How An Idea Can Do So Much: Civil Rights and MLK day

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.

“Justice is the bond of men in states. For the administration of justice, which is the determination of what is just, is the principle of order in political society.”

-Aristotle

Alright, a civil right is an idea that has been around since the beginning of the inception of government, but what are civil rights? It’s “The right of citizens to political, social freedom and equality.”  This idea is something so simple but compelling. It has built societies from the ground up and it has torn other societies apart. I could go on for hours about the idea of civil rights and how it changed the world, but today we’ll be only talking about America. After The revolutionary war, we wrote the preamble “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” America was mainly built off of the idea of civil rights. The idea of “We the People” gave some civilians the right to vote but, the idea of “The People” is very flexible, sadly. The only people who could vote were people who owned property were a man and were white. This idea would hurt America in the long run for many generations to come. 

If One Suffers, We All Will Suffer

“Men, their rights, and nothing more; Women, their rights, and nothing else.”

                                                               –Susan B. Anthony

Women have been asking for civil rights since before America was founded and many of the Founding Father’s wives tried to have women’s rights in the constitution. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams was big into making sure that women had rights and education. She even wrote a letter to her husband, but her idea was shot down during the time because “Women would vote to agree with their man giving 2 votes for some men.” As well as the idea of the “perfect woman” being in the kitchen and maintaining the house and children at the time. The topic of women’s rights would go into hibernation until 1820 when we see the birth of Susan B. Anthony, a big name for women’s rights. She met Frederick Douglass when she moved to New York at the age of 22. Talking to Frederick Douglass motivated her to fight for civil rights. She made many small speeches at this point around the country. 1848 would be the first Women’s Rights Convention kicking off the Women’s Suffrage movement. In 1851, Susan B. Anthony met another prominent Women’s Rights activist named Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They both co-founded American Equal Rights Association. In 1868, They would start Association’s newspaper. When congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments women were pissed off.  Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth C. Stanton opposed the amendment and created the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. In 1872, Anthony was arrested for trying to vote and was given a $100 fine putting NWSM (National Woman’s Suffrage Movement) into the public spotlight. 1920, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, Which give women the right to vote. Both Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth C. Stanton died 10 years before women got the right to vote.

Faith Is Taking The First Step Even When You Don’t See The Whole Staircase

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

The bread and butter of civil rights people you most likely know a bit about him and what he’s done. Being most known for “I have a Dream” and is a key role in the Civil Rights movement. This man had part of the country against him for his ideals. His house was bombed, he’s been stabbed by people, and they finished him off with a 30.-06 Springfield round. From the Montgomery Bus boycott to the March on Washington, he fought for ”The People” at every moment. He became the youngest to get a Nobel Peace Prize. He was a Baptist minister that was heavily against using violence. After the bus boycott, he was signing books in a department store and a lady named Izola Ware Curry walked up to him. She asked if he was Martin Luther King Jr. he affirmed. Within moments he was stabbed by the lady. When he recovered from the wound the incident only made him say, “The experience of these last few days has deepened my faith in the relevance of the spirit of nonviolence if necessary social change is peaceful to take place.” In 1983 President Ronald Reagan made MLK day a national holiday. His work still influences generations later even in the wrong context. Fun fact about “I have a Dream”; he regrets it. His dream turns into a nightmare. I recommend watching the link. Dr. King will say it better than I ever will. Oh, how ideas change the world. (*grandfather goes off*) Well, I’m out of time today I hope that you learned something about civil rights or MLK. I’m going to have lunch. Have a good morning, afternoon, and goodnight.