African American women of the nonviolent civil rights movement (1954–1968) played a significant role to its impact and success. Women involved participated in sit-ins and other political movements such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955). Organizations and other political demonstrations sparked change for the likes of equity and equality, women's suffrage, anti-lynching laws, Jim Crow Laws and more.
African American women attained important positions in both leadership and supporting roles during the movement, including Rosa Parks, who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Diane Nash, the main organizer of the Nashville sit-ins and the continuation of the Freedom Rides, and Ella Baker, the SCLC organizer who initiated the organizing meeting of SNCC. Lack of recognition to the African American women during the movement often stemmed from the issue of having to navigate both race and gender norms during the time period.
Womanism When addressing Black women activism, such as that present in the civil rights movement, Alice Walker uses the term "womanism" to encompass the motives of and reasoning behind African American female participation. Walker, a civil rights activist who created the phrase "womanism," considers the feminist movement as failing to include the struggles of women of color, and, thus, failing to address the intersectionality of female marginalization. She deems womanism, characterized by the Black female commitment to community, as inclusive of the social barriers that have shaped the African American woman experience. Thus, studies of Walker's Womanism observe the role of this idea in social rights movements and Black activism, as womanism defines the intersection of race and gender within the African American female experience and explains the Black woman's call to leadership.
Dating back to West African societies, civilizations observed the strength of the Black woman necessary for the family unit's survival. For example, women served in vital positions in the slave trade, proving these groups’ view of female strength and power. This perspective translated to the New World, as demonstrated in the female slave's role in caregiving as well as upholding familial stability due to the Black man's lack of power within American society. Today, one observes this same strength and compensation for the African American man's societal capacity, two defining components of womanism. Walker views feminism as dealing with the White woman trapped in the private sphere, unable to enter the labor force due to gender norms. She argues that this demonstrates the White female struggle, excluding the African American woman from its narrative. African American women have historically worked in the labor force, leading Walker to define their struggles as different from the White woman's confinement to the home. Alice Walker's term considers the burden of both leading and providing financially for the family as part of the Black woman's struggle and defines their ties to a sense of community. Womanist studies suggest this loyalty to the community provides the foundation for Black women activists serving in leadership roles.
Studies note that the relationship between womanism and the civil rights movement manifests itself in womanism's role in including Black female activists acting as participants and leaders. Encompassing the Black woman's loyalty to the community and the community's consequential dependence on the African American woman, author Tiyi Makeda Morris uses womanism to define the ties Black women possess in participating in social and political activism. She addresses the intersection of race and gender African American women face in their daily lives, thus designating these women as natural leaders in social movements, according to womanist principles. Morris argues that Walker's womanism allowed these women to occupy various activist positions due to their experience with facing oppression from both race and gender, making their activist motives inclusive and equipping them with the necessary tools to lead social movements and participate in Black activism, as demonstrated in the civil rights movement.
Roles that American women played in the civil rights movement
Supporting roles
African American women held together Black households and their communities while adapting and overcoming obstacles they faced due to their gender, race, and class. Many women used their communities and local church to gain support for the movement, as local support proved vital for the success of the movement. These women played active roles in homes, churches, social clubs, organizations, and communities, which supported the main movement. Women in the civil rights movement gave their time and used their skills on the front lines and behind the scenes. Some women provided their services by using their restaurants to prepare food for protestors, while others provided housing. Many women opened their stores or homes to create safe-havens, where civil rights workers could meet and discuss plans or strategies, while some used their careers to raise funds for the cause. Women involved in the civil rights movement included students, mothers, and professors, as they balanced many roles in different parts of their lives. Writing and literature, such as newspaper articles, poems, and stories, proved popular methods of promoting the civil rights movement. Women such as Ida B. Wells used their journalism skills to provide protection for Black women suffering from sexual violence. Women often devised plans to create the signs held at marches and led chants or songs during these protests. African American women provided for their families and played prominent roles in boycotts and demonstrations while educating children and adults.
Leadership roles
Leadership exclusion African American women suffered from exclusion in formal leadership positions (roles holding authority under an official title), as demonstrated in minister-led organizations, like the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), as well as secular groups, like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In Committees, men were always more than women. Irene West was the only woman on the nine-number committee to form a bank and savings association, and Rosa Parks was the only one tasked with drafting the MIA constitution. Within the MIA, leaders limited female participation to areas that involved stereotypically feminine qualities, such as community services. Further, the newsletter often failed to address contributions from women involved in the group. The SCLC and other Church organizations featured a predominantly male executive board, leading many women, such as Septima Clark and Ella Baker, to feel oppressed and objectified under a patriarchal system. The secular organization SNCC upheld a structure that enforced female subordination, giving women roles that relied on the leadership of a higher position of power. Women participating within this group often preferred informal positions, for a female title job typically equated to more structure and, thus, more restrictions. Informal roles included fieldwork, such as leading recruitment for movement participation.
African American women as bridge leaders As mentioned before, Black women experienced restrictions in exercising power within the civil rights movement, leading many women to occupy informal leadership positions, characterized by the ability to personally exercise power over constituents without a formal title. Many women served as "bridge leaders" due to sexist attitudes preventing them from obtaining higher, formal positions of power. As bridge leaders, these women formed valuable connections with those unable to gain political power, thus amplifying potential constituents’ voices and communicating their messages within the social movement. This female capacity to connect with individuals creates a gendered lens when studying the civil rights movement organization.
Despite these restrictions women faced when accessing power, African American women still found ways to act as leaders and make valuable connections within the civil rights movement. As bridge leaders, Black women created networks with those holding formal leadership roles. Thus, they formed necessary ties that connected movement participants with those in official, decision-making positions. This manifests itself in African American women forming bonds with those in the deep South, as these Black Southerners experienced hesitation with supporting the civil rights movement due to traditional Church ideals against protest and less media coverage on the movement's advancements. Female bridge leaders worked to create personal connections with these Southerners by hearing their goals and experiences while simultaneously merging these ideas with the civil rights agenda. Acting as bridge leaders allowed women to form networks within local communities as well as with those in formal positions. Black women holding these informal leadership roles formed valuable relationships with local community members, strengthening the movement's goals and agenda through local participants' contributions. Both the SCLC and SNCC used these networks with local participants to their advantage, often hosting meetings within these people's homes. Women within the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party also formulated valuable ties with those in the local community and worked to increase the area's voter registration.
Lastly, serving as bridge leaders allowed women to fulfill the movement's goals through their own agenda. Due to the informality of their jobs, these Black women could work towards movement goals however they saw fit, regardless of formal leaders' agendas. This allowed African American women to form closer ties to their constituents and operate on their constituents' wishes rather than those of a formal leader.
African American women leaders Women not only provided help to those in power but also held important leadership positions within the civil rights movement, creating Black female support networks. African American female leaders include student Judy Richardson, who left college to organize projects, such as voter-registration drives. Kathleen Cleaver took the risk of serving as the first woman on the central committee of the Black Panther Party, making her a target of the FBI. Ella Mae Brayboy became the co-director of the voter registration drives sponsored by the Voter Education Project (VEP). Grace Hamilton was the first African American woman to be elected to the state legislature in the South. More women ran for political offices during this period of time, but they lacked attention due to the election of the first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson. Mary McLeod Bethune, a civil rights activist, made her voice heard, but was more subtle in how she did it. She seized every opportunity she could get her hands on to speak to the public about African American Civil rights. She spoke for women like Elizabeth Keckley, Frances E. Harper, Pauli Murray and Shirley Chisholm. All of these women looked for an opportunity to talk about civil rights so they can help pave the way for future African American women in the United States. These female leaders took positions of responsibility in which they accomplished great feats, most commonly left out of the narrative. They impacted African American history, because they wanted to have a voice in what they can do within society during the Civil Rights Movement.
The Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Parks continues the movement