The Beginning of the Movement: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Hope of Nonviolence

"Equality had never arrived. Equality was a hundred years too late." One hundred years had passed since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and little advance in the rights of the Negro had taken place. This became the driving force for Martin Luther King Jr. to begin the fight for African American equality. Strides had been taken since the groundbreaking decision of Brown v. Board of Education, but nine years later only nine percent of Negro students were placed in an integrated setting. The movement began in 1963 because the Negro spirit, "..awoke from a stupor of inaction with the cold dash of realization that 1963 meant one hundred years after Lincoln gave his autograph to the cause of freedom."

Now the question is asked, "Why did King choose to start a revolution in Birmingham, Alabama?" King says that Birmingham was "a city which has been trapped for decades in a Rip Van Winkle slumber..." This city ignored the beliefs of the nation's founding fathers and moved on like a steam roller devouring the dreams of Negroes in order to maintain an almost two hundred year status quo. King believed that,"[the Negro] has been skillfully brainwashed to the point where he has accepted the white man's theory that he, as a Negro, was inferior." The weapon of segregation was simply summed up by King as, "fear..but also in the hearts of the white oppressors." Over forty percent of the Birmingham population was Negro but had no power or method to change its course. However, through all of this King reminds the people that the most powerful weapon at their disposal is the belief that they are correct in taking action and will succeed. Even more importantly, King said the Movement could not be held back, that had already waited one hundred years.

Since King had claimed that the power of knowledge was all that was needed, the question arose as to how the Negro would gain new freedom under the oppression of Whites. King reminds the people that physical force could not be used, "...[physical force] kept the Negro captive at every point." The use of nonviolence King notes "...cuts without wounding and enables the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." Other leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois called upon the "talented tenth" to rise, gain an education and begin with a movement of change. Marcus Garvey called for a return to Africa and an emphasis on race and pride to cause reform. King pointed out that both the theories of DuBois and Garvey failed to alleviate the issue of equal rights that must be taken care of immediately. The successful use of nonviolence by leaders as Mahatma Gandhi in stopping the oppression of the British Empire also came by similar means. King later says that he would want nonviolence to be seen as a symbol of heroism that one of cowardice. This is why a place such as Birmingham, Alabama was chosen to prove that nonviolence could be a reality.

By reaching the goal of freedom in Birmingham King believed that the had also reached freedom throughout the nation, because,". America is freedom." King notes that even with a thriving culture in constant movement against them that the Negro spirit strove and over came such adversity. "They shook off three hundred years of psychological slavery and said: 'we can make ourselves free.'" Even American history shows us that, "..nonresistance only enforces the myth that one race is inherently inferior to another." Also the greater purpose of this movement was to gain greater opportunities for the Negro, not to gain charity from White America.

Was King the leader need in 1963 and was success gained through him? Jesse Jackson believes that King was more that successful in 1963 because,". ceilings have been lifted off of our dreams." King's victory was not only for African Americans but also for, "..white, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American", so that one day all men could truly be considered equal. Jackson notes that because of King the growth and prosperity of the New South has taken place. We are reminded in remembrance of Dr. King to,"Follow him...Let your actions honor him every day...Do justice...Love mercy."