Colonisation of Africa and the slave trade:
The Atlantic slave trade, occurring from the late 15th Century to the mid 19th century, was the forced transportation and selling of black Africans as slaves in many European countries but most notably in the USA with the latter 'owning' over 10million slaves. The slave traders consisted of the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Americans and the Portuguese who were the first to be engaged in the Atlantic slave trade as the new crops grown there, crops such as sugar cane, tobacco and cotton were labour intensive and there weren't enough servants to help out. The slaves were purchased by these slave traders from local African tribal leaders for weapons and rum to strengthen themselves against enemies. The slaves were belittled by their own leaders who looked upon them as criminals for manufactured goods. These goods still wouldn't protect them from the European colonisation for power and foreign control. The impact this had on the slaves was brutally appalling, they would be shaved in order to protect themselves from lice, dehumanised by being branded, and shipped across the Atlantic in cramped, inhumane conditions below deck. Many would die from disease due to the lack of sanitation. Once they arrived offshore, they would be sold for hard labour with most slaves working in an area of plantation for wealthy White Americans. They would usually have to build their own houses which were more like huts and as many as 10 would have to share one cramped hut. Most slaves were also forced to cook their own meals, and with the most hours of their day being work for their 'master,' they had little free time to cook their own meals.
20th Century Civil Rights Movements:
The Civil Rights Movement was a political campaign which ran in the USA from 1954-68 which campaigned for an end to discrimination, segregation and disenfranchisement particularly in the Southern States of the USA. Their methods of protest were rather peaceful in order to show how harmless African Americans are and the real issue was the White Americans who would still harass them despite doing nothing. Throughout the 1950's, many African Americans were annoyed at the Jim Crow Laws which forced racial segregation throughout Southern schools, facilities and establishments. The moment which propelled the movements road to success was the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1st, 1955, as a result of refusing to give up her bus seat at the front for a white man at a time where racial segregation was also allowed on public transport. Many African Americans from Montgomery took inspiration over the event which resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted over a year. This event would go on to start the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) which would elect Martin Luther King JR as their leader who would lead the boycott. He and other members including Ralph Abernathy would go on to organise carpools for those joining the boycott in order to get to work and after a year, the bus company would almost file for bankruptcy since 90% of their customers were African Americans. This was a huge success for the CRM as the U.S Supreme Court would rule in favour of bus desegregation. Although this was their first successful campaign, it didn't stop African Americans who campaigned from being threatened and criticised, resulting in MLK's home being firebombed, luckily no one was harmed during the incident. This wouldn't stop the CRM movement from campaigning for an end to racial segregation as they still continued to.
They would go on to campaign for an end to segregation with the Greensboro sit-in in 1960 where a group of black college students peacefully sat in a Woolworth's counter after refusing to be served, although they didn't provoke mass violence, they were still abused as hot coffee would be poured on them. Events like this caused national outcry as other college students took inspiration in other counters from Tallahassee, Florida. On August 28th, 1963, over 250,000 people gathered in Washington making this the largest CRM gathering to support the pending Civil Rights Act and seek an end to racial unemployment, Civil Rights discrimination and disentrancement of African Americans, this is the same movement where MLK delivered his iconic 'I have a dream' speech about his hopes for the future of young black Americans. MLK would continue to strive in the 1960s helping pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) alongside the help of President Lyndon B. Johnson who signed the act which helped outlaw discrimination against race, sex, and religion. A year later, MLK was also involved in the formation of the Voting's Right Act (1965) which outlawed discrimination when voting. Despite MLK's crucial role stopping discrimination against African Americans and becoming a role model for them, he was later assassinated on the 4th of April 1968 on the balcony of the motel he was staying at.
The Black Panther political party of the 1960s:
Alongside the CRM during the 1960's came the Black Panther Party (BPP). Founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in California, the movement campaigned for racial discrimination as a result of the flaws which came with the Civil Rights Act which still allowed for racism in black communities such as poverty. They were all about community and black nationalism as well as armed self-defence from police brutality which still occurred. Compared to the Civil Rights Movement, this resulted in the BPP looking more threatening due to the weapons they would carry around in communities. Black people were beginning to lose hope in peaceful protests as they were still facing discrimination, many black people saw the BPP as an alternative who looked more determined yet were still focused on black history and how far they have come.
Often unacknowledged by many, the BPP helped out in poverty stricken black communities where the conditions were cramped and obscene. Many ways they helped out in the community were:
1. Children's breakfast programmes which helped black children living in poverty have a healthy breakfast before the school day in order to keep them productive.
2. Free clothing programmes for those who couldn't afford new clothes.
3. Free food programmes for those living unemployed or with little pay who couldn't afford to buy groceries/necessities.
4. Black History lessons to educate the black youth on how far they have come fighting for an end to discrimination as well as aspire the youth to believe in the hopes for the future. They can aspire to be anything if they are just determined.
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