Discrimination Paradox
Volume 1, No. 14
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I just finished listening to an autobiography on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The book is called King :A Life by Jonathan Eg. This book seeks to make Dr. King three dimensional instead of just a man with a dream that world portrays him as every third Monday in January. I struggle with the paradox of King and other leaders lack of consistency in beliefs and actions. King married Coretta because of her intelligence and experience as an activist. Yet he demanded that she stay at home and take care of the children. He lived and died being faithful to the movement but not his wife.
King struggled at first getting legal assistance from Constance Baker Motley. Her defense of the Birmingham civil rights campaign is now barely remembered. Many historians pay too little attention to the legal strategies tand cases Motley won that helped the movement succeed. He finally came around and admitted in a 1965 column in New York’s Amsterdam News that Motley was among the great American litigators who had made strides for social change.
The one thing I definitely agree with Dr. King is that the issues in America is not about intergration or voting rights. It is about the moral character of America. When one cares more about power and position over people, chaos battles order.
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
“Sometimes, I am also identified as a civil rights leader or a human rights activist. I would also like to be thought of as a complex, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood human being with a rich storehouse of experiences, much like everyone else, yet unique in my own way, much like everyone else.
— Coretta Scott King
CULTURAL CORNER
Black women in the Civil Rights Movement faced a double burden of racism and sexism. This intersectionality often meant that their struggles and contributions were doubly marginalized, both by the wider society and within the movement itself. In her 1977 memoir, Anna Arnold Hedgeman of the National Council of Churches wrote: “Wryly, it occurred to me that women, too, were not yet adequately included in man’s journey toward humanity,” Traditional gender roles limited women to supportive tasks rather than leadership positions. Women were often expected to organize events, handle logistics, and perform clerical duties, while men were more likely to be in public, visible roles.
As an example, let’s look at the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It is looked at because of the sole leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. A main part of the reality was that thrust pastors in these positions of leadership because their jobs/livelihoods could not be threatened. The genesis and success of the boycott was sue to women, many of which whose stories you have never heard told.
Jo Ann Robinson was instrumental in the early planning and organization of the boycott. She distributed thousands of leaflets calling for a boycott immediately following Parks' arrest. Her organizational skills and leadership were critical in mobilizing the community and sustaining the boycott over the long term.
Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in March 1955. She was one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. The other plaintiffs for this case were Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald and Mary Louise Smith. All these women were arrested for refusing to give up their seats on Montgomery buses before Rosa Parks' arrest.
Founder of the Women's Political Council (WPC), Mary Fair Burks laid the foundation for the boycott and ensured a coordinated response. The WPC, under her leadership, had been advocating for bus reforms and was prepared to act when the opportunity arose.
SISTERHOOD SPOTLIGHT
Coretta Scott King (1927–2006): Author, activist, and civil rights leader
Coretta Scott King was a powerful advocate for nonviolent protest and human rights, championing causes that extended beyond racial issues to include gender equality, economic justice, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Scott King was a classically trained musician, singer and pianist. She studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Her musical talents were sometimes integrated into her activism, as she used concerts to raise funds for the movement.
As an author, she chronicled her experiences and the movement's struggles in her memoir "My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr.," providing valuable insights into the personal and political challenges they faced.
She participated in anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, and she was a vocal critic of U.S. military involvement in conflicts around the world. Her activism was global in scope, and she often spoke out against human rights abuses and advocated for nonviolent solutions to international conflicts.
The 7-Day Empathy Challenge:
In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King: I challenge you to engage in one act of empathy each day for a week.
This could range from listening actively to a friend's concerns without offering advice, to putting yourself in the shoes of someone you disagree with. The goal is to foster understanding and compassion. The fifth habit from Steven Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is : Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Until next time.....remember your voice and stories matters!
