African-American women in the civil rights movement facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

African American women played many important roles in the Civil Rights Movement. They were leaders, protestors, organizers, and fundraisers. Black women faced two big challenges: sexism (unfair treatment because of their gender) and racism (unfair treatment because of their race).

Womanism is a term that helps us understand how these two challenges affected Black women. It shows how their experiences shaped their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Black women often acted as "bridge leaders." This meant they connected people in power with everyday citizens. Many important African American women and groups came from this movement. They made huge progress for civil rights, even though they often had limited power and faced pressure to stay quiet during the Cold War.

Women prepare to march on Washington, D.C., 1963

What is Womanism?

When we talk about Black women's activism, like in the Civil Rights Movement, Alice Walker uses the word "womanism". This term helps explain why African American women took part and what motivated them. Alice Walker is a civil rights activist who created the term "womanism." She felt that the feminist movement didn't fully include the struggles of women of color. It didn't address how race and gender challenges were connected for them.

Walker described womanism as being about Black women's strong commitment to their community. She believed it included all the social challenges that shaped the lives of African American women. So, studying womanism helps us see how this idea played a role in social rights movements and Black activism. It shows how race and gender connect in the Black female experience and explains why Black women became leaders.

Historically, Black women have always been strong. For example, in West African societies, women were seen as vital for the family's survival. This idea of female strength continued in America. Enslaved women cared for families and kept them stable, especially when Black men had little power. Today, we still see this strength and support from African American women.

Walker believed that feminism often focused on White women who were stuck at home. They couldn't work outside the home because of gender rules. She argued that this was a different struggle. African American women have always worked outside the home. So, their challenges were different from White women's. Alice Walker's term includes the burden of leading and financially supporting the family as part of the Black woman's struggle. It also defines their strong ties to their community. This loyalty to the community often led Black women to become activists and leaders.

Studies show that womanism helps us understand why Black women were both participants and leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. Author Tiyi Makeda Morris uses womanism to explain the strong connections Black women have to their communities. She says this connection often led them to participate in social and political activism. Morris points out that African American women face challenges from both race and gender every day. This experience made them natural leaders in social movements, according to womanist ideas. Morris argues that Walker's womanism allowed these women to take on many activist roles. Their experience with double oppression (from race and gender) prepared them to lead social movements and participate in Black activism, as seen in the Civil Rights Movement.

Coretta Scott King at Sheep Meadow in Manhattan Central Park, New York, NY- just after the assassination of Dr. King.

Roles of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Supporting Roles

African American women kept Black households and communities strong. They adapted and overcame challenges related to their gender, race, and social class. Many women used their communities and local churches to gather support for the movement. Local support was very important for the movement to succeed. These women were active in homes, churches, social clubs, and other groups. They supported the main movement in many ways.

Women in the Civil Rights Movement gave their time and skills. They worked both on the front lines and behind the scenes. Some women used their restaurants to prepare food for protestors. Others provided housing for activists. Many women opened their stores or homes as safe places. Civil rights workers could meet there to plan strategies. Some women used their jobs to raise money for the cause. Women involved included students, mothers, and professors. They balanced many roles in their lives.

Writing and literature, like newspaper articles, poems, and stories, were popular ways to promote the movement. Women like Ida B. Wells used their journalism skills to protect Black women facing violence. Women often designed the signs for marches. They also led chants or songs during protests. African American women provided for their families. They played important roles in boycotts and demonstrations. They also educated children and adults about civil rights.

Kathleen Cleaver delivering a speech, 1971

Leadership Roles

Why Women Were Excluded from Formal Leadership

African American women often faced exclusion from formal leadership positions. These were roles with official titles and authority. This happened in groups led by ministers, like the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). It also happened in non-religious groups, like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

In the MIA, leaders limited women's participation. They were given roles that fit traditional ideas of what women should do, like community services. Also, the group's newsletter often didn't mention women's contributions. The SCLC and other church groups had mostly male leaders. This made many women, like Septima Clark and Ella Baker, feel unfairly treated.

The SNCC also had a structure that put women in less powerful roles. Women in this group often preferred informal positions. An official job title usually meant more rules and fewer freedoms. Informal roles included fieldwork, like recruiting people to join the movement.

African American Women as Bridge Leaders

Black women often faced limits on their power in the Civil Rights Movement. This led many to take on informal leadership roles. These roles allowed them to influence people without an official title. Many women became "bridge leaders" because sexism kept them from getting higher, formal positions.

As bridge leaders, these women made valuable connections. They connected with people who couldn't easily gain political power. This helped amplify the voices of everyday citizens. It also helped communicate their messages within the social movement. This ability to connect with people shows a unique way women organized in the Civil Rights Movement.

Even with these restrictions, African American women found ways to lead. They made important connections. As bridge leaders, Black women created networks with those in formal leadership roles. This formed important ties. It connected movement participants with official decision-makers. For example, African American women built bonds with people in the Deep South. These Black Southerners were sometimes hesitant to support the movement. This was due to traditional church beliefs against protest. Also, there was less media coverage of the movement's progress there.

Female bridge leaders worked to make personal connections with these Southerners. They listened to their goals and experiences. At the same time, they connected these ideas with the civil rights goals. Being bridge leaders allowed women to form networks in local communities. They also connected with people in formal positions. Black women in these informal leadership roles built valuable relationships with local community members. This strengthened the movement's goals through the contributions of local participants. Both the SCLC and SNCC used these local networks. They often held meetings in people's homes. Women in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party also made strong ties with local communities. They worked to increase voter registration in their areas.

Finally, being bridge leaders allowed women to work towards the movement's goals in their own way. Because their jobs were informal, these Black women could work towards goals as they saw fit. They didn't always have to follow the plans of formal leaders. This allowed African American women to connect more closely with the people they represented. They could work on what their communities wanted, rather than just what formal leaders decided.

Important African American Women Leaders

Women not only helped those in power but also held important leadership positions. They created support networks for Black women. Some African American female leaders include student Judy Richardson. She left college to organize projects, like voter-registration drives. Kathleen Cleaver bravely became the first woman on the central committee of the Black Panther Party. This made her a target for the FBI. Ella Mae Brayboy became the co-director of voter registration drives for the Voter Education Project (VEP). Grace Hamilton was the first African American woman elected to the state legislature in the South. More women ran for political offices during this time. However, they often received less attention because of the election of the first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson. These female leaders took on big responsibilities and achieved great things. Their stories are often left out of history books.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks being fingerprinted by Deputy Sheriff D.H. Lackey after being arrested on February 22, 1956, during the Montgomery bus boycott.

Rosa Parks Starts the Movement

The Montgomery bus boycott helped kick off the Civil Rights Movement. It started after Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat. She was arrested in 1955. This led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus company. Before this, Rosa Parks had worked for the Montgomery NAACP. Her actions were very important. The boycott was the first major direct action. It also helped establish Martin Luther King Jr. as a key voice and leader of the movement. African American women played a big role in the boycott. They gathered participants from churches and other local groups. They also supported their own families. This local help made the movement strong and helped it gain momentum.

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson helped advance the Montgomery bus boycott. She used her connections with people in power. As a bridge leader, Robinson brought together members of the Women's Political Council (WPC). They supported protesting Rosa Parks' arrest and legal segregation on public transportation. Robinson used her position to connect the wishes of the movement's participants with the civil rights goals of formal leaders. She helped start the Montgomery bus boycott. She shared people's concerns with ministers in power. These ministers then organized the official protest. Her involvement shows how bridge leaders connected citizens with those in power to achieve civil rights goals.

Why African American Women Weren't Always Recognized

In the 1960s, Black women organized and led protests for civil rights. They also worked on issues like poverty, feminism, and other social matters. However, the common story of the Civil Rights Movement often focuses on famous men. It doesn't fully include the contributions of women. Even though women activists aren't always recognized, they were key players in making the movement powerful and successful.

Studies suggest that traditional gender ideas often kept women from formal leadership roles. This meant they often took on informal leadership positions instead. Many Black women worked as "bridge leaders." They worked behind the scenes in communities. They rallied support for the movement at a local level. This is partly why standard stories don't always acknowledge the vital roles women played. Also, the idea of a "collective identity" among activists sometimes hides individual contributions. It ignores how race and gender challenges were connected for African American women. This leads to a lack of recognition for their efforts.

Notable African American Women in the Movement

Daisy Bates (1914–1999)

Daisy Bates and Ella Baker both held important positions in civil rights groups. However, they received little recognition as "movement leaders" within the Black community. Both also faced financial difficulties because of their leadership. Bates, who led the NAACP in Little Rock, lost the newspaper she owned with her husband. Ella Baker never got a permanent position in the SCLC. Her salary was also much lower than the man who replaced her, partly due to sexist reasons.

Diane Nash

Diane Nash helped continue the efforts of the Freedom Riders. These protestors spoke out against segregated public transportation. In Alabama, the group's efforts almost stopped because of a violent attack. However, Nash urged an SCLC leader in Alabama that violence should not stop the Freedom Riders. She believed it shouldn't stop the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. Her involvement helped keep their efforts going. It also connected the wishes of the people with those in decision-making positions.

Ella Baker (1903–1986)

Women marching for equal rights, integrated schools and decent housing

Ella Baker was a temporary director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She acted as a bridge leader. She connected participants with formal ways to gain power. Through the SNCC, she created networks for student activists. These students wanted to contribute to the organization. She gave these activists rotating positions of power. This gave the community access to power within the movement.

Baker also highlighted the importance of women in the movement. She saw them as critical actors and the "backbone" of the Civil Rights Movement.

Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987)

Septima Poinsette Clark created the Citizenship Education Program. This was at the Highlander Folk School. Her goal was to increase Black voter registration in the South. She believed that Black Southerners in rural communities were vital to moving the Civil Rights Movement forward. This motivated her to be a bridge leader between this group and those in formal power. Her program focused on teaching literacy. With the help of teacher Bernice Robinson, she aimed to increase African American political knowledge. She hoped this would inform communities about their rights that the government was denying them. She believed this understanding would lead to more Black Southerners registering to vote.

Through her leadership, Clark acted as a bridge leader. She involved the SCLC in her program. This used formal leadership to reach her community: African American Southerners. She also combined the interests of individual Black Southerners with the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. This built support for the movement's agenda in that population.

Septima Clark was praised for her role as a teacher and organizer. She ran adult "citizenship schools" across the South. People highlighted her intelligence and her ability to connect personally with local people.

Bernice Robinson

Bernice Robinson played a vital role in gathering support for the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South. She worked with Clark in the Citizenship Education Program. Robinson taught literacy classes to African Americans in the region. She connected with her students on a personal level. She discussed and taught about daily tasks and topics, like sewing. This built trust within the community. The literacy classes increased African American political knowledge about their rights. This understanding, combined with trust in Robinson, played a major role in gaining support for the Civil Rights Movement. It helped push the movement's goals forward.

Notable Women's Organizations

Womanpower Unlimited

Womanpower Unlimited was organized by civil rights activist Claire Collins Harvey. This group was very important. It provided needed clothing and hygiene supplies to Freedom Riders who were in jail. The group formed important networks of women. These networks encouraged women to participate in the Civil Rights Movement in many ways. This included voter registration and racial integration in education.

Navigating McCarthyism and the Cold War

Gender Roles

African American women participate in Civil Rights protest in Tallahassee, Florida, 1963

During the Cold War, keeping traditional gender roles was seen as important for national security. Women were encouraged to focus on being mothers and wives. The idea of the nuclear family (a mother, father, and children) was promoted as ideal. African American women in the Civil Rights Movement sometimes used this to their advantage. They presented their activism as protecting families. For example, activist Ester Cooper Jackson's husband had to hide because he was accused of being a communist. Cooper Jackson criticized McCarthyism (a time of strong anti-communist fear in the US) for breaking up families.

Repression

During the Cold War, the U.S. government realized that racial discrimination hurt America's image around the world. The USSR (Soviet Union) used racial inequality as propaganda. They wanted to show that American democracy was failing. The American government was worried about how other countries saw the United States. So, they tried to silence people who publicly criticized America. Many activists suffered because of this. This included several important African American women. The government saw their objections to racial discrimination as an attack on democracy. They felt it threatened the ideal American image.

Josephine Baker

The entertainer and activist Josephine Baker used her fame to fight for racial equality. She spoke out against racial discrimination and segregation. She refused to perform in places that were segregated. While on tour in Latin America, Baker also gave talks about racism in America. The U.S. government didn't like this. They worried that Baker's words would encourage anti-American feelings and propaganda. She was accused of being a communist and un-American during the height of the Cold War. This stopped Baker's career in the Americas. The American government took away her right to travel freely. She was banned from the country for ten years. This greatly affected her ability to fight racial inequality and bring international attention to the cause.