Australian Freedom Rides
The Australian Freedom Rides in 1965 were inspired by the 1961 Freedom Rides in the United States. Based in the University of Sydney, the students decided to use the same strategy to promote civil rights. Under the title of ‘Student Action for Aborigines’ or SAFA their tactic was to take the civil rights movement out in to regional Australia to actively confront as well as contest racial discrimination which was a major issue during that time as well as now. The movement was led by Charles Perkins and their two-week journey began on 12th February 1965. In seven towns across New South Wales the students, having warned local and national media in advance, arrived at RSL Clubs …show more content…
Attended by some 250,000 people, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage (Infoplease.com, 2015). The purpose of the march was to advocate for the economic and civil rights of African Americans (Wikipedia, 2018). At the march, Martin Luther King Jr delivered his historic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. This speech called an end to the racism and segregation that had been occurring in America for countless years towards African Americans. There were many reasons for the occurrence of the protest rally. Although by this time, African Americans had been legally freed from slavery and were given citizenships as well as the right for men to vote, many continued to face social, economic and political repression. The repression continued to especially occur in the South due to Jim Crow Laws. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech was carried live by most television stations across America as well as considered the most iconic part of the march. In his speech King called for an end to racism in the US. It also invoked the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. At the end of the speech, Mahalia Jackson shouted from the crowd, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!”, this was the moment were Martin Luther King Jr, departed from what he had written down and improvised on the theme of ‘I have a dream’. This was considered the most iconic part of his speech and has remained with the world still to this day, (Wikipedia,