Radical Movements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Radical Movements - Essay Example On the other hand, supporters of radical action believe that it is their participation which influences change: this can be clearly seen in the way in which Martin Luther King and Ella Baker reacted to events in Montgomery: Radical movements are essentially grassroots actions, often involving more direct intervention than there more authoritarian allies, and with the nature of this kind of action comes several questions on the nature of leadership and power within radical movements; whether these movements can be organized and planned, or whether they are essentially spontaneous and dependant upon individual participation, and how radical actions are depicted by the media, and then transplanted upon political movement as a whole. These questions will be studied through the perspectives of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the labor and union movements of the 1970's and 80's, and the anti-war/globalization movements of the late 90's and early 2000's. ... Civil Rights The civil rights movement of the 1960's had a striking heritage in the campaigns of previous decades, including the radical actions of the 1930's (although the latter was rather taken over by the Communist Party, as in the Scottsboro Affair, due to lack of initiative by the NAACP). However, the previous campaigns had also left a deep split between the idea of strong leadership controlling the action, and the desire for collective control of the movement. The latter movement essentially believed that it was necessary for the oppressed to run their own lives, and this was the best method of obtaining freedom: "Including everyonemeant that the common assumption that poor people had to be led by their social betters was anathema" (Payne, chap 3). The mission of the Highlander Folk School was to teach people to develop themselves, not do their thinking for them. Even in white schools, this was a daring idea; but the real nature of the Highlander was radical civil disobedience. The school broke the segregation laws at the start, having an 'interracial philosophy': Many visitors testified that the experience of egalitarian living in an interracial situation had greater impact on them than the courses and workshops. (Payne, Chap. 3) This radicalisation not only extended to teaching and education, it also enrolled people as voters: a massively important move in the South, where very few black people were registered, and those involved in registering them were shot, injured, and frequently beaten up. The importance of this movement lies in its origins; although the Highlander was one school, it funded grass-roots education systems, until nearly two hundred schools were operating on the Highlander system: They had