MLK Extract - Notes and short essay on Martin Luther King, Jr., Holt Street Baptist Church, PDF

Preview

Summary

Notes and short essay on Martin Luther King, Jr., Holt Street Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (December 1955)...

Description

Martin Luther King, Jr., Holt Street Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (December 1955) If we are wrong, then the Supreme Court of this Nation is wrong. -

Context: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896); Brown v. Board (1954) Brown v. Board having an effect not only on education, but on the movement itself

If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. -

Religion

If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer and never came down to earth. -

Religion

If we are wrong, justice is a lie.

And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. -

Until justice; (Browder v. Gayle)

Repetition of ‘if we are wrong’ reinforcing the collective narrative of the Civil Rights Movement Religious lexis reflects the church setting, King’s style of speech and background as a Minister

Martin Luther King Jr addressing a large audience at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, December. LOCATION OF SPEECH -

Holt Street Baptist Church; King’s preacher style; religious lexis in his speech Four days after Rosa Parks was arrested

TALK ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN -

Its aims, achievements, etc Its significance in relation to King and the SCLC Browder v Gayle

1. Situate Consider the nature of the source: date, authorship, provenance, nature of the intended audience, questions of bias etc What type of document is it? Who is the author? Why was it written and for whom? When was it written? You must place this information within its wider historical context.

2. Analyse

Here you need to scrutinise the text for meaning. Pay close attention to the language used and explain the focus and significance of the content. How does the extract fit within the wider document that it’s taken from?

3. Evaluate What is the historical significance of the extract and the document it is taken from? How does it compare to other documents on the course? How does it relate to the wider themes of the course?

This extract features a portion of Martin Luther King Jr’s December 1955 speech to the Holt Street Baptist Church during the Montgomery Improvement Association’s campaign against segregated busing in Montgomery, Alabama. King made this speech four days after Rosa Parks, the key figure in sparking the campaign, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white customer as planned. The Montgomery Bus Boycott is seen as one of the formative campaigns not only of the Civil Rights Movement, but in the emergence of King as a prominent leader, with the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference occurring in 1957; a group of upmost importance in later movement campaigns. The overtly religious lexis reflects the Church setting and King’s background as a Baptist Minister. Churches throughout the movement played a vital role as a place of safety, planning and debate. Repetition of the phrase ‘if we are wrong’ reinforces the idea of the collective narrative of the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of those involved in the campaign. By repeating this phrase combined each time with the Supreme Court, Jesus, God and Justice, King highlights the injustice within not only Alabama and the South, but the nation itself; that campaigning against immorality cannot be wrong. When King mentions the Supreme Court, he is referencing past legislation such as ythe Brown v. Board (1954) decision, aligning the desegregation of schooling with the efforts to integrate public transport Alabama. Juxtaposed to King’s religious rhetoric is the statement ‘we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream’. This statement shows us King’s ability as a public speaker to stir a sense of militancy whilst remaining moderate within a religious setting. This ‘moderate militancy’ refers to the effort that would be required against the segregationist system, and the work of the people in providing alternate transport methods and boycotting the bus system in Montgomery. The efforts of the campaign demonstrated the success in mass organised protest and boycotting, bringing about the Browder v. Gayle Supreme Court decision on 20th December 1956 which ended Alabama bus segregation. This speech, alongside his efforts within the campaign, became the formative moment in King’s involvement within the Civil Rights Movement and his emergence as a prominent leader and public figurehead until his murder in 1968. This campaign and the formation of the MIA proved not only to the public, but also to King, the power of boycotting and mass organised protest which would become the weapon of King and different Civil Rights groups such as the NAACP, SNCC and CORE throughout the 1950s and 60s. Until this point, major Civil Rights victories had been won in the courts such as Brown v. Board, however Montgomery proved as a turning point in the mobilisation of the Civil Rights Movement into a visible freedom struggle with King as the public face rather than battling through the courts....