The Impact of Racism on African American Lives, and the Strategies to Fight Racist Injustice: Civil Rights and Black Power

This essay examines the impact of racism on the lives of Africans Americans, and the strategies devices by the Africans to make life more bearable in the face of racist injustice. African Americans have been the victims of the situation, beginning from the slavery times to the present. This paper specifically concentrates on strategies used by the Africans from Civil Rights and Black Power (1941-1970). The emergence and growth of the black left in the United States bas to be viewed in regards to the different historical phases of struggle against the national oppression of the black, women oppression, and their fusion into a revolutionary struggle for socialism and self-determination (Donzaleigh, 2003). The Impact of Racism on African American Lives Essay

The different historical phases of the struggle have in some way contributed to the Black liberation. Multiple organizations and strategies were created representing different class forces and perspectives. This development came forward especially during and after the Black Reconstruction period following the civil war (Devon and Weise, 2003). History tells a lot about the Africans highs and lows in the left engagement, especially as the struggle continues in the 21^st century. The struggle by the Black Liberation Movement (BLM) against national oppression and racist is an ongoing fight. Imperialist and capitalism has stood still, having learnt from history.

In the last 50 years of struggle for black liberation, a number of organizations have been established as part of struggle strategies. The black workers congress was a channel for the radical Black African workers unification. Black Workers Congress was based in Detroit. Detroit was the choice because of the creation of the League of the Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW). The LRBW was the primary initiative created to radicalize the shop floor since the 1950s anti-labor McCarthy goon squad. The organization connected the Black workers struggle to the heart of the Black Liberation Movement. This gives a proper definition of the Black left social basis, organizing and understanding the historical responsibility of the Black workers in BML with anti-capitalist politics (Bettye and Franklin, 2004).

The Impact of Racism on African American Lives Essay

The ALSC (African Liberation Support Committee was an armed struggle for liberation of Africans from colonialism. In the process of this liberation, revolutionary thinking, particularly Marxism-Leninism, became the core emphasis for the progressive Black school of thought. The ALSC was constituted of workers, community activists, progressive middle class forces, and community activists. The Black Radical Congress (BRC) was the last greatest movement and gathering of the Black left (Donzaleigh, 2003). The movement gathered more than 2,000 people in Chicago with the aim of forging a freedom agenda with the intention of marching and unifying the people. Another initiative, the Combahee River Collective, was Black lesbians and Black feminists founded in Boston. These women worked on issues that brought oppression to women including sex, race and class segregation. These radical Black women championed for solidarity and liberation of progressive forces to deal with the destructive forces of imperialism, capitalism and patriarchy. The idea of unity during these struggle times were fused in principles that promoted democratic principles and values based on liberation, self-determination, justice, equality and power to the oppressed.

Martin Luther King remains one of the primary political leaders who had the ability to articulate coherent political strategies that came from and connected with on-the-ground social movement activism. Martin Luther King used a number of strategies to build different movements and organizing to ensure the success of his message. King managed to create mighty political and rhetorical strategy which was primarily based on a group of closely related practices and concepts; love, non-violent civil disobedience, a revolution of values, the American Dream and the beloved community. King also depended on his African-American history and faith to encounter fatalism and fear. He called for his followers to be conscious of their connection with everything and everyone else.

The Impact of Racism on African American Lives Essay

The Civil Rights movement’s main strategic method was definitely non-violent mass civil disobedient. The main advances of the CRM was connected to the marches, sometimes in court injunction or defiance, attempts to register or vote, and the huge demonstrations that led to thousands of people ending up in jails and others dying. King positioned civil disobedience within a model relevant to the outside/ inside strategy. The direct action disruptive nature and the seemingly highly orderly negotiations process may be different tactically for the inside game. The outside game or simply the outside section is the inside game preconditioning. When there is no pressure from the outside negotiations are minimized to pleading and begging on puny legal claims.

The Impact of Racism on African American Lives Essay

Love is a special weapon. On several occasions King says that love does not mean the feeling people relate to romance or friendship and also it does not mean loving your enemy. Grand redemptive love is the kind of love that King used to motivate his movement. From the Greek, Love means “agape.” Agape means redemptive, understanding, creative, good will to all humans based on the mutual interest that obtains/ derives from people’s interrelatedness. By Martin Luther’s definition, love approaches the best meaning and understanding of ‘solidarity”; enlightened self-interest based on interconnectedness and mutuality. In his own views, for sure; when one is injured, everyone is injured. Innovation by Gandhi infused politics with love, into forgetting about the satyagraha concept. Satyagraha is truth-force or love-force with the American movement reengineered into soul-force. With such a huge love amongst the people, it is much easier to promote equality and freedom amongst the people. Love can be ingrained in the civil rights movement successfully (Stewart, 2004).

Fatalism and fear are two core enemies. Distraction and denial are not left far behind. It is not easy to believe that problems that have been in existence for ages like war a d race can be surmounted or avoid the catastrophes brought about by the climatic change or nature. When there is no rhetorical strategy in place to help in promoting confidence and purpose, fatalism and fear weakens people’s efforts. The Martin Luther and the American South civil movement discovered their answers and solutions in the Africans in Americans history and the spirit of Black Christianity (Payne and Green, 2003). Over the years, there are signs and proof of participation of religious traditions that promotes ideals of justice when humans are oppressed by fellow humans. King’s God was referred to as the “God of Justice.” In United States, this “social gospel” is deeply ingrained back in the national beginnings when the very first revolutionaries said that Tyrants resistance is obedience to God. Christianity evolved to become a practical liberation theology in the hands of the African-Americans dur9ng colonialism and heightened racism era. The Black church offered the organization and resources required to launch the movement. Even though King had unequivocal devotion to his mighty God, he suggested that people from other faiths together with the non-believers can still have a feel of the power in the world that word and promotes justice (Bettye and Franklin, 2004).

The Impact of Racism on African American Lives Essay

References

Donzaleigh A. (2003). Partners to History: Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and

the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Crown.

Stewart B. (2004). To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Sacred Mission to Save

America, 1955–1968. New York: Harper-SanFrancisco, 2004.

Devon W. and Weise D. (2003). Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of

Bayard Rustin. San Francisco: Cleis, 2003.

Bettye C. T. and Franklin, V.P. (2004). eds., Sisters in the Struggle: African

American Women in the Civil Rights–Black Power Movement. New York: New York University Press, 2004.

Payne, C. and Green, A. (2003). Time Longer than Rope: A Century of African

American Activism, 1850–1950. New York: New York University Press.