The Power of Non-ViolenceFreedom Riders, Sit-ins, and Non-Violent Protest

“The courageous Freedom Riders won’t ever be the same,” wrote a newspaper journalist in 1961.

“They left Washington, D.C., in good spirits with high hopes in their

country and fellow men. But the beatings, the tensions, the shots, the

depth of the hating, the open lawlessness took its toll. It will be a

miracle if all their physical and psychological wounds ever heal. The

Deep South was that tough.”

What’s happening in this photo?Can you predict what happened before this?

What happened after?

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So…..could you still be a freedom rider?

Student Protests and Sit insSNCC- “Snick”Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

Raleigh, NCCollege students on a

mission

Sit-insSat down at segregated

lunch counters and ask to be served.

Why could this be successful?

The Woolworth Lunch CounterWHEN: Feb. 1, 1960, WHO: Four students,

WHERE: Greensboro, NC

Students of the SNCC at NC Agricultural and Technical College staged a sit-in at a whites only counter in the Woolworth lunch counter

Little did they know, this would be the most famous sit-in in history.Televised for all to see—showed the struggle, intensity, and

force of the Civil Rights MovementReporters captured the violence and racism of white

reactions: beatings, slurs, pouring food on the students

Bloody Sunday

Bloody Sunday

Plan to march fromSelma to Montgomery.

The first march: 600 people Over the Selma bridge… Led by SNCC and SCLC MLK Jr.

Sheriff orders males over 21 to report to be deputized.

Meet marchers—nightsticks, tear gas, men on horseback.

What do you see here?

What is significant about this picture?

Who looks the strongest in this

photo?

The Power in Non-Violence

FIRE HOSES ARE USED AS A WEAPON

What do we do?

The police are meant to be people that protect you…and they’re not…Who do you have left to turn to?How does this affect the Civil Rights

Movement?

Is nonviolent protest an effective means of a “fight”?