The Importance of the Key Leaders during the Civil Rights Movement

One important part of the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement was due to the work of significant leaders and activists during the movement. The leaders of activism during the 1960s, used common ideals to relate their speeches and actions to the many and provide people with a common aim of equality, whilst fighting with common interests. For Malcolm X in particular, his speeches including The Ballot or the Bullet presented strong aspects of black nationalism and the need for racial recognition.[2] In this speech, Malcolm recognised that the people of the 1960s are the witnesses of great change; “1964 threatens to be the most explosive year America has ever witnessed. The most explosive year. Why? It’s also a political year. …”[3] the reality of this statement being without a doubt. Malcolm gave this speech on April 12th 1964, and therefore he could not have predicted how much of a significant year this would be for racial activism. President John F Kennedy would not be assassinated until November 22nd that year, an event that marked the death of a President working in unison with the people of America to which he represented. Lyndon B Johnson’s Presidency would conclude Kennedy’s legacy and solidify the result of a long time coming of efforts for equality.

For the case of Malcolm X and his speech, it provided blacks the hope and determination to continue to act for their deserved equal rights as US citizens. The speech recognised Malcolm as an ordinary individual, no matter his religion, education and political opinions that he shared the emotion and frustration of those not rightfully represented in an ‘Free America’. Malcom allowed blacks to realise the power they already had without realising, as they had been undermined by the white social democrats of the era. He stated “A vote for a Democrat is a vote for a Dixiecrat. That’s why, in 1964, it’s time now for you and me to become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for… It’s either a ballot or a bullet.”[4]

Similarly, although using different mediums and speaking slightly earlier another leader of 1960s activism provided the willpower and emotion into his speech to insight those around him who felt underappreciated and unrecognisable within society. His speech ignited the people and expressed that same idea that the people of America were to witness a time of historical, political and social importance. He stated “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”[5] His name was Martin Luther King JR. King used the ideas of black history and the need for unification against the limitations of the laws. King, used the 100 year anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 to recognise that “one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” The words of King, would echo through to the activism and spark that of further action during the year of 1964. King continued to act until his own death in 1968, and influenced that of Little Rock Nine and the NACCP.

John A Kirk in his book Martin Luther King Jr argued that by 1964, King had mastered his ideology of “nonviolence, into a coherent strategy for social and political change.”[6] King’s ideology and appearance as a figurehead for the cause of civil rights, reached its climax with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Although, it is obvious from evidence acquired that when it came to the issue of civil rights, President Kennedy and King had different ideas, the passing of this act demonstrated that King’s connections with the aristocracy of the era, connected the final piece of Kennedy’s legacy and the legacy of civil rights. One hundred years after the first, Civil Rights legislation was passed to mark a period of change and ‘equality’, although even today the reality of this in social terms is still not an actuality. King also used his position as an American Baptist Minister, to use religion as a unifier for the cause of civil rights, in a highly religious age. Revisionist historians have argued that religion played a “crucial” part in “the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. At every stage of the movement, mainline and traditional black churches proved vital.”[7]

The Significance of the year 1964

1964 marked a year of unity for African Americans, in one cause despite different approaches to the same issue – equality. Although, in the speeches of leaders such as Malcolm X and King, the opinions and feelings of the ordinary pa