Memphis has the second largest population in the state of Tennessee but it has the history of citizens living in poverty and poor economic opportunities in the state. Many Americans across America do not believe hunger and malnutrition are issues that plague our neighborhoods viewing it as a “third-world problem”. Memphis has been one of the poorest metro areas in America, and in 1968 most living in those conditions were the African- American community. Following the assassination of close friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Rabbi James Wax and the Temple of Israel chose to start the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association with several church leaders to combat the poverty and racial divide in Memphis. Today the organization serves over 50,000 people in the city and have partnered with 200 congregations in West Tennessee. According to Rabbi James Wax, The organization’s main focus are to target the senior citizens and youth in the city implementing many programs to provide services from hot meals, shelter programs, to after school programs. Rabbi James Wax was born …show more content…
Shortly after, Dr. King’s assassination many of the area’s church leaders and Rabbi James Wax were intent on repairing the city and band together to form MIFA on September 28, 1968. The new leaders were met with little success or support as they tried to help spread the new organization. Dr. Peter Takayama, a sociologist at the University of Memphis quoted, “To many people, ecumenical meant interracial, and was immediately controversial. Black church members regarded MIFA as just another White-sponsored organization, which would do little to affect social problems. The White community saw MIFA as liberal, aggressive, while the Black community saw it as being innocuous”. However with their collected effort they were able to raise $30,000, and MIFA’s first office was a two room gloomy building on the corner of 43
The Universal Negro Improvement Association is an organization (UNIA) that was developed by a man named Marcus Garvey. Now Garvey was not the only one to have established this organization, however he was the face of it. His ideas, connections, work, and influences were all huge factors in establishing the UNIA. However, creating Garvey’s vision into a reality was not an easy road, the organization changed a lot throughout the decades and has impacted many lives. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and Marcus Garvey did not just stop at singling out one object, but reached out in many different ways also.
Through Martin Luther King Jr.’s brilliant usage of sensible logos, thought-provoking rhetorical questions, and accentuating parallel structure in his persuasive letter, the white clergymen were influenced to at least alter their perspectives towards the treatment of blacks and promote supplementary equality rights for all. As a noble advocator of desegregation, social justice, and human dignity through diplomatic methods, he ignites a new social movement that brought about freedom from oppression and democratic reformation. With a long-standing desire for a peaceful community among all races, King encourages those he targets with the letter to achieve God’s will and overturn racial intolerance caused by misjudgment.
In the 1960s, African Americans began to come together to form the Civil Rights Movement, to end racial segregation and discrimination. It was during this era when the most famous civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech inspired the African American community to fight for their rights through non-violent protests King advocated for. People gathered to discuss protest plans in church auxiliaries, which were created and run by African American women in the church (Taylor). In Timothy B. Tyson’s memoir, Blood Done Sign My Name, the impact of religion in the Civil Rights Movement is presented through religious leaders, principles, and auxiliaries.
On April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, an event that would change history forever occurred. That was the day James Earl Ray assassinated the driving force of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. It shook the nation, as the man who was planning on bringing peace and racial harmony in the United States was killed in an instant. He was probably the most influential scapegoat in American history, setting out to create equality for all races in America. There were many extremist white-based groups which detested the idea of equality, believing that whites were superior over all, groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Martin Luther King did not back down when groups like the KKK harassed him; he used their hate against them and allowed it to thrust him forward for the sake of bettering his cause and pushing towards racial equality. In the end, Martin Luther King was assassinated for his passion and beliefs; his hard work paid off because after his death, there was at least legal racial equality in the U.S. His bravery and strength
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” written in 1963 conveys to the citizens of Alabama and the whole world, about the oppression and biases African Americans faced in the 1960’s. Although, he originally addresses the letter to his “…fellow clergymen.” He wrote in a way that was meant to be published on the local newspaper, thus his purpose was to appeal and seek reason to the white community who were against his campaign of non-violent protest. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos, to encourage change and progression from discrimination and segregation, for a truly equal America. Starting with the one of the most discriminate and wealthiest cities in the U.S.; Birmingham, Alabama.
The Civil Rights Movement had a remarkable success during the summer of 1964. During 1964, committees such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) recruited members to work in the efforts of the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi to what became known as Freedom Summer. The project was meant to be a nonviolent effort to integrate Mississippi’s political system but was faced with violence. college students traveled to Mississippi to help register black. The predominantly white students established "freedom schools" to educate black school children, and organized voter registration drives throughout the state. The student volunteers, most importantly, helped to establish the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). However, it was a Mississippi native, Amzie Moore that brought the SNCC into Mississippi. Moore met New York native, Robert Moses during the Freedom Summer of 1964. When Moses arrived in Mississippi, he saw that there was a lack of student organizations in the state and discussed the possibilities of it with Moore. Moore’s dedication to the movement inspired Moses to put the idea of voter registration into the SNCC’s agenda (Carson). Although the movement had great support, it also had even greater opposition. For instance, the Citizens Councils which was founded in Indianola, Mississippi during the 1950’s. The council was a
King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which is an organization that was founded to fight against racial segregation in the South. King attitude of nonviolent protests and campaigns led to numerous arrest during the 1950’s and 60’s. His protests had success in ending racial segregation in the South, but his protests and campaigns in Birmingham, Alabama gained him worldwide attention. Through all King’s hard work and determination, brought together more than thousands and thousands of people to bo...
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
In April of 1963 the Southern Christian Leaders Conference (SCLC) organized a campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. African Americans in Birmingham in part with the SCLC arrang...
The Memphis Race Riot of 1866 was one of the most horrific and terrifying events that Memphis, Tennessee has ever seen in the city’s history. You may be wondering what could have caused something so tragic and terrible to happen to such a small town, but there is only one answer; hatred. Hatred is one of the many things that fueled the fire to start the biggest race riot to ever take place in Memphis, Tennessee. Hatred is the one thing that all of those people had to feel to be so cruel to another human being without a care in the world. But that hatred had to start from somewhere and that somewhere was on a street on May 1, 1866.
In Mississippi, a man named Robert Moses was responsible for helping turn the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee into an organization of activists that dedicated their time to building community based polit...
King used his knowledge of biblical scriptures to appeal to their sense of compassion. Dr. King compared his calling to help those in Birmingham to that of Apostle Paul. Dr. King, expressed that, “Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world…” [King] Including this example in his letter, Dr. King’s explanation for coming to Birmingham was to carry the “gospel of freedom” [King] just as Apostle Paul carried the gospel of Jesus Christ. In addition to Dr. King’s plea for compassion, a call for justice was needed. The level of brutality and the lack of civility occurring in Birmingham was a threat justice everyone. Dr. King reminded them that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” [King] Dr. King elaborated on this statement by explaining that all citizens of the United States are dependent upon one another. No one could act without impacting the lives of others. He further provided evidence to these injustices by expressing that “negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts there and have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches.” [King] The widespread injustice was the sole reason for the civil rights protests. The only way to make those in power to take notice of these actions was to demonstrate. When the injustices were made visible, society would have no choice but to deal with the
Before the civil rights movement could begin, a few courageous individuals had to guide the way. Dr. Vernon Johns was one of those individuals. Dr. Vernon Johns was a pastor and civil rights activist in the 1920s. Johns became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1940s. During his time as a pastor, Johns preached many sermons on how African American people were being treated not only in the community but in society. Johns on multiple occasions upset his community through his ideas on social change. Through a sociologist perspective, many sociological concepts were displayed in The Vernon Johns Story. Some of those concepts included: ascribed status, conflict theory, deviant behavior, alienation, and
According to Oxford Dictionaries, race relations are "…Relations between members or communities of different races within one country" (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). Race relations are based on differences an individual possesses (physical and genetic traits) in comparison to other people. The traits explained by G. Edwards "are important in contributing to the observed ecological, economic, social, and political which constitute the subject matter of race relations" (Edwards, 2008). Therefore, the way in which a person differs from a certain racial group will lead to the same differences in cultural characteristics. Additionally, many critics claim race relations have seen a positive shift since the end of WWII and brought about a change in the composition of racial minorities; members within a group who appear less powerful in comparison to a larger group
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...