Introduction
The Six Essential Characteristics of a Social Movement In order to differentiate from a social collective, a social movement must emulate six essential characteristics. In the book Persuasion and Social Movements, Charles Stewart and other authors list the essential characteristics and how a social movement differs from fads, campaigns, and other disorganized social gatherings. An Organized Collectivity
In order for a social collective to be considered a social movement, the movement must have a noticeably clear organizational structure. Existing within the movement must be a leader or leaders, as well as a large number of committed followers or members. Additionally, social movements have “organizations or coalitions” …show more content…
Before the genesis of the Civil Rights Movement, there was no leader or organization uniting the people in unrest. Multiple organizations are responsible for shaping and developing The Civil Rights Movement, such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led my Martin Luther King Jr., the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Additionally, these organizations allowed the Civil Rights Movement to clearly differentiate itself from a campaign, which takes a top down focus rather the bottom up approach carried out by the Civil Rights movement organizations. The leaders of the various Civil Rights organizations were not individuals who simply started organizations, but rather were prophetic individuals who “emerg[ed] as the movement” grew (Stewart, Smith, & Denton 2012). Although each of these various organizations assisted in launching the Civil Rights …show more content…
Unity is the great need of the hour, and if we are united we can get many of the things that we not only desire but which we justly deserve. And don't let anybody frighten you. We are not afraid of what we are doing because we are doing it within the law. There is never a time in our American democracy that we must ever think we're wrong when we protest. We reserve that right. When labor all over this nation came to see that it would be trampled over by capitalistic power, it was nothing wrong with labor getting together and organizing and protesting for its rights (“The Montgomery Bus Boycott” 1955).
Additionally, King and the SCLC promised their followers that God, the church, and the Constitution of the United States of America was behind them and that justice would be brought. Martin Luther King Jr. professed these words in relation to justice:
And we are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie (“The Montgomery Bus Boycott”
The Six Essential Characteristics of a Social Movement In order to differentiate from a social collective, a social movement must emulate six essential characteristics. In the book Persuasion and Social Movements, Charles Stewart and other authors list the essential characteristics and how a social movement differs from fads, campaigns, and other disorganized social gatherings. An Organized Collectivity
In order for a social collective to be considered a social movement, the movement must have a noticeably clear organizational structure. Existing within the movement must be a leader or leaders, as well as a large number of committed followers or members. Additionally, social movements have “organizations or coalitions” …show more content…
Before the genesis of the Civil Rights Movement, there was no leader or organization uniting the people in unrest. Multiple organizations are responsible for shaping and developing The Civil Rights Movement, such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led my Martin Luther King Jr., the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Additionally, these organizations allowed the Civil Rights Movement to clearly differentiate itself from a campaign, which takes a top down focus rather the bottom up approach carried out by the Civil Rights movement organizations. The leaders of the various Civil Rights organizations were not individuals who simply started organizations, but rather were prophetic individuals who “emerg[ed] as the movement” grew (Stewart, Smith, & Denton 2012). Although each of these various organizations assisted in launching the Civil Rights …show more content…
Unity is the great need of the hour, and if we are united we can get many of the things that we not only desire but which we justly deserve. And don't let anybody frighten you. We are not afraid of what we are doing because we are doing it within the law. There is never a time in our American democracy that we must ever think we're wrong when we protest. We reserve that right. When labor all over this nation came to see that it would be trampled over by capitalistic power, it was nothing wrong with labor getting together and organizing and protesting for its rights (“The Montgomery Bus Boycott” 1955).
Additionally, King and the SCLC promised their followers that God, the church, and the Constitution of the United States of America was behind them and that justice would be brought. Martin Luther King Jr. professed these words in relation to justice:
And we are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie (“The Montgomery Bus Boycott”