Topic Exploration: The Birmingham Campaign

1) This protest was in the Civil Rights Movement, but I am focusing particularly on the Birmingham Campaign that occurred from April 3^rd-May 10^th, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The name of this campaign was Project C, which stood for “confrontation,” and used a nonviolent approach because the organizers knew they would be met with violence, so media attention would be prevalent. This campaign consisted of lunch counter sit-ins, marches, kneel-ins by black people at white churches, and boycotts. The group was protesting the segregation laws in Alabama that had been occurring for far too long. The campaign went negatively when the protesters were attacked with firehoses and opposed by the Birmingham Police Department, causing this peaceful demonstration to become a violent one.

2) The identity articulated through this protest is the black people who were affected by the segregation laws in Birmingham, since Birmingham was considered the most segregated city in America. This tie is significant because the entire purpose of the Birmingham Campaign is to give a voice to the African American citizens who did not have equal rights. For example, there were no black citizens in positions of power, and there was very limited job selection, thus most black people were forced to hold manual labor jobs.

3) The organizers of the protest wanted to focus on more attainable desegregation goals, so they protested desegregation of shopping stores, fair employment standards, use of parks by black people, and a committee with both white and black people in positions to work on desegregating the public schools in the city. The group I am looking at, which were the African Americans living in Birmingham, participated in the Birmingham Campaign by organizing the protest and physically participating in the various nonviolent tactics. As stated earlier, these included body rhetoric methods, which were sit-ins, kneel-ins, and marches. The protestors knew they risked being arrested by participating, which made their stake in the protest even more meaningful.

4) I am worried about finding enough research materials to write a thorough paper, but also ensuring that the materials I am citing are legitimate and scholarly, since there are many criteria used to determine if a source is worthwhile to use. I will not have a problem with tying the identity to the protest clearly, since the identity is specifically articulated through the actions and goals of the Birmingham Campaign. I think once I have all my sources lined up and analyzed, the writing will go smoothly. The most difficult part will be the research aspect and keeping the sources and paper organized.

Works Cited:

O’Neill, Claire. “Charles Moore, Photographer Of The Civil Rights Movement, Dies At 79.” NPR. N.p., 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2016.