Joey Plishka

Mrs. O'Connor
Period

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Black History Month Editorial

Black History Month started after the Civil Rights Movement. Rlack History Month
should be celebrated. We must remember those who worked hard to create equality in our nation.
Oul-lives would be so much different if what happened 60 years ago never happened.
We celebrate those who spent countless hours working, giving speeches, and organizing
peaceful acts like boycotts, sit-ins, and marches. By boycotting the Montgomery Bus Company,
it forced many jobs to be lost because no money was being made by the bus company. By giving
speeches, the activists were able to get the message out and stand up against the racist people.
Some activists also led the way by fighting and using violence to get what they wanted.

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Sixty years ago, Blacks simply wanted to be treated equally to whites. They wanted the .--.- n,tl.?
same rights and privileges. They wanted to be able to use the same bathrooms and drinking
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fonntains, ride the same buses, and more importantly have the right to vote and be active citizens
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of this great country. It wasn't fair that blacks could fight in wars to maintain the United States' \
freedom, but they weren't allowed those same freedoms. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar )
Evers spoke out about this unfairness.
People like Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, and Stokley Carmichael took a more violent
approach. They should also be remembered during Black History Month, even though their

methods were more violent. This violence did bring about some change. They played a role in
Black History Month and the fight against segregation.

It is important to celebrate Black History Month. We remember those who gave their
lives so that we can all live in equality without segregation.

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