders of聽,听,听,听,听,听听补苍诲听,鈥� English said. 鈥淭he words of Frederick Douglass still ring true today in the ongoing fight against聽voter suppression聽across the South, and they ring true in the continued struggle for聽racial equality in our schools.聽As we celebrate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964鈥檚 passage, we must remain vigilant in our fight for equality, as King said, 鈥榰ntil justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.鈥欌�澛�
Women of the civil rights movement聽
The history of the fight for racial equality has often centered on men like King, Kennedy, Johnson and Evers. But far less attention has been paid to the women who made the civil rights movement possible.
They are women like聽, a former NAACP national director who worked to聽integrate聽schools in New York and improve the quality of education for Black children. Inspired by the聽, Baker co-founded the organization In Friendship to raise money for the civil rights movement in the South.聽
In conjunction with a group of Southern Black ministers, Baker helped form the聽聽(SCLC), with King as its first president and Baker as its director. She left the SCLC in 1960 to help organize the聽(SNCC), which became one of the foremost advocates for聽human rights聽in the country.聽She also did much of the behind-the-scenes work for the protests that led to the Civil Rights Act鈥檚 passage.
聽is another heroine of the era. Fighting against efforts to deny Black people the right to vote in her home state of Mississippi, she became an聽.聽On Aug. 31, 1962, she led 17 volunteers to register to vote at the Indianola, Mississippi, courthouse. Instead of being allowed to vote, the group was forced to take a literacy test, harassed on their way home by police, and fined $100 on the bogus charge that their bus was too yellow.聽
After at last being allowed to register to vote, Hamer and other Black women were arrested in June 1963 for sitting in a 鈥渨hites-only鈥� restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. At the jailhouse, several of them were brutally beaten. Hamer suffered lifelong injuries, including a blood clot in her eye and damage to her kidney and leg.
In 1964, soon after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), which challenged the local Democratic Party鈥檚 efforts to keep Black people from participating. Representing the MFDP, Hamer delivered a fiery speech to the convention with poignant descriptions of racial prejudice in the South.聽
While seeking reelection, Johnson 鈥� needing the support of Southern Democrats who opposed integration 鈥� tried to block attention to Hamer鈥檚 speech with a hastily called, televised press conference. But the move backfired: Hamer鈥檚 speech was shown in its entirety on primetime TV later that day. By 1968, Hamer had become a member of Mississippi鈥檚 first integrated delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
鈥淲omen like Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer are often overlooked, but by recognizing their contributions we can more fully understand how the civil rights movement succeeded,鈥� English said. 鈥淭hey聽largely operated behind the scenes, but their courage and conviction ensured that people like Martin Luther King Jr. and even President Johnson maintained their focus on racial justice.鈥�
Another stalwart was聽.聽After some time as a social worker, she joined the staff of the Harlem YWCA in 1937. One of her major accomplishments was integrating all of the YWCA鈥檚 centers in 1946. She later established the organization鈥檚 Center for Racial Justice.
Height became the president of the National Council of Negro Women in 1957, where she worked on various initiatives and campaigns with King,听,听,听,听听补苍诲听,听who were known as the 鈥淏ig Six鈥� of the civil rights movement.
Towards the end of the era in 1968,听聽became the first Black congresswoman. Four years later, she became the first Black candidate from a major party to make a bid for the U.S. presidency.聽Throughout her political career, she fought for educational opportunities and social justice.
Today, many Black women across the country are honoring Chisholm鈥檚 legacy by seeking 鈥撀燼nd holding 鈥� prominent positions of leadership.
Black Lives Matter
Washington, D.C., Mayor聽聽recently made headlines when, in the midst of a feud with President Trump over the use of federal force in the city, she had the 鈥淏lack Lives Matter鈥� slogan painted on the street in front of the White House in colossal yellow letters. The dispute followed the Trump administration鈥檚 decision to forcefully remove peaceful protesters so the president could have a photo op while holding a Bible in front of a historic church.
, the first Black woman and the first lesbian elected to that post, has responded to recent calls for defunding the police by supporting reforms that would direct more resources to communities of color.
Several Black women are being evaluated as Joe Biden鈥檚 potential running mate, a move that could put one of them a heartbeat away from the presidency. Among them are聽,听chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus; U.S. Sen.聽聽of California; former Georgia gubernatorial candidate聽, U.S. Rep.聽聽of Florida, and Atlanta Mayor聽, who has become聽聽in the national debate over race and policing.
And the current nationwide struggle against police brutality was inspired by three Black women,听,听听补苍诲听, who co-founded the聽聽movement聽following the 2012 killing of聽.
鈥淏lack women were the backbone of the movement that produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964,鈥� English said. 鈥淎fter years of continued oppression, the march for justice has reached another historic inflection point, and Black women are once again leading the way.鈥�
Illustration by Sunny Paulk
Credit Khalid Naji-Allah/AP
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