“I think one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing, and activities on the ground, that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power throughout which you bring about redistributive change. And in some ways, we still suffer from that.” ThinkingWayStillsAbleTogetherPoliticalSufferingCommunityLosesRightsMovementActivityTragedyCourtTrackFocusedTendenciesCivil RightsCivil Rights MovementCoalitionsCommunity Organizing Author:Barack Obama
“Now liberals compare their every riot, every traffic blockage, every Starbucks-window-smashing street protest to the civil rights movement -- which was only necessary because of them.” RightsStreetsMovementWindowCivil RightsCompareProtestTrafficRiotCivil Rights MovementStarbucksSmashingBlockage Author:Ann Coulter
“When I speak to students about the Civil Rights Movement, I say that it is impossible to stop a determined movement that is captivating the American consciousness. I think the candidacy of Sen. Obama represents the beginning of a new movement in American political history that began in the hearts and minds of the people of this nation. And I want to be on the side of the people, on the side of the spirit of history.” PeopleThinkingWantMindHeartPoliticalSpiritSpeakNationsSidesConsciousnessRightsImpossibleMovementStudentsDeterminedCivil RightsHeart And MindCivil Rights MovementCaptivatingPolitical HistoryCandidacy Author:John Lewis
“One of the most important parts of the civil rights movement that people don't talk about was these mass meetings. It's like "Movement Church." It's a combination of the music of the movement and the church. Those mass meetings are where people got the energy to go on to the next day.” PeopleImportantNextEnergyChurchRightsMovementGoes OnMassMeetingsCivil RightsCombinationNext DayCivil Rights Movement Author:Stanley Nelson Jr.
“I had a fantasy as a child that I might be a writer someday. I always thought that meant you went to New York or Paris. But after that intense summer, I never thought that I wanted to live any place but Chicago. It also made me see what the stakes were in the civil rights movement. And it made me see what real hatred was like and the forms that it took. But it also made me understand how powerless ordinary people feel in their lives.” PeopleFeelsChildrenMadeRealMightWantedFormFantasyRightsNew YorkMovementSummerOrdinaryHatredIntenseCivil RightsParisSomedayChicagoStakesPowerlessOrdinary PeopleCivil Rights Movement Author:Sara Paretsky
“The next step has to be the necessary step. It's always to put the immigrant community and the civil rights movement ahead of partisan politics.” NextCommunityStepsRightsMovementCivil RightsImmigrantsCivil Rights MovementPartisansNext StepsPartisan Politics Author:Luis Gutierrez
“It was so crucial to the Civil Rights Movement that on June 23, 1963, Martin Luther King came to town, walked down Woodward Avenue with more than 100,000 people and delivered the first major public iteration of his "I Have A Dream" speech, two months before he did it in Washington.” PeopleFirstsTwoDreamRightsMovementMonthsKingsSpeechMajorsTownsCivil RightsCrucialLutherJuneAvenuesCivil Rights MovementTwo MonthsI Have A Dream Speech Author:David Maraniss
“Detroit was an exaggeration of what was going on across the country. You could see the divisions, even within the Civil Rights Movement of that period. At the same time that Martin Luther King was talking about his dream, Malcolm X gave his most famous address in Detroit during that same period, "The Message To The Grass Roots," dismissing the notion of integration.” CountryDreamTalkingRightsMovementKingsPeriodsMessagesRootsNotionCivil RightsGrassAddressesDivisionIntegrationLutherCivil Rights MovementExaggerationDetroit Author:David Maraniss
“Nina Simone was a gifted and prolific singer, songwriter and pianist who became a powerful presence in the civil rights movement and paid a professional price for it. Behind the scenes, she struggled in a fractious, sometimes violent relationship with her husband and manager and with mental health issues that strained other relationships, including with her only daughter.” SometimesPowerfulBehindsIssuesRightsMovementSceneHusbandDaughterPaidMental HealthIncludingSingersViolentCivil RightsManagersSongwritersGiftedCivil Rights MovementSinger SongwritersPianistBehind The ScenesNinaHealth IssuesOnly Daughter Author:Michel Martin
“I`ve never been a passive political supporter. My grandmother, Betty Kleitz , god bless her soul, was from Tuskegee, Alabama, took parts in the civil rights movement and after that became of course like a lot of blacks in the South a staunch Democrat.” SoulPoliticalCoursesRightsMovementDemocratSouthCivil RightsGrandmotherBlessPassiveSupporterMy GrandmotherCivil Rights MovementGod BlessAlabama Author:Killer Mike
“Everything African-Americans - every freedom they have obtained - came from Republicans, not Democrats. All the way back to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the Civil Rights movement. Civil Rights legislation was passed by a Republican Congress.” WayRightsMovementRepublicanDemocratCongressCivil RightsAfrican AmericanLegislationCivil Rights MovementEmancipationProclamationEmancipation Proclamation Author:Rafael Cruz
“We have the history of slavery or inequality to women, and now the civil rights movement of the 21st century is the struggle for equality for the gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. And I think it's important for Americans to know about the times that we failed.” PeopleThinkingKnowsImportantStruggleRightsCenturyMovementGaySlaveryCivil RightsInequality21st CenturyTransgenderCivil Rights Movement Author:George Takei
“What is needed in the world today is a Civil Rights Movement for the Soul, freeing humanity at last from the oppression of its belief in a violent, angry, and vindictive God.” WorldSoulTodayLastsHumanityBeliefRightsMovementNeededAngryViolentCivil RightsOppressionWorld TodayCivil Rights MovementVindictive Author:Neale Donald Walsch
“There is an innocence or purity that we see in renewals and in the Mennonite church and a new an invigorated civil rights movement.” ChurchRightsMovementCivil RightsInnocencePurityRenewalCivil Rights Movement Author:Shane Claiborne
“There was a resistance movement in the white community, and there was a determined civil rights movement by our neighbors and friends in the African-American community. They had right on their side. They conducted themselves in high standards, with courage and determination, and they were victorious. They overcame.” SidesCommunityWhiteRightsMovementStandardsDeterminationDeterminedNeighborResistanceCivil RightsAfrican AmericanCivil Rights MovementHigh StandardsCourage And DeterminationNeighbors And Friends Author:Jeff Sessions
“The civil-rights movement was completely impossible to achieve. But look at what ordinary people were able to do because they were willing to sacrifice their lives to stay with it. They didn't expect a political process to respond to them. They made the political process respond to them. To say "It's so bad I won't bother" is to give up on your children and give up on your future.” PeopleGivingLooksChildrenMadeAblePoliticalProcessRightsImpossibleSacrificeAchieveMovementWillingGiving UpOrdinaryOur ChildrenCivil RightsBotherYour ChildrenOur FutureOrdinary PeopleYour FutureCivil Rights Movement Author:Marian Wright Edelman
“Even in the civil rights movement, there were so many unbelievable women. They never, ever received the credit that they should have received. They did all of the, and I cannot say it, they did all of the dirty work. Hard work.” ShouldHardRightsMovementHard WorkShould HaveCreditCivil RightsDirtyUnbelievableCivil Rights MovementDirty Work Author:John Lewis
“Maybe, just maybe, there should be a graphic novel dealing with the contribution of the women of the civil rights movement, to tell their story. The pain, the hurt. They raised their children. Some were working as maids, but when they left those kitchens, those homes, they made it to the mass meetings. And they put their bodies on the lines, also.” ShouldChildrenMadeStoriesHomeBodyPainLeftHurtLinesNovelRightsMovementMassMeetingsRaisedCivil RightsMade ItKitchenContributionGraphicCivil Rights MovementMaidsGraphic Novels Author:John Lewis
“Most students graduate from high school knowing nine words about the civil rights movement: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and "I Have a Dream." And that's it!” DreamSchoolKnowingRightsMovementStudentsKingsHigh SchoolNineCivil RightsParksGraduatesLutherCivil Rights MovementRosaGraduating High School Author:Andrew Aydin
“We chose to frame "March" around the inauguration of Barack Obama because it was such an important moment in the story of the Civil Rights Movement. It wasn't the fulfillment of Dr. [Martin Luther] King's dream, but it was a major down payment.” ImportantMomentsStoriesDreamRightsMovementKingsMajorsCivil RightsBarackFulfillmentMarchDrsLutherPaymentCivil Rights MovementInaugurationDr Martin Luther KingImportant Moments Author:Andrew Aydin