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The role of african american women in the fight for civil rights
This essay example shows how African American women were instrumental in the civil rights struggle, first through leadership at many levels and, secondly, through many other forms of contribution that historians have largely ignored. It also discusses how these women, from organizing through churches and Black women's clubs to leading key events like the 1963 March on Washington, helped shape the whole movement. Figures like Dorothy Height, Septima Poinsette Clark, and Ella Baker are discussed in light of grassroots efforts and an intersectional approach, showing how their activism laid the bedrock for contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter. Ideally, this college essay acknowledges that the contributions the women have made toward racial and gender justice within the broader circle of the Civil Rights Movement are important. It's published by our essay writing service in Chicago format for your review for free.
September 25, 2024
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
THE ROLE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
Student’s Name
Course Title
Date
1
African American women have participated consistently in most of the major social
movements in American history. Not just for themselves, but for everyone, they have
consistently learned how to come together and lead in forging a more decent and equitable
society. Still, an examination of the literature reveals the astonishing frequency with which Black
women are overlooked when one talks of their organizing and leadership throughout the duration
of the African American Civil Rights movement.1It is evident that historians have often valued
men more in the apparatus and achievement of it, even as many women have made valuable
contributions at one juncture or another within the Black Freedom Struggle. These stories are,
however, put into question by the reality of the struggle for civil rights. Many African American
women were leaders at the local level, serving in many cases as liaisons between national and
grassroots groups. This paper will look at the roles of African American women in the Civil
Rights Movement highlighting their contributions to the struggle and fight for equality and social
justice.
Long before the modern African American Civil Rights movement, African American
women were active in the struggle for social justice in the US. It is from this bedrock of service
and sacrifice that black women continue to organize today. They first organized through the
church, then through the founding of Black women's clubs, a movement that began in earnest
near the end of the nineteenth century. The founding of the National Council for Negro Women
and other such organizations had laid the ground for the women's leading the current civil rights
1Levins, Ashley. 2019. "Unbowed, Unbroken, and Unsung: The Unrecognized Contributions of
African American Women in Social Movements, Politics, and the Maintenance of Democracy." William
& Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice 25 (1): 631-655.
2
movement.2The movement inspired a kind of culture in which people, through their actions,
started challenging and questioning the order of things in society. Involvement in the movement
changed the thinking of the homegrown black women of the churches about their role in society.
Black women were also major forces in the civil rights movement, often working behind
the scenes to provide much-needed insight into whether a movement was likely to succeed or
fail. Dorothy Height was one of the women who played an instrumental role in organizing some
of the most pivotal events; for example, the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.3
However, she never reached the same degree of celebrity accorded her male counterparts.
Despite the gender barriers that she had to work through, the leadership that Height was able to
exercise through the National Council for Negro Women and her collaboration with other major
civil rights leaders, including A. Philip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were
indispensable in moving events and proposals toward racial justice. Her activism also
encompassed generalized social issues, as was made evident with the confounding of the
National Women's Political Caucus, whereby, in conjunction with other feminists like Betty
Friedan and Shirley Chisholm, she fought to ramp up political participation among women. The
intersectionality between the two struggles for racial and gender justice serves as proof that such
women as Height fought on two fronts, seeking equity from each one.
Similarly, other figures on the forefront included Septima Poinsette Clark and Ella Baker,
who are examples of the deep ways in which women were very active at the grassroots
3Strassmann, Mark. 2020. The microphone at the March on Washington was dominated by men.
But it might never have happened without Dorothy Height. August 28. Accessed September 25, 2024.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dorothy-height-march-on-washington/.
2McCutcheon, Priscilla. 2022. "“When and Where I Enter”: The National Council of Negro
Women, Black Women’s Organizing Power, and the Fight to End Hunger." Annals of the American
Association of Geographers 112 (8): 2486-2500.
3
level-particularly from an organizational standpoint on the local level. Through her work of
establishing Citizenship Schools, Clark fought against the oppression of African Americans
through literacy and voter registration by melding everyday concerns with larger political
organizations.4Her work, above all within the SCLC, was representative of a set of challenges
for women themselves, namely sexism within the movement. Young activists often referred to
Baker as a "political mother," and with a facilitator style of participatory democracy, she was
more grassroots in sort of leadership than charismatic leadership, which was male-dominated and
broadly spread at that time. These efforts from the women tore down not just racial disparities
but also conventional patterns of gender in the movement and hence established their critical
position in civil rights history.
The legacy of African American women in the civil rights movement remains abundantly
clear today, as modern activism continues to be informed by their historical contributions.
Movements such as Black Lives Matter find their roots in the fundamental work these women
did: centering an explicitly intersectional approach that focuses on how different forms of
oppression interrelate. In fact, the experiences and narratives of African American women lie at
the foundation of our perspective of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly regarding the
continuous struggles against systemic racism and gender discrimination. Only in recent times has
their contribution to the struggle in the realm of civil rights been underlined. In that respect,
scholars and activists alike affirm that it is very important to learn the role of these women in the
discourses on civil rights that at times were not only supportive but leading in their own right.
4Felicien, Bria. 2021. Septima Clark was the teacher of the civil rights movement. February 9.
Accessed September 25, 2024.
https://www.ajc.com/news/septima-clark-was-the-teacher-of-the-civil-rights-movement/CZSM4IT56RC4
FFMMLD7L53YLPA/.
4
Thus, African American women have been very instrumental in the Civil Rights
Movement, passing through precarious junctions of race and gender, class, and the struggle for
justice and equality. This very often-omitted kind of legacy says a lot about the period in time
when women gave their voice to struggles and issues concerning social justice. Therefore, as
society continues to wrestle with issues of race and gender, it is worth acknowledging the
contributions of African American women in the civil rights movement as part of a broader
struggle for equality and social justice.
5
Bibliography
Felicien, Bria. 2021. Septima Clark was the teacher of the civil rights movement. February 9.
Accessed September 25, 2024.
https://www.ajc.com/news/septima-clark-was-the-teacher-of-the-civil-rights-movement/C
ZSM4IT56RC4FFMMLD7L53YLPA/.
Levins, Ashley. 2019. "Unbowed, Unbroken, and Unsung: The Unrecognized Contributions of
African American Women in Social Movements, Politics, and the Maintenance of
Democracy." William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice 25 (1):
631-655.
McCutcheon, Priscilla. 2022. "“When and Where I Enter”: The National Council of Negro
Women, Black Women’s Organizing Power, and the Fight to End Hunger." Annals of the
American Association of Geographers 112 (8): 2486-2500.
Strassmann, Mark. 2020. The microphone at the March on Washington was dominated by men.
But it might never have happened without Dorothy Height. August 28. Accessed
September 25, 2024.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dorothy-height-march-on-washington/.
September 25, 2024
24/7 custom essay writing by real academic writers
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Academic level:
Undergraduate 1-2
Type of paper:
Essay
Discipline:
History
Citation:
Chicago
Pages:
3 (825 words)
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
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