Sisters In The Struggle Analysis

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Sisters in the Struggle focuses on the roles of African American women during the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). In chapter 7, titled “We Seek to Know . . . in Order to Speak the Truth”, the book delves into the life of Septima P. Clark and her experiences as a female civil rights activist. Often overshadowed by boycotts and marches, African American literacy crusades were a crucial step to combating oppression. Clark’s legacy embodied this notion. Her main efforts were concentrated in areas of “citizenship, education and interracial cooperation”(We Seek to Know, pg 95). Her efforts were acknowledged by leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. who noted “she understood that if we could break through the illiteracy, we could break into mainstream …show more content…
In “Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement”, the audience is exposed to another leadership style and activism method. Ella Baker concentrated more on mobilizing the masses rather than education. Baker believed in the power of individuals as the key to their own salvation. Her strategy focused on grassroots mass mobilization. By allowing the individuals to actively participate in their own deliverance, the movement would be more meaningful (The Preacher and the Organizer, pgs 170-172). This method would be effective in allowing more people to directly participate in the movement. Participating in the Montgomery boycott did not require the same effort as teaching illiterate adults how to read. However, educating the masses allowed African Americans to even have a basic understanding of their rights and realize when they were being infringed upon. Another female activist, Anne Moody focused on grassroots activism, but employed some of the methods used by both Septima Clark and Ella Baker (Coming of Age in Mississippi). These three women demonstrate the overlap in the leadership and empowerment method employed by female leaders. Each woman relied on some form of grassroots activism, often times without the support of their male counterparts, to accomplish monumental

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