The civil rights movement was a massive non-violent social movement from 1954 to 1968 that brought people together to end racism and racial segregation (Hamlin). During this time, African Americans played a crucial role in the fight for their own and other people’s civil rights, or the rights of a citizen to have social and political freedom and equality (Hamlin). African American women were one of the underappreciated pillars of the civil rights movement. They changed America one act at a time. Through leading organizations and movements, recognizing segregation in higher institutions, and defying segregated social norms, African American women significantly contributed to the civil rights movement.
Black female leadership in civil rights
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The Jim Crow Laws were state laws that enforced racial segregation between the 19th and mid-20th centuries; these laws were unjust and segregated schools, transportation, restaurants, and even housing (Georgia College and State University). Their effects could be seen in the previously mentioned landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. The unrighteousness and lies of these laws paved the way for black women to defy segregated social norms. For example, Rosa Parks who was unwilling to give up her seat in a crowded bus to a white person, and Diane Nash who led the Nashville sit-in movement which made way for the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (NCC Staff). Another example includes Gloria Richardson who led successful protests as head of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee. Richardson was openly fierce and was seen sometimes questioning the nonviolent nature of the civil rights movement. She helped find and lead the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (Derek). The actions of these women had eye-opening effects which highlighted the unjustness of segregated social