Eyes on the Prize

Today, we watched two episodes of a documentary film "Eyes on the Prize" about the Civil Rights movement.

We learned about the horribly shocking case of Emmet Till, a black teenager from the north, who was mutilated and murdered by two white men in the south, because he had been cheeky to a white woman in a shop. There was a (black) star witness and all the evidence pointed to the two local men, yet they were pronounced not guilty. Later, they sold their story to a newspaper for 4.000 dollars. The funeral attracted huge crowds and Emmet's mother wanted an open casket so that the whole world could see what had happened to her boy. Thus, he became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement.

Another name that we'll remember is Rosa Parks. She took the bus in Montgomery and refused to get up to give her place to a white man. She was taken to prison. The women's movement issued a flyer inviting people to boycott the buses. In four days time, 40.000 people were mobilised. The intention was to boycott the buses for a couple of days or a week, however, the movement grew stronger and wasn't ready to give in. The boycott held for over a year. Some bus companies had to close down, some people lost their job, the black population in the south continued to walk, even if it meant many miles a day. Finally, segregation on the bus was pronounced unconstitutional and for the first time, black people could sit wherever they wanted.

It was during this bus boycott that Martin Luther King emerged as a keynote speaker. It was in 1955 and he was 26 years old. M.L. King asked for dignity, he preached love, not hate. To hear him speak was inspiring for many people. And the national press became interested in this eloquent Rev. King. Unfortunately, the whites hardened their position and targeted anyone who would support the desegregation. Ku klux clan members would rally openly. They tried to frighten the black people, but nothing stopped them, they found strength in their regular meetings in the churches and felt that they had something worth struggling for: freedom.

In the second episode, we learned about the Freedom Summer of 1964. Students from all over the country who supported the movement came to the southern states to help convince people to register to vote. In order to do so, people had to fill in a long questionnaire and pay up to 1 week of salary, and yet they were motivated. During this particular summer, two young white students and one black students were picked up by the police, put into jail, released and then disappeared. This was worrying and it attracted major national media attention. Some weeks later their bodies were found. They had been shot in the back and the black man had suffered other severe injuries too.

This affair triggered more activism within the movement and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was opened to all people. Ms Fanny Lou Hamer speaks live on television - and was interrupted by a short speech of President Johnson. The Supreme Court looked for a compromise and MFDP were offered 2 seats. Although in the end they never seated, it opened up the Democratic party.

Professor Bill Strickland shared his personal reflections with us. He was born in Boston and went to Harvard, where he was one of only 11 black students in his class. Racial issues were something he had not been confronted with, until he got in touch with the Civil Rights Movement. He learned that all societies think well of themselves, but that they all have subterranean histories. He quoted a line from a poem by Worth Long: "We have found you out, four faced Americas, we have found you out. We have found you out, false faced farmers, we have found you out."

Professor Strickland pointed out that it is important to see the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the correct historical context; it was the age of the revolution. All over the world there were upstarts and strong student movements. For today, Strickland ends on a pessimistic note and says that today, there is no real movement. People are in limbo. The media don't play a fair role, Americans are fed trivial themes in huge portions and the huge themes that deserve their attention are often swept under the rug.

In the afternoon, Professor of History Dayo Gore gave a lecture about "Rethinking the Civil Rights Movement". She focused on the women who gave shape to the movement, and on the bottom-up evolution instead of focusing on the big names connected to the CRM. In 1946 already the first Women's Political Council was formed in Montgomery; in 1954, Joanne Robinson sent a letter to the Mayor asking for better treatment on the bus; in 1955 Claudette Colvin got arrested for not getting up; in the same year, Rosa Parks got arrested and that incident set off the boycott of the buses. A quotation from Rosa Parks: " I woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom". Ella Baker was a central activist, leader and theorist for the movement and said: " I never worked for an organization but for a cause". In 1964, Fanny Lou Hamer speaks at the national convention. These women, their names, their faces, their words and their deeds deserve to be remembered. The story should be told, again and again, from different perspectives, to allow us to get the full picture - as far as possible.

Not long ago, Rosa Parks passed away and received a state funeral. Today, the USA have a black president. Has change come at last? Is freedom for all finally in sight?