| The Civil Rights Movement
still ranks as one of the most extraordinary stories of the American twentieth
century (quite possibly of American history overall). Very few things
turned southern society-- and America in general--upside down so significantly.
Southern history might still be marked (in much the same way as the Civil
War itself) as “before and after” the revolution in civil rights of the
1950s and 1960s. It was so significant that it has even had international
implications. Countless freedom movements across the world have clearly
taken inspiration by what occurred here in southern communities half a
century ago. This American story is made all the more amazing by
the people who created it. Civil rights leaders were among the most
disenfranchised, isolated, downtrodden Americans of their time; and, yet
they radically altered America forever. They were also ordinary people
doing quite extraordinary things. As one of those activists later
claimed, “We started with nothing. We had nothing. And, we
changed the world with nothing.” These are the stories we will tell–
African American and white, male and female, journalist and activist, politician
and foot soldier. |