Why We Can't Wait - Wikipedia

1964 book by Martin Luther King, Jr.Why We Can't Wait

First edition
Author	Martin Luther King Jr.
Publisher	Harper & Row
Publication date	1964

Why We Can't Wait is a 1964 book by Martin Luther King Jr. about the nonviolent movement against racial segregation in the United States, and specifically the 1963 Birmingham campaign. The book describes 1963 as a landmark year in the civil rights movement, and as the beginning of America's "Negro Revolution".

Writing

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The seed of the book is King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". The letter became nationally known and received interest from the New York publishing world, which Stanley Levison relayed to King in May 1963.[1] Soon after, Levison made a deal with New American Library publisher Victor Weybright, who suggested that the theme of not waiting be used for the title. Weybright also gave permission for "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to be republished in national newspapers and magazines; it appeared in July 1963 as "Why the Negro Won't Wait".[2]

King began working on the book later in 1963, with assistance from Levison and Clarence Jones.[3] Some early work on the text was done by Al Duckett (also a participant in the movement). King and Levison eventually dismissed Duckett and then Nat Lamar, and Levison did some work on the text himself. Bayard Rustin also contributed, as did editor Hermine I. Popper.[4][5]

Rustin said: "I don't want to write something for somebody where I know he is acting like a puppet. I want to be a real ghost and write what the person wants to say. And that is what I always knew was true in the case of Martin. I would never write anything that wasn't what he wanted to say. I understood him well enough."[6]

The book largely reproduces the text of "Letter from Birmingham Jail", with some editorial changes.[7] King writes in a footnote: "Although the text remains in substance unaltered, I have indulged in the author's prerogative in polishing it for publication."[8]

Why We Can't Wait was published by Harper & Row in July 1964.[3] The paperback edition cost 60¢.

Outline

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The book describes 1963 as the beginning of "the Negro revolution". It seeks to describe the historical events that led up to this revolution, and to explain why this revolution was nonviolent.[9] King seeks to describe this history because of how quickly it has become visible to America at large, and because of its importance in events to come. He writes:

Just as lightning makes no sound until it strikes, the Negro Revolution generated quietly. But when it struck, the revealing flash of its power and the impact of its sincerity and fervor displayed a force of a frightening intensity. Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse, and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper. [...] Because there is more to come; because American society is bewildered by the spectacle of the Negro in revolt; because the dimensions are vast and the implications deep in a nation with twenty million Negroes, it is important to understand the history that is being made today.[10]

Why 1963?

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King gives several reasons why the Negro Revolution erupted in 1963:

• Disillusionment with the slow speed of school desegregation after Brown v. Board (1954).[11]
• Lack of confidence in politicians and government, particularly after the perceived failures of the Kennedy administration. These included a weak stance on housing discrimination and a lack of support for Black voting rights in the South.[12]
• Decolonization of Africa (and of Asia), and the international perception of the American Negro as downtrodden and powerless.[13][14]
• The centennial of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation reminded Blacks that they remained oppressed in spite of their nominal legal freedom.[15]
• The Great Depression never ended for African Americans; while others enjoyed an economic recovery, Black unemployment rose. King says that economic inequality in America became particularly obvious in 1963.[16]
• The rise to prominence of nonviolent direct action as a means for demanding change.[17]

Nonviolent resistance

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King goes on to describe why nonviolent resistance was so powerful. One of its major strengths involved changing the function of jails in society. Previously, the jail was used as an element of intimidation: authorities used the threat of pain and isolation in jail to control many separate individuals. Large groups of demonstrators, however, had the power to fill up jails—and to politicize the act of being jailed, thereby making jail less of a punishment.[18] He condemns tokenism as an act of deception that offers false pride without real power: "The Negro wanted to feel pride in his race. With tokenism, the solution was simple. If all twenty million Negroes would keep looking at Ralph Bunche, the one man in so exalted a post would generate such a volume of pride that it could be cut into portions and served to everyone."[19] King distinguishes between tokenism and a "modest start" to equality, writing that tokenism serves to stifle dissent and protest, not to start a process.[20]

He criticizes other approaches to social change for Blacks, including the quietism of Booker T. Washington, the elitism of W. E. B. Du Bois's appeal to The Talented Tenth, the Pan-Africanism of Marcus Garvey, and the litigation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). King argues that none of these leaders and philosophies held the promise of real mass change for all African Americans.[21]

Birmingham

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King describes "Bull Connor's Birmingham" as an anachronistic city whose social order resembled colonial-era slavery. He writes that Blacks lack basic human rights, and are ruled by violence and terror.[22]

He chronicles preliminary demonstrations held by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACHR)[23] and then describes Bull Connor's attempts to intimidate the SCLC.[24] He tells about how the SCLC nevertheless planned the Birmingham campaign, believing that if segregation could be overcome in Birmingham it could have effects across the entire United States.[25]

King describes the alliance between the SCLC and the ACHR, and reproduces the text of a "Commitment Card" used for recruiting. (Volunteers who signed the card pledged to meditate on the life of Jesus, pray daily, observe the interests of the community, and to seek "justice and reconciliation—not victory".)[26] He tells the story of how he was imprisoned in the course of demonstrations[27] and then reproduces his (already and thereafter) famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail".[28]

The city government became increasingly willing to negotiate as demonstrations continued. King describes mass participation by young people, full jails, and international media attention fueled by powerful photographs. Negotiators reached an agreement on Friday, May 10, 1963: the city promised desegregation within 90 days, jobs for Blacks in local industry, release of those jailed during the campaign, and ongoing formal diplomacy between Black and White leaders.[29]

The agreement triggered an assassination attempt on King, orchestrated by the local Ku Klux Klan. The bombing at King's hotel room triggered a civil disturbance in Birmingham which brought in the police forces and then the National Guard.[30]

Thousands of student demonstrators were expelled from school by the Birmingham Board of Education. The decision was challenged by the NAACP and overruled by Judge Elbert P. Tuttle in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.[31]

Ongoing revolution

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King advocates continued action in Birmingham, comparing the campaign to the Battle of Bunker Hill—the beginning of organization in a revolutionary army. He warns against complacency in the wake of the Birmingham demonstrations, suggesting that revolt is only the beginning of revolution.[32]

He calls for multi-racial unity, suggesting that Africans were not the only group oppressed in America: "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society."[33] He argues that the summer of 1963 has made most Whites in America more receptive to the idea of legal equality for Blacks.[34]

He describes the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, praising the participation of White churches but frustrated by the neutrality of the AFL–CIO. He notes that millions of Americans watched scenes from the March on television and expresses hope for the future of this medium.[35]

The conclusion provides an explanation of "why we can't wait": that Blacks must no longer move towards freedom, but assert their freedom. King writes: "It is because the Negro knows that no person—as well as no nation—can truly exist half slave and half free that he has embroiders upon his banners the significant word now."[36] He calls for a Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged, including reparations for unpaid wages.[37] He holds out hope for a coalition with poor Whites and organized labor.[38] He suggests that the civil rights movement may be able to work with President Lyndon Johnson, cautioning that political work is dangerous but necessary.[39] He ends by saying that if the civil rights revolution succeeds it may spread nonviolence worldwide, ending the nuclear arms race and bringing world peace.[40]

Reception and effect

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The book was generally well received by the mainstream press.[3] It also afforded the Letter from Birmingham Jail its widest circulation yet.[2]

King traveled to promote the book, while also still involved in the St. Augustine Movement.[41]

Why We Can't Wait was an important part of the effort to make the civil rights struggle known to national and international audiences. Describing Birmingham as "the most segregated city in America" transformed it into a symbol for segregation and inequality at large.[42]

Legacy

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Adbusters cited Why We Can't Wait (and the Poor People's Campaign) in September 2011 as an inspiration for Occupy Wall Street.[43]

In October 2011, the Obama administration started using the slogan "We Can't Wait", based on the plan to enact policies despite a resistant Congress.[44]

The book has received much contemporary critical acclaim, and was ranked #78 on Modern Library's list of the 100 best non-fiction books written in English.[45]

References

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1. ^ Branch, Parting the Waters (1989), p. 804.
2. ^ a b Bass, Blessed Are The Peacemakers (2002), p. 144.
3. ^ a b c "Why We Can't Wait", Encyclopedia (Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute), accessed 4 December 2019.
4. ^ Mieder, Making a Way Out of No Way (2010), p. 21. "Al Duckett, another ghostwriter, was involved in preparing the manuscript of King's third book Why We Can't Wait (1964), and while Rustin had asked not to be acknowledged for his labor, Duckett's help is mentioned by King before the introduction to the book. (Garrow 1986: 280 and 299)."
5. ^ Branch, Parting the Waters (1989), p. 910.
6. ^ Garrow, Bearing the Cross (1986), p. 649; quoted in Mieder "Making a Way Out of No Way" (2010), p. 22.
7. ^ Bass, Blessed Are The Peacemakers (2002), p. 136–137.
8. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), p. 76.
9. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 15–18. "Why did a thousand cities shudder almost simultaneously and why did the whole world—in gleaming capitals and mud-hut villages—hold its breath during those months? Why was it the year that the American Negro, so long ignored, so long written out of the pages of history books, tramped a declaration of freedom with his marching feet across the pages of newspapers, the television screens, and the magazines?"
10. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), p. 16.
11. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 18–19. "In order, then, to understand the deep disillusion of the Negro in 1963, one must examine his contrasting emotions at the time of the decision and during the nine years that followed. One must understand the pendulum swing between the elation that arose when the edict was handed down and the despair that followed the failure to bring it to life."
12. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 19–21. "The Negro felt that he recognized the same old bone that had been tossed to him in the past—only now it was being handed to him on a platter."
13. ^ See also: Year of Africa
14. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 21–22.
15. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 22–25. "In 1963, the Negro, who had realized for many years that he was not truly free, awoke from a stupor of inaction with the cold dash of realization that 1963 meant one hundred years after Lincoln gave his autograph to the cause of freedom."
16. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 23–24.
17. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 25–26. "Tested in Montgomery during the winter of 1955–56, and toughened throughout the South in the eight ensuing years, nonviolent resistance has become, by 1963, the logical force in the greatest mass-action crusade that has ever occurred in American history."
18. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 27–30.
19. ^ King, Why We Can't-Wait (1964), pp. 30–31.
20. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 31–32.
21. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 33–34.
22. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 47–50.
23. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 51–52.
24. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), p. 53.
25. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 54–58.
26. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 59–64.
27. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 65–75.
28. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 76–95.
29. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 96–106.
30. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 106–107.
31. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 107–108.
32. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 113–117.
33. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 119–120.
34. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 121–122. "The summer of our discontent, far from alienating America's white citizens, brought them closer into harmony with its Negro citizens than ever before."
35. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 123–125.
36. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 123–129.
37. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 137–138.
38. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 141–142.
39. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), pp. 146–151.
40. ^ King, Why We Can't Wait (1964), p. 152. "In measuring the full implications of the civil-rights revolution, the greatest contribution may be in the area of world peace."
41. ^ Garrow, Bearing the Cross (1986), p. 325.
42. ^ Davi Johnson, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 Birmingham Campaign as Image Event", Rhetoric & Public Affairs 10(1), Spring 2007, accessed via Project Muse.
43. ^ "Why We Can't Wait: Some inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr. for Occupy Wall Street", Adbusters 96, 13 September 2011.
44. ^ George Pyle, "Obama, like King, should know why we can't wait", Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 2011.
45. ^ "100 Best Nonfiction « Modern Library". www.modernlibrary.com.

Bibliography

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• Bass, S. Jonathan (2002). Blessed Are The Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807128008
• Branch, Taylor (1989). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780671687427
• Garrow, David (1986). Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-04794-7
• King, Martin Luther Jr. (1964). Why We Can't Wait. New York: New American Library (Harper & Row). ISBN 0451527534
• Mieder, Wolfgang (2010). "Making a Way Out of No Way": Martin Luther King's Sermonic Proverbial Rhetoric. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433113031

External links

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• Why We Can't Wait on Google Books
• Quotations and video relating to Fred Shuttlesworth and Why We Can't Wait

Articles

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• Samad, Anthony Assadulah. "The 'Promised Land': Why We're Still Waiting". Black Commentator 166, 12 January 2006.
• Wharton, Billy. "Why We Can’t Wait: Reading Dr. King in the Age of Obama". Dissident Voice, 18 January 2010.

v t e Martin Luther King Jr.
Speeches, writings, movements, and protests Speeches "Give Us the Ballot" (1957) "I Have a Dream" (1963) "How Long, Not Long" (1965) "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" (1967) "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968) Writings Stride Toward Freedom (1958) "What Is Man?" (1959) "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Strength to Love (1963) "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963) Why We Can't Wait (1964) Conscience for Change (1967) Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) Movementsand protests Montgomery bus boycott (1955–1956) Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom (1957) Albany Movement (1961–1962) Birmingham campaign (1963) March on Washington (1963) St. Augustine movement (1963–1964) Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) Chicago Freedom Movement (1966) Mississippi March Against Fear (1966) Anti-Vietnam War movement (1967) Memphis sanitation strike (1968) Poor People's Campaign (1968) Organizations Montgomery Improvement Association Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
People Family Coretta Scott King (wife) Yolanda King (daughter) Martin Luther King III (son) Dexter King (son) Bernice King (daughter) Martin Luther King Sr. (father) Alberta Williams King (mother) Christine King Farris (sister) A. D. King (brother) James Albert King (grandfather) Alveda King (niece) Otherleaders Ralph Abernathy (mentor, colleague) Ella Baker (colleague) James Bevel (strategist / colleague) Dorothy Cotton (colleague) Jesse Jackson (protégé) Bernard Lafayette (colleague) James Lawson (colleague) John Lewis (colleague) Joseph Lowery (colleague) Benjamin Mays (mentor) Diane Nash (colleague) James Orange (colleague) Bayard Rustin (advisor) Fred Shuttlesworth (colleague) C. T. Vivian (colleague) Wyatt Walker (colleague) Hosea Williams (colleague) Andrew Young (colleague)
Assassination Lorraine Motel (now National Civil Rights Museum) Riots Funeral James Earl Ray Jack Kershaw U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act Loyd Jowers Trial Conspiracy theories Executive Order 14176
Media Film King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970 documentary) Our Friend, Martin (1999 animated) Boycott (2001 film) The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 (2008 documentary) Selma (2014 film) All the Way (2016 film) King in the Wilderness (2018 documentary) MLK/FBI (2020 documentary) Rustin (2023 film) Television King (1978 miniseries) "The First Store" (The Jeffersons, 1980) "Great X-Pectations" (A Different World, 1993) "The Promised Land" (New York Undercover, 1997) Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) "Return of the King" (The Boondocks, 2006) Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK (2011 documentary) Genius (MLK/X, 2024) Plays The Meeting (1987) The Mountaintop (2009) I Dream (2010) All the Way (2012) Books Bearing the Cross (1986) America in the King Years (1988, 1998, 2006) King: A Life (2023) Illustrated Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story (1957 comic book) Music "Abraham, Martin and John" (Dion) "March! For Martin Luther King" (John Fahey) "Martin Luther King's Dream" (Strawbs) "Happy Birthday" (Stevie Wonder) "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (U2) "MLK" (U2) "King Holiday" (King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew) "By the Time I Get to Arizona" (Public Enemy) "Shed a Little Light" (James Taylor) "Up to the Mountain" (Patti Griffin) "Never Alone Martin" (Jason Upton) "Symphony of Brotherhood" (Miri Ben-Ari) Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King (1995 album) "A Dream" (Common featuring will.i.am) "Glory" (Common and John Legend) Related Civil rights movement in popular culture Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. King v. Trustees of Boston Univ.
Related topics Memorials and eponymous locations Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial National Historical Park King Center for Nonviolent Social Change Dexter Avenue Baptist Church National Civil Rights Museum U.S. Capitol Rotunda sculpture Oval Office bust Homage to King sculpture, Atlanta Hope Moving Forward statue, Atlanta Safe House Black History Museum Statues of Martin Luther King Jr. Atlanta Boston Denver Houston Jersey City Milwaukee Mexico City Newark Pueblo, Colorado Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, San Francisco Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (Compton) Landmark for Peace Memorial, Indianapolis The Dream sculpture, Portland, Oregon Kennedy–King College Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose Paris park Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. King County, Washington Eponymous streets Other topics Martin Luther King Jr. Day passage Big Six African American founding fathers of the United States Authorship issues FBI–King suicide letter Martin Luther King Jr., A Current Analysis Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Season for Nonviolence Civil rights movement in popular culture Lee–Jackson–King Day

v t e Civil rights movement (1954–1968)
Events(timeline)	Prior to 1954 Journey of Reconciliation Executive Order 9981 Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore Sweatt v. Painter (1950) McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) Baton Rouge bus boycott 1954–1959 Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Read's Drug Store sit-in Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom "Give Us the Ballot" Royal Ice Cream sit-in Little Rock Nine Cooper v. Aaron Civil Rights Act of 1957 Ministers' Manifesto Dockum Drug Store sit-in Katz Drug Store sit-in Kissing Case Biloxi wade-ins 1960–1963 New Year's Day March Sit-in movement Greensboro sit-ins Nashville sit-ins Sibley Commission Atlanta sit-ins Savannah Protest Movement Greenville Eight Civil Rights Act of 1960 Ax Handle Saturday New Orleans school desegregation Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia University of Georgia desegregation riot Rock Hill sit-ins Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address Freedom Rides Anniston and Birmingham bus attacks Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement Cambridge movement University of Chicago sit-ins "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot Atlanta's Berlin Wall "Segregation now, segregation forever" Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights Detroit Walk to Freedom Leesburg Stockade March on Washington "I Have a Dream" Big Six St. Augustine movement 1964–1968 Twenty-fourth Amendment Chester school protests Bloody Tuesday 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests Freedom Summer workers' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung 1964–1965 Scripto strike 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches "How Long, Not Long" SCOPE Project Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement Loving v. Virginia Memphis sanitation strike King assassination funeral riots Civil Rights Act of 1968 Poor People's Campaign Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. 1968 Olympics Black Power salute
Activistgroups	Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights American Friends Service Committee Atlanta Negro Voters League Atlanta Student Movement Black Panther Party Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Committee for Freedom Now Committee on Appeal for Human Rights An Appeal for Human Rights Council for United Civil Rights Leadership Council of Federated Organizations Dallas County Voters League Deacons for Defense and Justice Georgia Council on Human Relations Highlander Folk School Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Lowndes County Freedom Organization Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Montgomery Improvement Association NAACP Youth Council Nashville Student Movement Nation of Islam Northern Student Movement National Council of Negro Women National Urban League Operation Breadbasket Regional Council of Negro Leadership Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Southern Regional Council Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) The Freedom Singers United Auto Workers (UAW) Wednesdays in Mississippi Women's Political Council
Activists	Juanita Abernathy Ralph Abernathy Victoria Gray Adams Zev Aelony Mathew Ahmann Muhammad Ali William G. Anderson Gwendolyn Armstrong Arnold Aronson Ella Baker James Baldwin Marion Barry Daisy Bates Harry Belafonte James Bevel Claude Black Gloria Blackwell Randolph Blackwell Unita Blackwell Ezell Blair Jr. Joanne Bland Julian Bond Joseph E. Boone William Holmes Borders Amelia Boynton Bruce Boynton Raylawni Branch Stanley Branche Ruby Bridges Aurelia Browder H. Rap Brown R. Jess Brown Ralph Bunche John H. Calhoun Guy Carawan Stokely Carmichael Johnnie Carr James Chaney J. L. Chestnut Shirley Chisholm Colia Lafayette Clark Ramsey Clark Septima Clark Xernona Clayton Eldridge Cleaver Kathleen Cleaver Josephine Dobbs Clement Charles E. Cobb Jr. Annie Lee Cooper Dorothy Cotton Claudette Colvin Vernon Dahmer Jonathan Daniels Abraham Lincoln Davis Angela Davis Joseph DeLaine Dave Dennis Annie Bell Robinson Devine John Wesley Dobbs Jesse L. Douglas Patricia Stephens Due Joseph Ellwanger Charles Evers Medgar Evers Myrlie Evers-Williams Chuck Fager James Farmer Walter Fauntroy James Forman Marie Foster Golden Frinks Georgia Gilmore Andrew Goodman Robert Graetz Fred Gray Shirley Green-Reese Jack Greenberg Dick Gregory Lawrence Guyot Prathia Hall Fannie Lou Hamer Fred Hampton William E. Harbour Vincent Harding Dorothy Height Audrey Faye Hendricks Lola Hendricks Aaron Henry Oliver Hill Donald L. Hollowell James Hood Myles Horton Zilphia Horton T. R. M. Howard Ruby Hurley Cecil Ivory Jesse Jackson Jimmie Lee Jackson Richie Jean Jackson T. J. Jemison Esau Jenkins Barbara Rose Johns Vernon Johns Frank Minis Johnson Clarence Jones J. Charles Jones Matthew Jones Vernon Jordan Tom Kahn Clyde Kennard A. D. King C.B. King Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Sr. Bernard Lafayette James Lawson Bernard Lee Sanford R. Leigh Jim Letherer Stanley Levison John Lewis Viola Liuzzo Z. Alexander Looby Joseph Lowery Clara Luper Danny Lyon Malcolm X Mae Mallory Vivian Malone Bob Mants Thurgood Marshall Benjamin Mays Franklin McCain Charles McDew Cleve McDowell Ralph McGill Floyd McKissick Joseph McNeil James Meredith William Ming Jack Minnis Amzie Moore Cecil B. Moore Douglas E. Moore Harriette Moore Harry T. Moore Queen Mother Moore William Lewis Moore Irene Morgan Bob Moses William Moyer Pauli Murray Elijah Muhammad Diane Nash Charles Neblett Huey P. Newton Edgar Nixon Jack O'Dell James Orange Rosa Parks James Peck Charles Person Homer Plessy Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Fay Bellamy Powell Rodney N. Powell Al Raby Lincoln Ragsdale A. Philip Randolph George Raymond George Raymond Jr. Bernice Johnson Reagon Cordell Reagon James Reeb Frederick D. Reese Walter Reuther Gloria Richardson David Richmond Bernice Robinson Jo Ann Robinson Angela Russell Bayard Rustin Bernie Sanders Michael Schwerner Bobby Seale Pete Seeger Cleveland Sellers Charles Sherrod Alexander D. Shimkin Fred Shuttlesworth Modjeska Monteith Simkins Glenn E. Smiley A. Maceo Smith Kelly Miller Smith Mary Louise Smith Maxine Smith Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson Charles Kenzie Steele Hank Thomas Dorothy Tillman A. P. Tureaud Hartman Turnbow Albert Turner C. T. Vivian A. T. Walden Wyatt Tee Walker Hollis Watkins Walter Francis White Roy Wilkins Hosea Williams Kale Williams Robert F. Williams Q. V. Williamson Andrew Young Whitney Young Sammy Younge Jr. Bob Zellner James Zwerg
By region	Omaha, Nebraska South Carolina
Movementsongs	"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" "Kumbaya" "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" "Oh, Freedom" "This Little Light of Mine" "We Shall Not Be Moved" "We Shall Overcome" "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)"
Influences	Nonviolence Padayatra Sermon on the Mount Mahatma Gandhi Ahimsa Satyagraha The Kingdom of God Is Within You Frederick Douglass W. E. B. Du Bois Mary McLeod Bethune
Related	Lyndon B. Johnson Jim Crow laws Lynching in the United States Plessy v. Ferguson Separate but equal Buchanan v. Warley Hocutt v. Wilson Powell v. Alabama Smith v. Allwright Hernandez v. Texas Loving v. Virginia African-American women in the movement Jews in the civil rights movement Fifth Circuit Four 16th Street Baptist Church Kelly Ingram Park A.G. Gaston Motel Bethel Baptist Church Brown Chapel Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Holt Street Baptist Church Edmund Pettus Bridge March on Washington Movement African-American churches attacked List of lynching victims in the United States Freedom Schools Freedom songs Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" Voter Education Project 1960s counterculture African American founding fathers of the United States Eyes on the Prize
Legacy	In popular culture Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument Civil Rights Memorial Civil Rights Movement Archive Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument Freedom Rides Museum Freedom Riders National Monument King Center for Nonviolent Social Change Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial other King memorials Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park Mississippi Civil Rights Museum National Center for Civil and Human Rights National Civil Rights Museum National Voting Rights Museum Rosa Parks Museum St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument Olympic Black Power Statue
Notedhistorians	Taylor Branch Clayborne Carson John Dittmer Michael Eric Dyson Jonathan Eig Chuck Fager Adam Fairclough David Garrow David Halberstam Vincent Harding Steven F. Lawson Doug McAdam Diane McWhorter Charles M. Payne Thomas E. Ricks Timothy Tyson Akinyele Umoja Movement photographers
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