Ain't Scare of Your Jails

As I see it, Ain't Scared of Your Jails was very empowering and it echoes today in the majority of protests that we see and hear about it the news. The students used a number of tactics to get their point across to the community and even the country. The African American citizens of Birmingham, Alabama protested nonviolently in the diners. They were arrested and then new groups would replace them. The protestors boycotted shopping in downtown stores and it led white citizens to not shop at the stores too for fear of violence. The final event that the protestors did was to take part in "freedom rides" to integrate the interstate bussing systems by traveling from D.C. to there "hopeful" destination of New Orleans. Not many made it there because of the severe beatings they knowingly were to meet. They didn't care, they were courageous and as Jim Zwerg, a white man said, We're going to take beating. We're willing to accept death, but we'll keep coming..." To me, that is real courage.

Civil Rights Make Up Work

"Project C" was the plan devised by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to challenge Birmingham, Alabama's system of segregation. They planned to confront segregation through peaceful demonstrations, rallies, protests and appeals to justice. They suspected that the actions of Birmingham Police Commissioner Bull Connor would be violent and that this would attract national attention and create public sympathy for the movement. This was reasoned correctly, Bull Connor used police dogs and fire hoses to disperse the demonstrators. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested by the Birmingham police after telling his staff , "Look, I don't know what to do. I just know that something has got to change in Birmingham. I don't know whether I can raise money to get people out of jail. I do know that I can go into jail with them." It was while he was in jail that he wrote the influential piece "Letter from Birmingham Jail".

To learn more visit:
http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Civ%20Rts.html
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/birming.html

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

The Freedom Riders were young men and women of both colors who wanted to disrupt the standards of segregation in the Southern communities. They used the key tactic of non-violence and cooperation when opposed by civilians and police. These young people took a class about how to ignore insulting comments and offensive behavior around them when they begin their protests. The local government and the federal government were in conflict about how to handle these protests. When representatives were discussing the issues with the Freedom riders and the boycotts, a rep. from New York stated "I'm advocating the American Citizen interested in democracy." This part stood out to me because he directly answered how he felt about the situations. It wasn't about race, but humans.

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

The Freedom Rides consisted of a group of interracial individuals riding from town to town and peacefully protesting. Whites rode on the back of the bus and blacks on the front of the bus. They would get off the buses at rest stops and use the opposite color's waiting rooms, facilities, etc. The goal of the Freedom Rides was to over-through the segregation issues on interstates and at rest stops. Even after being beaten nearly to death, Jim Zwerg said, "Segregation must stop. We will continue to ride." The riders were not going to give up and continued to push farther south.

Ain't Scared of your Jails

Leo Lillard was the boy who wanted to know what all the big fuss was about. So he went to bothe fountains, tasted the water and to his amazement they tasted the same. I thought this part was very important because its true, we are the same. Yeah ok our skin colors maybe different but we are all people who are just fighting for a chance. I also thought it was interesting how when the SNCC got on the bus the whites sat in teh back and the blacks in the front and in the waiting rooms blacks went to the one for whites and vice versa. I thought this was a really great film and really showed what they had to go through.

Ain't Scared Of Your Jails

The black community stood up to get equal rights. They would use sit-in tactics to until cops would arrest them, or till the white community would jump them. They weren't afraid to go to jail as John Lewis said, "...It was a holy crusade, a badge of honor..." to go to jail. They stood up for what they believed in. Some whites joined the movement in going to blacks only places, while blacks went to whites only places. It was a fight for equality, and it was nothing less than a war for the colored community.

I loved the fact that the whole movement was non-violent. Even when beaten, they did not strike back. It takes an amazing about of self restraint to be hit without fighting back. This is the thing that stuck out the most to me watching this movie for the second time. Also it was inspiring how many "white" people were helping out with the freedom rides. I believe in the cause but I honestly cant say if at that period in history if I could have had the courage to do what they did in support of desegregation. I am glad I got to watch this documentary again because I picked up on alot more that I missed the first time.