Civil Rights: What about Black Women?

 

Civil Rights: What about Black Women?

 

By: Brandi Tillison

 

     Whenever a movie from the Civil Rights Movement is made, it is often from the African American male perspective, similar like slavery times. There is nothing wrong with that, except it creates the image that only men were responsible for social change. The biggest female name you hear is Rosa Parks. It seems everyone knows of her infamous moment of refusing to give up her front seat on the bus, but she was not the only woman fighting for her rights. [1]Women such as Septima Poinsette Clark, was an educator and activist for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She had been a driving force long before the majority of Americans turned their attention to civil rights. However she was overlooked.[2] Diane Nash, though skeptical, was a woman of conviction and led a sit-in movement in downtown Nashville that resulted in African Americans being able to eat in those same restaurants. She had her doubts about non-violent protest, but it she gained some courage for her friends and joined a movement that would never be forgotten.

 

     Why were women so easily overlooked? The famous sit-ins were started by female college students, but as they gained traction men took it over. The same situation happened with the Birmingham bus boycotts. It was becoming increasingly known that women were being pushed to the back burner and didn’t have their proper time to shine in the spotlight. Given, that most of the women during the Civil Rights Movement weren’t exactly famous, but that didn’t mean they weren’t imperative to the movement. Just like the men were dragged, beaten, and jailed, so were the women. One could only imagine how it must have felt as a woman seeing all of these huge male leaders emerge like Malcom X, Dr. King, and Medgar Evers, but close to no women. They suffered just as much during that time. The sexism was suffocating. African American women worked extremely hard but not only were they marginalized by White men, but also by Black men. Regardless of both of those factors the women pressed forward, fought alongside their men, and fought to have their rights.

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[1] NA, . NBC News, "Women had key roles in the civil rights movement." Last modified October 29, 2005. Accessed April 21, 2014. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9862643/ns/us_news-life/t/women-had-key-roles-civil-rights-movement/.

[2] Dukes, Howard. The South Bend Tribune, "The Daring of Nonviolence." Last modified January 16, 2005. Accessed April 21, 2014. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0116-05.htm.