Essay On Civil Disobedience And Women's Rights
Civil Disobedience and Disobedient Women
When people think of peaceful resistance, they often think of the Civil Rights Movement. Many civil rights activists were influenced by Martin Luther King’s nonviolent opposition to unjust laws. Helena Hicks, a college student, was one of these activists influenced by King. In January 1955, she participated in the very first lunch counter sit in. Later that year, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and she began to work with King. Over sixty years later, women from all across the world organized one of the largest protests in United States history and marched peacefully for their rights. Peaceful resistances to unjust laws in the U.S. by
Helena Hicks and Rosa Parks desegregated …show more content…
She, like all African Americans, was denied service from restaurants and lunch counters because of her skin color. A popular chain in Baltimore at the time was called Read’s Drugstore. African Americans were allowed to purchase items from the store but were not granted service at the lunch counter. One of these chains was located at the same corner as the bus stop Hicks took to and from Morgan State College, where she was taking classes at the time. On a cold day in January 1955, Hicks and her friends decided to order hot drinks from the lunch counter in Read’s. They were refused and the manager threatened to call the police. They left, but Hicks and her friends made the local newspaper and started a movement in their community. When Hicks went to school that day, she spread the word and people started to get involved. Students and staff members staged more sit ins at different branches of Read’s. The first Read’s lunch counter that Hicks and her friend sat in desegregated on January 22, 1955. While the rest of the chains did not desegregate right away, Hicks won a major victory for activists in Baltimore and sparked the sit in movement in her city. (1,
When people think of peaceful resistance, they often think of the Civil Rights Movement. Many civil rights activists were influenced by Martin Luther King’s nonviolent opposition to unjust laws. Helena Hicks, a college student, was one of these activists influenced by King. In January 1955, she participated in the very first lunch counter sit in. Later that year, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and she began to work with King. Over sixty years later, women from all across the world organized one of the largest protests in United States history and marched peacefully for their rights. Peaceful resistances to unjust laws in the U.S. by
Helena Hicks and Rosa Parks desegregated …show more content…
She, like all African Americans, was denied service from restaurants and lunch counters because of her skin color. A popular chain in Baltimore at the time was called Read’s Drugstore. African Americans were allowed to purchase items from the store but were not granted service at the lunch counter. One of these chains was located at the same corner as the bus stop Hicks took to and from Morgan State College, where she was taking classes at the time. On a cold day in January 1955, Hicks and her friends decided to order hot drinks from the lunch counter in Read’s. They were refused and the manager threatened to call the police. They left, but Hicks and her friends made the local newspaper and started a movement in their community. When Hicks went to school that day, she spread the word and people started to get involved. Students and staff members staged more sit ins at different branches of Read’s. The first Read’s lunch counter that Hicks and her friend sat in desegregated on January 22, 1955. While the rest of the chains did not desegregate right away, Hicks won a major victory for activists in Baltimore and sparked the sit in movement in her city. (1,