Up until the 19th century, religion was used as a way of legitimizing slavery in America. With the rise of the civil rights movement religion seems to have played a quite different role. This essay aims to explore the role of religion in the ideologies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. The speeches, writings and actions of these two men have been analysed in hope that the result will contribute to the larger study of American civil rights history. This essay proposes that both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X infused their political message with religious ideas and that they leaned on religion for support and inspiration. By analysing the discourse headed by King and X it becomes clear that in direct contrast to how religion was used during slavery, religion was used as a way of legitimizing equality (and in some cases black superiority) between races during the civil rights movement.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-104).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-104).

This thesis examines the crucial role of spirituals and freedom songs during the American Civil Rights movement from 1955-1968. Singing this music and speaking their lyrics affirmed African Americans' humanity, inspired hope for justice, and nurtured community development. When they sang, activists experienced "egalitarian resonance"-- spontaneous community among singers and listeners crossing race, age, gender, and class differences. These moments modeled the ideal American, multiracial community. In the absence of a 24/7 news cycle, freedom songs instantly provided a grassroots history of the movement. Both artistic expression and vocal protest, spirituals testified to the resilience of the human spirit. Created by African American slaves, spirituals expressed human psychological, emotional, and physical suffering. During twentieth-century segregation, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Weldon Johnson, and Howard Thurman wrote about spirituals and racial oppression. They understood spirituals expressed hope for justice despite despair. During the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted spirituals and freedom songs, linking past suffering with present persecution. Forming part of nonviolent protest, spirituals offered hope for an all-inclusive, "beloved community." Between 1955 and 1968, freedom songs chronicled events and persons, orally recording the movement as it happened. Protesters sang long-established spirituals and newly-created freedom songs composed while working to open public facilities and to expand the franchise to all persons. Singing together in mass meetings solidified the resolve of participants and community members. When the movement spread from a regional to national phenomenon, freedom songs began showing other music influences including blues, rock and roll, and folk rock.

The study offers a practical theological examination of three congregational youth ministries located in three different multi-racial and multi-cultural contexts in the Northeastern region of the United States. In the first move of this study, I present findings from ethnographic research in the three congregational youth ministries and argue that each congregation displays a disconnect between their practices of evangelism and discipleship and young people’s questions about and experiences with race, racism, and racial identity. In the second move of this study, I argue that this disconnect is due to the pervasiveness of post-racialism in the church and society, understood as a collection of social practices that promote colorblindness as a virtue and perpetuate systemic racism as a habitus by fostering an aesthetic of forgetfulness regarding racial violence and oppression. In light of this, I suggest that a way forward in congregational youth ministries in multiracial and multicultural contexts requires a disruption of and resistance to post-racial aesthetics for the sake of meeting students’ needs. In the third move, I turn attention to Martin Luther King, Jr. to forge a way forward, as King is often taken to be a normative source for interracial congregations. However, while such interracial congregations tend to rely on a limited view of King that interprets him as an inspiration for embracing post-racialism, I argue that King’s theological praxis can be a critical resource for discerning how to resist post-racialism. In concluding the dissertation, I offer suggestions for how current practitioners can begin taking steps toward resisting post-racialism in their work with youth and young adults. / 2025-01-31T00:00:00Z

This thesis examines the controversy surrounding the renaming of a street for Martin Luther King, Jr. in the city of Zephyrhills, Florida in 2003-2004. By paying close attention to the language deployed during a series of contentious city council meetings, the thesis traces how Zephyrhills' divisive history and neoliberal spatial order kept white residents from grappling with the city's legacy of racism, inequality, residential segregation, and the memory of the Civil Rights movement. Ultimately, it reveals Americans' limited capacity to recognize and discuss race in the post-Civil Rights era. / History

When the most powerful man in the march to freedom fails to break segregation codes in 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, the last person anyone would expect to make Dr. King’s dream a reality is a 10-year-old girl known as the "Civil Rights Queen."

The purpose of this project is to investigate the often neglected research concerning the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his scholar-activism. This project is intended to look for evidence of intellectual leadership within King's writings in an effort to classify King within the Scholar-Activist paradigm in Africana Studies. Further, the aim is to examine Martin Luther King, Jr. from the critical and centered Scholar-Activist paradigm of Africana Studies based on an analysis of his writings to determine whether his works should be included in or excluded from the canon of Africana Studies. Molefi Asante, Maulana Karenga, and Terry Kershaw, three of the most respected scholars in the field of Africana Studies, seemingly ascribe differing levels of status to King's accomplishments and value within African American history (Asante, 1990; Karenga, 2002). Such a debate grounds this project. Does King measure up to the Scholar-Activist paradigm? Whether he does or does not, should the paradigm be expanded and redefined to include King, or is it acceptable as is? King's six book length writings demonstrate a consistency of themes, which include eight major foci: (1) Economic Justice; (2) Racial Equality/Integration; (3) Existentialism; (4) Social Activism/Service; (5) Theology/Activism; (6) Revolution/Leadership; (7) Black Ideology/Liberation/Black Theology; and (8) Anti-Militarism/Anti-Poverty. This author concludes that diversity of methodological approaches within Africana Studies is normal and that King's writings should be considered for inclusion into its canons. King meets all of Terry Kershaw's requirements for inclusion in the scholar-activist paradigm. / Master of Science

The seven-and-a-half-hour series of funeral rites that occurred in Atlanta on April 9, 1968 in honor of assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were broadcast live to 120 million U.S. television viewers and reported extensively in local and national newspapers and magazines. While King's April 4 assassination triggered deadly riots in more than 100 cities, Atlanta remained peaceful before and during the funeral. In this research thesis I explore how the funeral was leveraged by three disparate stakeholder group's King's family, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Atlanta's liberal white leadership- to stage image events. I create a historiography for each group that draws on primary sources and original interviews. Using an intertextual approach I conduct qualitative content analysis of the media coverage generated by each group's actions, identifying seven major messages that emerged.

”I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Martin Luther Kings jrs. starka stämma ekade ut ur högtalarsystemet och de 250 000 medborgarrättsaktivisterna som var samlade vid George Washington monumentet i USA:s huvudstad  instämde i ett jublande bifall. Året var 1963 och Martin Luther King jr., hade i nio år varit känd som den amerikanska medborgarrättsrörelsens främste talesman, när han i sitt tal till det amerikanska folket yttrade sin vision för det amerikanska samhällets framtid.      Denna uppsats beskriver det afro-amerikanskafolkets historia, från slaveriets bojor i de Nordamerikanska kolonierna i slutet av 1600-talet, till kampen för fullständiga medborgerliga rättigheter i 1950- och 60-talets USA. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka religionens betydelse för det afro-amerikanska folket, samt studera Martin Luther King jrs. inflytande över den amerikanska medborgarrättsrörelsen och dess användande av icke-våldsmetoder som medel för att nå samhällsomvandling.