The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 1984 - History - 354 pages
A “valuable, eye-opening work” (The Boston Globe) about the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Rosa Parks, weary after a long day at work, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man…and ignited the explosion that was the civil rights movement in America. In this powerful saga, Morris tells the complete story behind the ten years that transformed America, tracing the essential role of the black community organizations that was the real power behind the civil rights movement. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty key leaders, original documents, and other moving firsthand material, he brings to life the people behind the scenes who led the fight to end segregation, providing a critical new understanding of the dynamics of social change.

“An important addition to our knowledge of the strategies of social change for all oppressed peoples.” —Reverend Jesse Jackson

“A benchmark study…setting the historical record straight.” —The New York Times Book Review

From inside the book

Contents

Domination Church and the NAACP
1
Beginnings and Confrontations
17
MIA ICC and ACMHR
40
The Decentralized Political Arm of the Black Church
77
The SCLCs Crusade for Citizenship
100
The SCLC the NAACP and CORE
120
Movement Halfway Houses
139
Internal Organization and Direct Action
174
Origins of a Decade of Disruption
195
A Planned Exercise in Mass Disruption
229
Theoretical Overview and Conclusions
275
Notes
291
Appendix B List of Persons Interviewed
330
Index
348
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About the author (1984)

Aldon D. Morris is Associate Professor of Sociology and Faculty Associate of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He is an associate editor of the American Sociological Review.