The Role of Black Churches and Communities During the Montgomery Bus Boycott 'Union in the war. With the abolition of slavery, Montgomery was still considered the heart of the old Confederacy, maintaining its strict view of white superiority. Montgomery, although considered one of the most segregated cities in the country, had a growing black community united by mutual anguish over unfair treatment, as they were still considered second-class citizens. Although Montgomery was just one city in segregated America, its importance to what we now consider the “Second Civil War” (initially defined by Professor Arnold Taylor of Howard University) was insurmountable. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1955, after NAACP activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a public Montgomery bus, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA ) finally had enough momentum to establish what today is the famous Montgomery bus boycott, considered the turning point in the civil rights movement. Although this was not the first boycott within the movement, it was the first visible and profound success that undoubtedly pushed the movement to follow suit. Although the MIA used many tactics to achieve this landmark victory, the most impactful strategy for its success was the use of the Black Church and the encouragement it provided to the Black community to support the continuation of their nonviolent method of direct violence. protest action. Black culture has developed since the beginning of slavery and continues today. Since the beginning of slavery, the emergence of black culture, and subsequently black unity, has provided hope for a brighter future and focused on not losing the constant dream of freedom. A community centered on religion, art, and music developed, represented not only by the hardships of being a person of color in captivity, but by the unity he felt toward his fellow man. Decades later, after the abolition of slavery, the development of restrictive segregation laws, and the continuation of inhumane and violent practices imposed on blacks simply because of the color of their skin, black culture remained significantly important to African Americans because they retained solidarity and hope in the presence of a society where hatred towards its own people was not only expected but delegated by the same government intended to protect their rights as a “free” American citizen. For this reason, black churches were a critical “free space” that was used to escape white oppression. These churches not only provided an outlet for their culture through song, prayer, and dance, but they became the perfect time to come together in hopes of creating an open space where all ideas were welcome when considering what to do to continue the civil rights movement. More importantly, however, because the church was designated “black” and white Christianity deemed black religion an abomination, there was no white surveillance, giving black worshipers absolute freedom of speech. The Montgomery Bus Boycott centered on the Christian religion not only because of the safe space the church offered to blacks, but also because of the empowerment the religion offered the movement through song, prayer, and reassuranceon the virtuous objective of the movement defined pursuant to the Convention. religion itself. Of course MIA leaders were typically those deeply connected to the religion itself so they could, therefore, connect to the crowd in an individual way (pastors, reverends, etc.). Some of these leaders included: Martin Luther King Jr. (appointed president of the MIA during Boycott) was originally a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Reverend L. Roy Bennett who was president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy who was secretary of the Baptist Ministers' Alliance. While there were many leaders within the movement who were not specifically pastors or reverends, it seemed that those who visibly interacted with the public and uplifted the crowd as a whole were the leaders, particularly King, who had a history of preaching of religion and recognized the importance of it within the black community and the potential influence it would have on the movement as a whole. “This network of church, civic and labor leaders has provided the MIA with a broad base of support and clear, established lines of communication.” The MIA used free church space to hold nightly mass meetings to collectively discuss the boycott and maintain enthusiasm toward their ultimate goal, which developed into the complete desegregation of the public bus system in Montgomery after their demand original partial desegregation had been rejected. Martin Luther King, as the movement's president-elect, led these mass meetings at the Holt Street Baptist Church. On his way to the first mass meeting, King describes what he saw in his first book, Stride Towards Freedom: “Five blocks from the church I noticed a traffic jam... All these cars were headed to the mass meeting... .. The three or four thousand people who could not enter the church had to stay cheerfully all evening listening to the proceedings...". continuing the boycott and maintaining the upper hand against the local government of Montgomery. To begin the meeting, the crowd was led in joint chants and prayers, to unify the crowd under the blanket of religion. "The opening hymn was the old familiar 'Onward Christain Soldiers,' and when that gigantic audience rose to sing, the voices outside swelling the choir in the church were heard a sound as mighty as the happy echo of heaven itself. " As president of the MIA, Martin Luther King adopted a philosophy, first introduced by Gandhi, to combat discrimination and segregation that he believed would better align the movement with the movement's Christian roots and potentially bring it the most successful: the practice of nonviolence. It could be argued that the use of nonviolence was separate from the importance of the church in the boycott, however, without the grassroots community provided by the church, the continuation of this method would be much more difficult. Each evening at mass rallies, Montgomery's black community immersed themselves in the company of those who encouraged them to stay focused on the movement's ultimate goal and not get involved in the petty violence that whites tried to stop them from. Maintaining a nonviolent approach was very difficult, especially when whites immediately resorted to violence; It was the support of the Church that ensured such great success for this movement. King's relationship between the nonviolent method and the movement's core Christian values was clearly stated in his speech at the first mass meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church: “We are here tonight because we are tired now. Now let's say that.

Topic > The Role of Black Churches and Communities During the Montgomery Bus Boycott 'Union in the war. With the abolition of slavery, Montgomery was still considered the heart of the old Confederacy, maintaining its strict view of white superiority. Montgomery, although considered one of the most segregated cities in the country, had a growing black community united by mutual anguish over unfair treatment, as they were still considered second-class citizens. Although Montgomery was just one city in segregated America, its importance to what we now consider the “Second Civil War” (initially defined by Professor Arnold Taylor of Howard University) was insurmountable. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1955, after NAACP activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a public Montgomery bus, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA ) finally had enough momentum to establish what today is the famous Montgomery bus boycott, considered the turning point in the civil rights movement. Although this was not the first boycott within the movement, it was the first visible and profound success that undoubtedly pushed the movement to follow suit. Although the MIA used many tactics to achieve this landmark victory, the most impactful strategy for its success was the use of the Black Church and the encouragement it provided to the Black community to support the continuation of their nonviolent method of direct violence. protest action. Black culture has developed since the beginning of slavery and continues today. Since the beginning of slavery, the emergence of black culture, and subsequently black unity, has provided hope for a brighter future and focused on not losing the constant dream of freedom. A community centered on religion, art, and music developed, represented not only by the hardships of being a person of color in captivity, but by the unity he felt toward his fellow man. Decades later, after the abolition of slavery, the development of restrictive segregation laws, and the continuation of inhumane and violent practices imposed on blacks simply because of the color of their skin, black culture remained significantly important to African Americans because they retained solidarity and hope in the presence of a society where hatred towards its own people was not only expected but delegated by the same government intended to protect their rights as a “free” American citizen. For this reason, black churches were a critical “free space” that was used to escape white oppression. These churches not only provided an outlet for their culture through song, prayer, and dance, but they became the perfect time to come together in hopes of creating an open space where all ideas were welcome when considering what to do to continue the civil rights movement. More importantly, however, because the church was designated “black” and white Christianity deemed black religion an abomination, there was no white surveillance, giving black worshipers absolute freedom of speech. The Montgomery Bus Boycott centered on the Christian religion not only because of the safe space the church offered to blacks, but also because of the empowerment the religion offered the movement through song, prayer, and reassuranceon the virtuous objective of the movement defined pursuant to the Convention. religion itself. Of course MIA leaders were typically those deeply connected to the religion itself so they could, therefore, connect to the crowd in an individual way (pastors, reverends, etc.). Some of these leaders included: Martin Luther King Jr. (appointed president of the MIA during Boycott) was originally a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Reverend L. Roy Bennett who was president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy who was secretary of the Baptist Ministers' Alliance. While there were many leaders within the movement who were not specifically pastors or reverends, it seemed that those who visibly interacted with the public and uplifted the crowd as a whole were the leaders, particularly King, who had a history of preaching of religion and recognized the importance of it within the black community and the potential influence it would have on the movement as a whole. “This network of church, civic and labor leaders has provided the MIA with a broad base of support and clear, established lines of communication.” The MIA used free church space to hold nightly mass meetings to collectively discuss the boycott and maintain enthusiasm toward their ultimate goal, which developed into the complete desegregation of the public bus system in Montgomery after their demand original partial desegregation had been rejected. Martin Luther King, as the movement's president-elect, led these mass meetings at the Holt Street Baptist Church. On his way to the first mass meeting, King describes what he saw in his first book, Stride Towards Freedom: “Five blocks from the church I noticed a traffic jam... All these cars were headed to the mass meeting... .. The three or four thousand people who could not enter the church had to stay cheerfully all evening listening to the proceedings...". continuing the boycott and maintaining the upper hand against the local government of Montgomery. To begin the meeting, the crowd was led in joint chants and prayers, to unify the crowd under the blanket of religion. "The opening hymn was the old familiar 'Onward Christain Soldiers,' and when that gigantic audience rose to sing, the voices outside swelling the choir in the church were heard a sound as mighty as the happy echo of heaven itself. " As president of the MIA, Martin Luther King adopted a philosophy, first introduced by Gandhi, to combat discrimination and segregation that he believed would better align the movement with the movement's Christian roots and potentially bring it the most successful: the practice of nonviolence. It could be argued that the use of nonviolence was separate from the importance of the church in the boycott, however, without the grassroots community provided by the church, the continuation of this method would be much more difficult. Each evening at mass rallies, Montgomery's black community immersed themselves in the company of those who encouraged them to stay focused on the movement's ultimate goal and not get involved in the petty violence that whites tried to stop them from. Maintaining a nonviolent approach was very difficult, especially when whites immediately resorted to violence; It was the support of the Church that ensured such great success for this movement. King's relationship between the nonviolent method and the movement's core Christian values was clearly stated in his speech at the first mass meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church: “We are here tonight because we are tired now. Now let's say that.