Art of Protest

¶ … Art of Protest It is interesting to think in terms of artistry when discussing social actions, but when the protest, and similar concepts are correctly performed, they are definitely an art form. In the United States, the civil rights protests that have been ongoing (because constant vigilance is required for a people's maintenance of their rights) since the 1950's, and earlier if the work of abolitionists and learned men such as Frederick Douglas are considered.

This quest for civil rights guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution has made protest one of its founding hallmarks. The reason for this is that without a popular uprising of some type the people in places of authority are unlikely to believe that individual voices encompass the feelings of an entire group. However, these protests have to be well thought out, and that is where the artistry lies.

This paper will examine the civil rights movement in the United States to determine its historical foundation, major components, and the symmetry that provides it with a sense of art. It is popular to assume that Martin Luther King, Jr. was the primary figure behind the protest movement. Although, Dr. King was definitely in the forefront of the movement, he was placed in that position by organizations which determined the direction of the protests.

Two of these organizations were the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The leaders of these groups, including Martin Luther King, Jr., had studied how protests were developed throughout history and determined that following the peaceful protests of Mahatma Gandhi was the wisest approach. Of course, there were elements of the African-American community, notably the Black Muslims, who thought that this was an errant procedure, but the leaders of the other organizations had solid reasons for not instigating belligerent resistance.

The armed forces and police were too strong for armed resistance and terror to work. Only through peaceful resistance could the civil rights protests be taken seriously. These types of protests would cause disruption, but show the authorities that the protestors only wanted the same rights as others. They did not wish to harm anyone. The protestors used cultural heritage as part of their protest platform also to engage blacks who may have remained on the fringes otherwise.

Throughout their history, African-Americans had always used music to communicate, and they had maintained a strong Christian faith. These two items were some of their most reliable means to gather all of the elements of the black community together into a single voice of protest. The song "We Shall Overcome" became a rallying cry for the entire movement as much as any of the speeches that Dr. King would give.

By using songs of protests that were known to the masses, word could be spread easily about what the gathering was about. These songs of faith came from the churches that the people attended and were appropriate for the marches. Also, the people were deeply spiritual as a group. This made it easy to disseminate the message that the protests leaders wanted to spread to the entire African-American community. Many of the organizers, including the most prominent, were preachers (many of them Southern Baptist).

With pastors speaking about a people's God-given right to freedom from the pulpit, the protests gained credibility with the people. All of these elements were needed to develop the artistry of the civil rights protests. Banners were used as the people marched, songs were sung, and the participants composed erudite treatises regarding their views about the meaning of freedom. A work of art does not happen with just one note on a musical instrument, one word struck by a pen, or by one stroke of a brush.

Art is an entire work. The protests required the people behind the scenes, the churches, the idea of peaceful protest and the people who were willing to put themselves in harm's way to complete the masterpiece. Because people had seen this particular type of.