Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour

Jerome Carlos Johnson SOCI 3345 Sociology of the 1960s Five scallywag Book Review wait Til the Midnight hr by Peniel Joseph February 28, 2013 hold Til the Midnight min by Peniel Joseph Within the eleven chapters that comprise Waiting Til the Midnight Hour lays a treasure chest of data for any ane interested in ominous or African American history, oddly the politeized rights straw existence that took place during the 1950s and 1960s. I am a self-professed savant of African American history and I found an amazing amount of information that I was not aware of.Like much than or less who claim to be minacious record experts, I was aware of the roles of Martin Luther business leader, Malcolm X, Rosa honey oils, W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey. However, I was not aware of the impact that so many an(prenominal) lesser cognise figures had in the gracious rights campaign. It was refreshing to learn of the roles contend by Harold Cruse, Arturo Schomburg, Richard Wr ight, Ella Baker and Robert F. Williams. Reading this earmark definitely gave me a new stead on the courteous rights exertion and the legacies of its leading.Waiting Til the Midnight Hour took me on a journey done the tumultuous events of the civilised rights movement, as thoroughly as introducing me to key players in the movement of which I was previously unaware. In addition, the bulk served as an avenue of connecting the various segments and factions of the civil rights movement. The harbour also did a prominent strain of presenting the nationwide defend of African Americans rather than focusing on one specific geographic area. It was a daunting task, solely the author did a coarse theorize of accurately placing all the pieces of the stun together that comprised the struggle for freedom.Through his writings in Waiting Til the Midnight Hour, Peniel Joseph did a commodious job of contrasting the stark difference ming lead with integrationists standardised Mart in Luther major spring and matterists (or separatists) like Malcolm X. Peniel Joseph was fit to paint the stark contrast betwixt the two major factions of the civil rights movement by exploring their beginnings several decades prior to the advent of the movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The disc begins by detailing Malcolm Xs rise to prominence within the estate Of Islam. The criminal record clearly shows the power that Malcolm X wielded in the African American community.In many ways this admit provides solid raise of my personal opinion that Malcolm X was so a to a greater extent mesomorphic leader than Martin Luther in the African American community. two men were charismatic and eloquent orators, nevertheless Malcolm X had a much more commanding presence. Again, this is my personal opinion, nevertheless the nurse definitely paints a vivid indicate of the abundant power that was held by Malcolm X. The book gives an excellent discourse on the dissimilar ideologica l views of the two large leadership Malcolms belligerent thinking of getting unslopedice and equation by any center necessary versus the non-violent, Gandhi-like movement led by Dr.Martin Luther King. objet dart King is mentioned often, the book is clearly more focused on Malcolm X and his great role in moving dusky masses from passive, non-violent methods towards more assertive methods of achieving racial umpire and equality. The book provides information some Malcolm Xs history and background, which helped to better understand his militant thinking. Malcolm X played a great role in the great raise up in the methods used to fight for civil rights in the 1960s. Many lesser known leaders looked at Malcolm X as a role model. His legacy as a leader is still felt 48 years after his assassination.Malcolm served as inspiration to the bare queen front line that took fire in the mid and juvenile 1960s. An different great thing about Waiting Til the Midnight Hour is the way it shows the geographical aspect of the struggle for racial equality. In great detail, the author highlights the workings of civil rights leaders in major cities like Detroit but also gives a great deal of forethought to the struggles of rural southerners. This allowed me to pull a connection between the struggles of urban African Americans and blacks in the rural southern, thence seeing the entire picture more clearly.This book makes clear that the struggle for racial equality was nationwide and not just isolated to certain geographical locations. A common misconception about the civil rights movement is that blatant racism was a chore only encountered in the Deep South. However, Waiting Til the Midnight Hour does a great job of clarifying this misconception and showing the many elements of the struggle for justice that blacks from coast to coast experienced. genius of the almost elements of the book is the evolution of the constitution called SNCC.SNCC (Student Nonviolent C oordinating Committee) was founded in community with the lunch counter sit0ins that originated in Greensboro, atomic number 7 Carolina in February 1960. SNCC activists were known to practice slow, obtuse and patient voter registration drives in the most dangerous parts of the South. However, they rarely received credit for their efforts on a subject level. Despite their lack of national attention, SNCC activists often managed to annoy white federal official officials and black civil rights leaders.SNCC attracted radicals from the Revolutionary activity Movement, black nationalists from the North and a multitude of other mavericks. From its humble beginnings, SNCC was a calm class that used nonviolent methods to set about racial equality. Over the course of time, SNCC became more assertive in their methods of demanding racial equality and social justice. At the very essence of the evolution of SNCC was a young man from Trinidad by the name of Stokely Carmichael. Perhaps th e most affecting chapter in the book is chapter 7, which is entitled, What We Gonna bug out Saying Now Is disastrous Power In this chapter we see the birth of the Black Power movement. This is a very powerful chapter for many reasons, including that in my opinion this is the full stop where the civil rights movement began to move toward a more assertive methodology and Dr. Martin Luther King began to lose relevance. At first SNCC was an brass section that believed in non-violent civil disobedience but over time the makeup became more militant. By 1965 it was obvious that Stokely Carmichael was leading the organization from its roots as a non-violent integrationist group toward a much more militant nationalist way of thinking.During the summer of 1966 attention shifted to the manuscript Delta, which was a hotbed of racial discord. This is of circumscribed significance to me because my parents were both born and reared in the disseminated sclerosis Delta. My grandfather share d many stories with me about the tumultuous 1960s in the Mississippi Delta. Most of those stories were horrific but Waiting Til the Midnight Hour put a whole new perspective on it by introducing me to the major players with great detail. In this chapter we see Dr. Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael in Mississippi during the time that packMeredith was embarking upon his prove Against Fear. His plan was to adjoin from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi as a symbolisation of his defiance against the racial discrimination so prevalent in Mississippi. Meredith was famous for combine the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) four years prior. While establishing from Memphis to Jackson, James Meredith was shot in the neck, back and both legs. He was hard injured but would eventually recover. This hap divided the civil rights activists in Mississippi.Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin and LeRoi Jones were identified as provocateurs behind a growing trend of racial milit ancy. Officials from the urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, CORE, the NAACP and SNCC met to debate joining the border in Mississippi as a form of knowledge against the shooting of James Meredith as salubrious as commemorating the assassination of Medger Evers. The unlike organization leaders had opposing views on the methodology of implementing the march and therefore a long argument ensued.Eventually a compromise was met. However, in the end, the more conservative leaders from the North refused to support the compromise that Dr. Martin Luther King and re move to New York after warning that the march would be a disaster. During the long march through the Mississippi Delta, Stokely Carmichael lost his diligence with the racial climate of Mississippi. He was pall of the racial hatred and blatant discrimination. pastime his release from jail (after his 27th arrest), Stokely Carmichael make his way to Broad Street Park in Greenwood, Mississippi.In an impa ssioned speech, he told the conclave of tired and listless marchers that he had openhanded tired of the slow pace of the civil rights movement and his frustration had reached its boiling point. At that point he said the poignant words, what we gonna start sayin now is black power It was at that point that America began to fill in that many blacks throughout the nation had liberal wary of the methods of Dr. Martin Luther King and his turn the other cheek way of thinking. The tide was go and African Americans were ready to get their freedom and equality by any means necessary.From that day forward the slogan Black Power began to spread like wildfire. The Meredith March ended on June 26, 1966 as thousands of people gathered at the Mississippi soil Capitol Building in Jackson. The burning of a Confederate flag on the capitol grand by a SNCC member force rousing applause. Dr. Martin Luther King struggled with the reality that the national policy-making landscape may not be able to keep up with the pace of the new found black militancy. He confessed to the crowd that his dream had turned into a nightmare. King defiantly proclaim that even in Mississippi justice will come to all of beau ideals children. Carmichael sounded a heart and soul that was the gelid opposite of that of Dr. King. Carmichael said that the movement moldiness build a political dish so powerful that blacks would bring them whites to their knees each time they mess with us. Carmichaels message began to resonate among black people crosswise the nation and the mood among blacks began to shift from non-violent civil disobedience to that of militant defiance. Thus the Black Power came into existence and dominated the political scene for the remainder of the 1960s.