Essay On Women In Civil Rights

The history of Civil Rights is a very important component in the development of our nation. There is a large abundance of resources that inform us of this struggle and allow us to imagine being in the shoes of many of these leaders. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Thurgood Marshall, and Booker T. Washington are all well-known civil rights activists of the last 150 years. This is an issue that goes back even before Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the bloodshed of the Civil War. Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman are just a few of the famous women who were known for their strength and bravery. Despite their brave actions, there are several women who made a difference in the civil rights movement that are not given the recognition they deserve.
They each made individual contributions in the fight for equality. V.P. Franklin describes some of the daily situations that the women faced in the early 1970s. They had to deal with male chauvinism, because men were not approving of the women being given any rights or recognition. “Despite their participation in and support for Black Power and their enrollment in large numbers in Black Studies courses, African American women were repelled by the male chauvinism and sexism exhibited by male Black Power advocates.” (434). She also informs us of the students who formed groups such as Black Studies and Women’s Studies that were known for their non-violent protests across the country. In her article, “A Leavening Force: African American Women and Christian Mission in the Civil Rights Era”, Mary Schueneman elaborates on how women used their missionary services to organize their activist groups and make their voices heard. She states, “In a newly segregated denomination, the Women’s Society for Christian Services(WSCS) provided a sight for cultivating leadership and a public voice as well as offering new and increased opportunities for domestic and international mission