Digging Deeper into the Civil Rights Movement

When you think about the civil rights movement, I'm sure Dr. Martin Luther king comes to mind. No doubt you recall Rosa parks and the courage she showed by refusing to give up her seat on the bus. You might think of Malcolm X or the black panthers and the pride they showed in their roots. What you probably don't think about are the individuals who made up the 200,000 participants of the march on Washington. consider what you know about the people who organized and executed the thousands of sit-ins throughout the country. I would like to highlight the contributions of one of these lesser known organizations, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC (pronounced snick.) This group was responsible for many organized protests, lunch counter sit-ins, freedom schools and most famously for the summer of freedom in 1964 in which the organization mobilized to register Mississippi African Americans to vote.

SNCC began materialized from the meetings, held by Ella baker, in Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in the spring of 1960. With an $800 grant from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference SNCC was able to organize a conference where student activist could come together to share ideas, experiences and to coordinate new activities. The conference was attended by 145 delegates from 58 sit in centers spread across 12 states; as well as delegates from northern colleges, and organizations such as CORE, National Student Association, SCLC, Fellowship of Reconciliation, and Students for a Democratic society. The SNCC grew very quickly into a larger organization that would eventually have a yearly million dollar budget.

SNCC became an integral part of the organization and execution of Freedom rides, Freedom schools, and the summer of Freedom. The freedom rides were an organized protest of forced bus segregation. Black and white activists rode together through segregated counties, often facing rude and sometimes violent crowds. Over 400 activists participated in the freedom rides during the spring and summer of 1961. Freedom schools were organized to encourage black youths to learn more about their own personal history as well as mainstream curriculum. The knowledge gained in these schools empowered countless children, as well as their parents, to stand up for their right to vote. The summer of freedom took place in 1964 and had grown out of the Mississippi summer project, which focused on voter registration. The summer of freedom gained national attention when James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, activists working on the project, disappeared after being released from police custody.