Black Activism
This has always been a much covered area in the historical study of civil rights. For depth of understanding, click on the links below to gain an understanding of the movements.
Black activism in overturning their oppression is an important attitude. By any yardstick, without black activism, there would not have been the advances that have been made since the 1950's in the Civil Rights Movements, no demand for Black Power, no demand for equal opportunity not just politically, but also in the northern cities where the traditional Civil Rights Movements stayed away from, until the late 1960's.
Other influences on black activism include a personal faith in God. Religion played an important part in the movements for justice; just as Christianity promised deliverance and salvation on a spiritual level, on a more worldly level, it provided security and hope in knowing that what they were doing was guided along by divine providence. While Christianity was one religion that influenced the early Civil Rights Movement like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Islam dominated the thinking of the Black Power movement, principally because the non-violence that the SCLC used as its strategy, and which worked well in places with weak-minded sheriffs like Birmingham and Selma in 1963 and 1965 respectively, was indelibly related to Christianity. Christianity was still seen as a "white man's" religion, and hence the switch to Islam, especially with figures as Malcolm X becoming firm advocates of more militant action than the non-violent strategy of SCLC.
For further information on the various groups, try these links below:
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Interpretative Essays