Crystal R. Terrell - The Civil Rights Movement 1940's-1980's lyrics

The Black Civil Rights movement is one of the longest protests in America. Oftentimes when we think of the Black Civil Rights movement, we picture a span of time beginning with the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. This decision outlawed segregated education or perhaps America remembers the Montgomery Bus Boycott. There are numerous protests, stand –ins and boycotts embedded into American culture and a new age of writers and musicians used this movement as focus of self-expression. Here I have outlined writings dated from the 1940's- 1980's that I felt embodied the spirit of such a turbulent, yet progressive time in African American literature. 1942- Margaret Walker “For my People” For My People "For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeatedly: their dirges and their ditties and their blues and jubilees, praying their prayers nightly to an unknown god, bending their knees humbly to an unseen power;" This poem captures the life and struggles of African American people as it also encourages Black people to "act" and have the tenacity to demand peace for their race. 1948- Dorothy West- The Living is easy “The nicer colored people, preceded by a similar cla** of whites, were moving out of the South End,so prophetically named with this influx of black cotton-belters." This essay and many other essays from West often touched on topics from the perspective of upper-cla** black families. 1961- Amiri Baraka- Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note "And then last night, I tiptoed up To my daughter's room and heard her Talking to someone, and when I opened The door, there was no one there... Only she on her knees, peeking into Her own clasped hands." Perhaps the last stanza of this poem reflects Baraka's hope, that in all monotony and hopelessness of everyday living as a Black man, there is actually hope and he sees it as he peeks to look in at his daughter praying. 1965- Malcolm X and Alex Haley- The Autobiography Of Malcolm X- "Legalized racism across America, especially in the South, continued through the first half of the twentieth century." Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His family moves to Michigan where they experience persecution and violence. White people murder his father and forces his mother into a mental hospital, forcing Malcolm to face the need for liberating himself and his race. 1966- Black Panther Party Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale- "The first lesson a revolutionary must learn is that he is a doomed man.( Newton)" In Oakland, California, the two revolutionaries founded a militant Self-Defense community against the government. They believed that in order to practice their civil rights, they had to first protect themselves from their "oppressor", the United States government. 1972- Shirley Chisholm- The first African American female to run for U.S. president. "In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing -- anti-humanism." Shirley Chisholm not only fought and represented Black Civil rights, but she also stood for Black Female Civil rights. By her serving a 7 year term in the state of New York, she broke barriers for two main social issues, "racism and feminism". 1975- Ntozake Shange- For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf- "“one thing I don't need is any more apologies i got sorry greetin me at my front door you can keep yrs i don't know what to do wit em they don't open doors or bring the sun back they don't make me happy or get a mornin paper didn't nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars cuz a sorry.” - This excerpt from the play is from a character stating how she doesn't need anyone feeling bad for nor does she want to entertain their pity party. People are constantly apologizing but at the end of the day, no one's behavior is being corrected. 1984- John Edgar Wideman- Brothers and Keepers- "Just two choices as far as I could tell: either/or. Rich or poor. White or black. Win or lose." This story is in response to his brother Rob's life sentence for murder in 1978. He reflects on white exploitation, racist neglect, and internal despair that have intensified rather than lessened since the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.