I have chosen the photo of Bob Moses, Diane Nash and the Reverend James Lawson who were leaders on the SNCC. It really speaks to me because when I see their faces I see the strength of their souls and the courage of their hearts when I listen to their testimonies. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee emerged from the student sit-ins that erupted on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although just four students launched these sit-ins, within two months thousands of students across the south were engaged in similar protests against racial segregation. In 1961, a handful of these activists committed to full time work in the southern civil rights struggle; some of them postponing their college plans. SNCC became an organization of grassroots organizers.Historians characterize SNCC as the movement’s “cutting edge”. Its “field secretaries” worked in the most dangerous parts of the south seeking to both cultivate and reinforce local leadership. Its uncompromising style of non-violent direct action confronted racial injustice throughout the South and contributed to the elimination of racial segregation.
With “One Man, One Vote” voter registration campaigns SNCC paved the way for a new generation of black elected officials across the south. It is this work that laid the foundation for the election of America’s first African-American President, Barack Obama.
I agree with Barack Obama when he says:"African American history is fundamentally different from the story that many minority groups go through in other countries.” Because black people have been undermined so low that they were considered things with no value or soul because of their skin color. They been through the struggle of first being recognized as Americans, too; then the inequality and abuse towards their community, and discrimination through the years to come because their nonviolent fighting is still going on. Obama states:"The black freedom struggle defines the American experience. It is a struggle that has applied prolonged moral and political pressure to the promises of the Constitution and America’s self-conception." This is true in the sense that African Americans have reached justice in America through the recognition of their civil rights before society.
