How Did Gloria Richardson Affect The Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement is defined as “a mass popular movement to secure for African Americans equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship” according to Jack Davis. This movement is often characterized by sit-ins, bus boycotts, and the March on Washington, however these events do not account for the entirety of the issue. Knowledge regarding the totality of the issue is lacking as many forget to recognize each influential moment that led to the freedom of African Americans. Martin Luther King Junior and Rosa Parks are immediately thought of when considering the Civil Rights Movement, however they were only two of thousands of people who made the movement possible. One over looked activist is Gloria Richardson. Her impact on the Civil Rights Movement is showcased through her involvement in the Cambridge Movement in Maryland in 1962. This movement differs from many others and is described by Giddings as:
“the first grass-roots movement outside of the Deep South; it would be one of the first campaigns to focus on economic rather than civil rights; the administration intervened on a broader scale than ever before; its leader, Gloria Richardson, was the first woman to be the unquestioned leader of a major movement-and one of the first major leaders to
These actions were much different than those of other leaders of the time, as she took a “confrontational approach” in comparison to her nonviolent counterparts(Foeman 607). One CNAC member describes their tactic as “We are not going to initiate violence. But if we are attacked, we are not going to turn the other cheek”(Osorio). Many people in her community disagreed with this way of initiating change. The local judge stated that this type of retaliation was “a disgrace to her family name”(Foeman 607). These words did not stop her, in turn they ignited the flame even