historymars

A “valuable, eye-opening work” ( The Boston Globe) about the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Rosa Parks, weary after a long day at work, refused to give up her bus seat to a white manand ignited the explosion that was the civil rights movement in America. In this powerful saga, Morris tells the complete story behind the ten years that transformed America, tracing the essential role of the black community organizations that was the real power behind the civil rights movement. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty key leaders, original documents, and other moving firsthand material, he brings to life the people behind the scenes who led the fight to end segregation, providing a critical new understanding of the dynamics of social change. “An important addition to our knowledge of the strategies of social change for all oppressed peoples.” —Reverend Jesse Jackson “A benchmark studysetting the historical record straight.” — The New York Times Book Review.

Jump to:, Aldon D. Morris, The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change, New York: The Free Press, 1984.

Summary The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change, by Aldon D. Morris, is a study of the first decade of the civil rights movement from 1953-1963. The author’s purpose is to explain how the civil tights movement came into being and became a major force. Morris also seeks to analyze the role in the movement of black masses, showing their organization and interconnectedness, thus refuting the popular view of unrelated spontaneous actions by various groups. As Morris says, “Social scientists for too long have portrayed the masses as a flock of sheep reacting blindly to uncontrollable forces.” (p. Vi) Instead, Morris describes an “organized and collective form of black protest,” constituting the “modern civil rights movement,” which he defines as “the black movement that emerged in the South during the 1950’s, when large masses of black people became directly involved in economic boycotts, street marches, mass meetings, going to jail by the thousands, and a whole range of disruptive tactics commonly referred to as nonviolent direct action.” (p.

616 constitutional commentary [vol. 3:616 the origins of the civil rights movement: black communities organizing for change. Morris.1 new york: the free. Civil rights movement. Civil rights movement (e.g., McAdam 1982, 2009; Morris. The Social-Psychological Origins of the Montgomery Bus. Pamela Oliver, lecture/reading notes for Social Movements classes Aldon Morris. Origins of the Civil Rights Movement. Importance of the black masses, the ordinary.

Ost To Pst Crack Serial Number here. Ix) Morris describes the pervasive and oppressive system of segregation imposed on blacks in the South, which included personal, economic, and political oppression. Ironically, however, he finds that segregation did have positive consequences, saying, “It facilitated the development of black institutions and the building of close-knit communities.” He further states, “Segregation provided the constraining yet nurturing environment out of which a complex urban black society developed.” (p. 3) He finds that the black church was the dominant institution and center of black society and states, “The black church functioned as the institutional center of the modern civil rights movement.” (p. 4) The urban black churches wielded considerable social power and provided an organized mass base.

However, the social network connecting the churches in a mass movement was facilitated by alliances among the clergymen heading the various churches through informal associations and formal bodies such as the National Baptist Convention. Prior to the start of the modern civil rights movement, the dominant black protest organization was the NAACP, founded in 1909-10 by black and white intellectuals to fight for equal rights for black Americans. Legal action was the main tactic of the NAACP as it attacked segregation through the courts. While it never developed a mass base, Morris says, “The NAACP set the stage from which most of the leadership of the modern civil rights movement would emerge.” (p.

16) Morris traces the beginning of the civil rights movement to the mass boycott of segregated buses by the black community in Baton Rouge in June 1953. This effort required a high degree of planning and organization. As Morris finds, “The Baton Rouge mass bus boycott suggests that movements are the products of organizing efforts and preexisting institutions.” (p. 19) This movement was led by a charismatic black minister, Reverend T. Jemison, and was mobilized through local black churches, which formed the Urban Defense League, an umbrella organization. Morris states, “The boycott differed from past protests in Baton Rouge, which had been initiated by the NAACP and had attempted to work through the courts.