Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Summary

Hamer was an informal bridge leader for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. When activists Annelle Ponder and Septima Clark came to Mississippi to teach people about voting registration, Hamer’s attention was sparked. A few weeks later, Hamer and a few other citizen of Mississippi set off to Charleston, South Carolina to share what they learned. They planned on teaching classes on voter registration. The group consisted of John Brown, Bernard Washington, Euvester Simpson, June Johnson, Rosemary Freeman, James West, Annelle Ponder, and Hamer herself. This trip was about more than just teaching voter registration. The group set out to also test their limits with segregated bus terminals as well as with food counters (Lee 1999).

In the article The Politics of Black Women’s Studies by Akasha Hull and Barbara Smith, Hull and Smith studiously literate the politics and controversy around the fundamentals of black women’s studies in the past and modern day. Furthermore, the ideology of the article falls under the premise that racism and prejudice are still current and prominent factors that affect the development of black women’s studies in the way it is taught in universities, and the role it takes upon the lives of black women.

The reading this week brought to my attention that historic events have a way of repeating themselves. In Folklore of the Freeway, Eric Avila explains that during the “Freeway Revolt” there were different ways that communities organized and the types of issues they were fighting against. These issues and organization structures mirror current day protests. Likewise, the connections between how women were treated with respect to protests during the “Freeway Revolt” and the recent Women's match are astounding. In the context of these two events, white women are seen as saints for fighting a fight that doesn’t affect them, while women of color as ridiculed for making a big deal out of nothing. Avila makes a point to contrasts the experiences of

In 1964, the white women of SNCC started to speak out about the bias they faced while working for SNCC by anonymously writing the “SNCC Position Paper: Women in the Movement." The authors used several examples of discrimination from day to day interactions, to promotions and more. For example there was a woman that worked for SNCC for two years in two different states and was a veteran in the group, but she was asked to do clerical work for others in her committee. Another example was when a new position was available, where both a man and women were equally qualified, the man received the organizational and leadership position while the woman was relegated to secretarial work. During meetings, women were often asked to take minutes, regardless

In the 1970’s African American women created the Combahee River Collective to address the unique struggles that African American women face in their day-to-day lives. In 2016, black activists founded The Movement of Black Lives to advocate for all black people more generally. Both groups incorporated at least some intersectional ideas into their arguments and used similar stylistic strategies to communicate their ideas. However, these groups differed in the ways that they established target audiences, the breadth of institutions that they addressed, and in the ways they used word choice to further their causes.

Crenshaw’s Mapping the Margins: The Marginalization of Women of Color Analyzed Through Generalization and A Feminist Lens

In Mapping the Margins by Kimberle Crenshaw, Crenshaw explains to the readers why women are more subjected to problems of violence. Race and gender have a huge part in this. Women of color, however, are more subjected to these type of things. Including rape, abusive relationships, homelessness, etc. Women of color are part of subgroups which increases their chances of being part of violence. Being part of the different subgroups prevents them from getting everything they need and want. They are burdened by lack of income and jobs. Without these essential things many of them will not be able to take care of themselves nor their family.

Despite oppression women have always resisted. Women have resisted oppression in many ways. Women have responded to their multiple sources of oppression of sexism, racism, heterosexism and colonialism. Women resisted oppression by standing up for their rights. Women have been left out of the discussion of oppression for centuries. In a patriarchy society where males are the narrators and voices being heard, one is rarely educated on women struggles. In the Western world gender is a construct made to keep one group superior and the other inferior. Gender concerns what it means to be women or men in society. The traditional notion of gender is acknowledged to not be defined the same all over the world. The general concept of gender is challenged

Sojourner Truth a famous abolitionist and women’s right activists feared rights of women would be left out. Many African Americans felt that the women’s suffrage movement was concerned with the rights of only white women (Wood,59) and were sometimes discriminated against within the movement.. This is fictionally displayed in Iron Jawed Angels when a black suffragist expresses discontent with their parade being segregated by race. I feel that this is hypocritical as they are fighting for equal rights yet treating people of color as separate. Despite their concerns countless African American women still joined in on the cause and contributed to its

America gained its independence in 1776 with the expectation that every American should have liberty and equality. However, American women did not have the right to vote until 1920, which was almost more than 140 years after the United States was established. Women could do little to protect themselves and promote their careers due to being treated unequally and inferior to men. During the 19th and the early 20th century, women were working hard and fighting for gender equality, so that more and more women could live a better life with basic civil rights in their hometowns. In reality, women’s equality was challenged by traditional conventions in the fields of biological difference in sexes, religion and gender roles, and different perspectives towards these conventions of different people made women’s civil rights controversial.

“These women activists provided a support system to encourage the implementation of women’s equity through the Title IX, the Women’s Educational Equity Act, and related legislation”(Aquila 7). These women were a major part of keeping the women held together through these tough times. Their support system was very bold and they stuck to their word. Another group of women were a big part in Title IX. “A group of women that year hastily formed the National Organization of Women or NOW, at a conference on women. NOW’s goal would be to push for better enforcement of the law and to seek ‘full equality for women’ ” (Blumenthal 20). These groups of activist were a positive part of this time period.

Yet, as SNCC grew, a bureaucracy grew with it, leading to the creation of a hierarchy. Thus SNCC was left with a contradictory notion of a grassroots approach, while at the same time advocating continual integration into the political atmosphere. SNCC was created on the idea that they should work within in the area, and empower people to become local leaders. With the measure of success being the amount of voters registered in the area or the ability to spur federal intervention. Yet later SNCC decided to put more “emphasis on militant rhetoric rather than on the development of workable programs to consolidate southern rights gain” (229). This change in dogma occurred because a hierarchy was created. This bottom-top organization changed into a top-bottom organization that began promptly before Stokely Carmichael was elected chairman. SNCC had grown increasingly since its creation in 1960 and various hardliners had grown frustrated with “floaters” who were not committed to a single project. Thus in response SNCC agreed “to exercise greater control over staff activities” (158). Purging or “firing” certain members from SNCC heavily contributed to the bureaucratization of the organization as each individual was held accountable for their

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans were seeking the right to gain equal rights. This movement was a pivotal point in black history and helped black Americans realize how powerful their voices were. Various methods were utilized in gaining equal rights: a non-violent approach as demonstrated by such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall and a more violent approach as displayed by Malcom X and the Black Panther Party. The question is what approach was most effective with achieving equality. This could be determined by examining their beliefs towards the Civil Rights Movement, any significant contributions and positive effects on equality for the future. Despite their different

Large portions of group’s made up by minorities with a wide range of ethnicities started to arise by help of the civil rights movement from the early 1950’s through the 1990’s. These different type of groups advocated for appropriate education, uniform pay rates, to cease racism, and parallel rights for all citizens. The group of minorities brought attention to their problematic issues by participating in marches, protest and boycotts. For example, during March 1968 in East Los Angeles Chicano students protested for suitable educational facilities, the deficiencies in proper school supplies, and curriculum change to include Chicano history and culture. Another instance on how groups formulated by minorities obtained the public attention for

Dubois and Judith Wellman are both looking at the women’s right movement. Dubois discusses the leading historical reforms, meetings, and individuals that led up to the Sceneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention in 1848. Wellman looks at who the one hundred individuals were that signed the Declaration of Sentiments during The Sceneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention and why they chose to sign it. Wellman examines the connections and the networks between all of the individuals involved at the convention and what influences those connections had on the Declaration of Sentiments.