Read the following:

 A New Civil Rights Movement.

From this week’s readings and the article above, examine at least three examples of the
essential manner in which women pushed the agenda of the Civil Rights Movement forward.
Determine the significance of the role that women played in the planning and execution of the
movement’s goals. Provide a rationale for your response.

(2 sources)

Hello class,

Most women participated in the Civil Rights Movement, including leading local civil rights
organizations and lawyers on school segregation lawsuits. Their efforts to lead the revolution
were frequently overshadowed by men, who are still given more credit and attention for their
endeavors in famous historical stories and commemorations. On August 28, 1963, more than
250,000 people of different classes, religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds marched to
Washington, D.C, to advocate for civil rights. During the march, women were the backbone of
the MCRM for small towns to the national movement (Isaac et al., 2). They were significant
advocates and strategists and took part regardless of the risks of violence, death,
homelessness, sexual assault, and unemployment.

In addition, women secured the right to vote in 1920 through the passage of the 19th
Amendment. During the election date in 1920, numerous American women exercised their right
to vote for the first time. For nearly 100 years, women had been struggling to get this right. They
had made speeches, marched in parades, signed petitions, and argued many times that women
also deserve all the rights and responsibilities just as men (Isaac et al., 2). Black women also
contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. For instance, working-class women protested about
abuse by the white bus drivers who called them shameful names while boarding buses in
Montgomery, a public space (Henderson, 1). Hence, women played significant roles in the
planning and execution of the Civil Rights Movement goals.

Sources

1. Henderson, M. J. (2019). Black Girls Matter: Black Feminisms and Rita Williams-
Garcia’s One Crazy Summer Trilogy. Children’s Literature in Education, 50(4), 431–448.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-018-9358-6
 2. Isaac, L. W., Coley, J. S., Cornfield, D. B., & Dickerson, D. C. (2020). Pathways to
Modes of Movement Participation: Micromobilization in the Nashville Civil Rights
Movement. Social Forces, 99(1), 255–280. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz117

Vernon,
You made an excellent selection of powerful women behind the Civil Right Movement. I have
read research materials about Rosa Parks, and less focus is made on his contribution, with only
the Montgomery Bus Boycott being given the highest priority. Her decision to not give up the
bus seat made her an important figure in the Civil Right Movement. Did you know that Rosa
Parks is referred to as ‘the mother of civil right movement’? The act of refusing to give away the
seat distinguished from activist to the movement leader, who later challenged the inequality
geared towards African American people.