Have you seen the slogan This Ain’t Yo Mama’s Civil Rights Movement? It is decidedly not one of my favorites, as it suggests the movement for nonviolent resistance of the 1950s and ‘60s” was old-fashioned and weak compared to activism today.
It’s time to revisit just what made the Civil Rights Movement the national political watershed of the 20th century. How did they do it? Through comprehensive strategies fueled by creative and effective tactics.
A strategy is a plan or action implemented to achieve a major aim. Strategies are propelled by tactics, step-by-step actions that help reach the larger goal.
Tactics: The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- Several women, including 15-year-old Claudette Colvin and, finally, Rosa Parks, refused to move to the back of segregated buses, leading to their arrests.
- The day after Parks’ arrest, a citywide boycott of the Montgomery bus system began by its African-American riders. (The boycott was preplanned, just waiting for the right inciting incident to motivate the masses.)
- Local cab companies and individuals organized car pools, and communities raised gas money during the boycott.
- Thousands walked everywhere, every day, for a full year, while buses ran nearly empty.
These tactics supported the overarching economic strategy of draining the bus system of income, finally prompting the city’s white leadership to desegregate Montgomery’s buses.
Tactics: The 1963 Children’s March of Birmingham, Alabama.
- The Famed activists, The Rev. James Bevel and his wife, Diane Nash, pushed for a targeted campaign of civil disobedience using the children they had been teaching in their youth meetings.
- Local radio DJs delivered on-air coded musical messages to the students to initiate the march at noon on May 2.
- Waves of students simultaneously converged on three prearranged places — a park, City Hall and downtown Birmingham, confusing the local police.
- They were arrested en masse, held overnight and released, only to return to the march sites by the thousands.
- Crowds blocked entry to the downtown shopping area, prompting tremendous economic losses.
By May 9, city officials were compelled to reach an agreement with movement leaders that included the desegregation of lunch counters, fitting rooms, restrooms and drinking fountains. The extreme violent reaction by the police was televised on the news, capturing the shock and indignation of the nation and galvanizing the Civil Rights Movement to an international scale.
Tactics: The 1977 Sullivan Principles.
- Launched by the Rev. Leon Sullivan, the first African-American to join a corporate board — General Motors, then the largest American employer in South Africa.
- Designed as an anti-apartheid code of conduct for US companies operating in South Africa.
- The principles included equal and fair treatment, pay, work facilities, training programs, the advancement of non-white employees and a demand for the release of Nelson Mandela.
- Served as part of the larger 1980s divestment campaign for individual businesses and institutional investors, including universities and unions, along with protests and arrests outside of South African embassies.
The principles were adopted by more than 125 major US corporations, 100 of which completely withdrew their operations from South Africa. Sullivan eventually abandoned the Principles as not going far enough. However, the era of corporate social responsibility was born.
What these examples have in common is an emphasis on exacting major economic impact fueled by the unity, courage and steadfast commitment of everyone involved.
Next month, we will examine the implications of 21st-century economic resistance strategies. After all, in the words of that great Baltimore rip-and-run street philosopher, Omar Little on HBO’s The Wire,
“Money ain’t got no owners. Only spenders.”
March On!
