Part 2: Gloria Richardson and the Future Generations of Non-violent, Peaceful Warriors
Cambridge, Maryland captured all of Black America’s attention because it demanded so much more than Martin Luther King, Jr., and the older Civil rights organizations ever demanded. A lot of people learned that if people want true equality, they have to ask for true equality, negotiate for it, stick to it, and not compromise it .
For example, the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott happened because people on a crowded bus, did not want to give up their seat to a White person, and have to stand ,while the white person got to sit. Black people also did not like having to sit in the back of the bus.
People in Cambridge,Maryland were more concerned about not being able to get jobs. There was a 40% unemployment rate for Cambridge’s Black people in 1960. The White people were at a 20% unemployment rate because in the 1950’s, one out of three factories in Cambridge had gone out of business. The two factories that were left, negotiated that they would not hire Blacks, if White people refused to unionize (Cambridge, Maryland, para. 7 and 8).
Another concern Black people had in Cambridge, Maryland was that the one hospital in Cambridge, Maryland was segregated, and would not accept Blacks who needed medical help. Blacks had to drive two hours away to Baltimore, Maryland just to go to a hospital. How many Black people died en route, trying to get to a hospital? Gloria Richardson had her Father and Uncle die prematurely because they could not get the medical help they needed, soon enough. Black people, in Cambridge, were concerned about specifically desegregating hospitals ( Cambridge,MD. 1963 para. ,3 - 9). Black people in Montgomery,Alabama were concerned about getting rid of all Jim Crow laws and segregation.
Although nearly all Blacks wanted to get rid of segregation laws, Gloria Richardson said that getting rid of Jim Crow and segregation laws supplanted getting better housing and jobs that people wanted in Cambridge, Maryland. CNAC was the first SNCC organization to demand Black Power kinds of demands.
Moreover, Gloria Richardson was ahead of her times. Her demands were the future of Black political activism in the U.S. and they attracted younger Blacks who would become the new leaders of the civil rights’ movement. Gloria Richardson brought new blood to people who had been carrying the torch of civil rights for 9 years. People were tired and had been battered by beatings and traumatized for a long time. New people decided to stay with Martin Luther King, Jr., in part because in Gloria Richardson they could see someone who listened to them, and did not back down from their concerns.
History has shown that Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. was correct to fight as a non-violent, peaceful protester. What garnered media attention was not when Black people picked up arms, but when Black people took a sacred oath of non-violence in the face of death, to make the world a better place. When White people started seeing their sons and daughters take a vow of non-violence and die themselves to help Black people, that is when things really changed in this country. That is what helped to change people’s hearts. Then, the White power structure said enough is enough.
Most of the people who led non-violent, peaceful protests were happy with getting rid of Jim Crow laws and segregation, but although under King’s leadership, Blacks made more gains than ever before, people still realized that Black people did not have full equality.
Today, a new group has come on the horizon: Black Lives Matter. It’s focus has mainly been on police brutality. Almost 60 years ago, Gloria Richardson found out it was a major concern of Black people living in Cambridge, Maryland because she and young followers in CNAC knocked on the doors of Black people in Cambridge, Maryland and actually asked Blacks what their concerns were. Gloria Richardson had a college degree in Sociology, so she understood the value of knocking on people’s doors and actually asking them about their concerns. Martin Luther King, Jr. majored in theology as an undergraduate student, got a master’s degree in theology, and then a doctorate in theology. He did not know anything about how to organize non-violent, peaceful protests, when he helped start the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
A political activist named Bayard Rustin drove down from New York to King’s home in Montgomery, Alabama. He told King he could make Montgomery, Alabama a local success or take non-violent peaceful protest nationally in every city all over America. King did not know Bayard Rustin, but his wife recognized him, so King let him inside his home and talked to him. (Branch, p. 179). The rest is history. Rustin would later on help King to organize the 1963 March on Washington,D.C. He also mentored a young Stokely Carmichael, who was a student at Howard University
Thirty-three years later, Stokely Carmichael would help The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan organize The Million Man March, as the largest non-violent, peaceful protest by Blacks ever known in America at the time. Thirty three years later, marches were not as violent, as they were during the 1960’s. The young students of the 1960’s became folk with gray in their hair 33 years later, and they learned from the mistakes of their youth. They found out King’s wisdom in fighting racism non-violently.
When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was a young man, he was a follower of Marcus Garvey in the Back to Africa Movement. He probably watched how the U.S. government bought Marcus Garvey down. He did not want The Nation of Islam to be bought down like Garvey was bought down. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was very,very Conservative. He did not want his followers to vote or be too political. The Nation of Islam has survived longer than the Marcus Garvey’ Back to Africa Movement.
What ever happened to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense? Is it still a vibrant, political group today? The point is that Non-violent peaceful Warriors survive better. They will tend to be around to fight more battles, and to learn from their mistakes.
In the 1960’s, the Black communities biggest opposition to non-violent, peaceful protest came from The Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party. The Million Man March marked a 180 degree turn-around for the Nation of Islam. Nobody got killed. The K.K.K. did not follow Blacks home or kill them. Later on,The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan would ask his followers to go to the website of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change to look up and read all of the speeches that Martin Luther King, Jr. made during the last year of his life. He, in effect, asked his followers to study King’s philosophy of non-violence, in order to learn how to fight against racism better.
The 1963 March on Washington had an 8 point plan that Bayard Rustin read to people in attendance: People wanted passage of “The voter rights act without compromise or filibuster.” People wanted to get rid of racist Jim Crow segregation laws. People demanded that states found to be still practicing segregation laws not be able to get federal dollars to be given to them. People demanded access to better education. People demanded better housing. They demanded better health care. A lot of demands from CNAC made up the March on Washington’s greatly expanded demands.
However, the point of the Million Man March was atonement, a spiritual concept. Black men came and pledged to be better fathers to their children. They also pledged to support Black organizations that fight against racism. No one particular organization was named. The Million Man’s March on Washington’s purpose was to fight racism from with-in.
It was an innovative, non-violent kind of March to do in America. The Nation of Islam respectfully asked women not to come, although elderly Black women were allowed to speak. Gay Black men were respectfully asked not to come, and White people were respectfully asked not to come either. The Million Man March did not demand the White power structure give them the right to vote. They did not demand that the White power structure give them HealthCare. They did not want White people to give them anything, and the Nation of Islam had read Malcolm X’s critique of the 1963 March on Washington in his “Message to the Grassroots” speech. “Message” (pp.14 - 17). At the end of his speech we learn about what happens, when the White power structure takes over a Black grassroots protest.
Today, Alicia Garza, one of the three women, who helped to found Black Life Matters has an undergraduate degree in anthropology and sociology and a Master’s degree in Ethnic Studies. She knows how to collect data, and use it as proof of what works and what does not work in civic policy. Opal Tommeti, has a college degree in computer science. She knew how to grow Black Lives Matter through using internet social media. The people of today have much more knowledge than the people of King’s generation. Black Lives Matter included LGBTQ people in their marches, and they greatly enlarged membership by going global. Millions of people, all over the world marched in solidarity, when Black Lives Matter marched against police brutality.
Today, Gloria Richardson is known for never backing down from her demands for the Civil Rights of Black people. She was a good role model for how militants like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael could be non-violent, peaceful warriors. What she did was to open up the idea of non-violent protest to a lot of Black people who weren’t necessarily Christian or non-violent. By bringing Christians and Muslims together, she helped to build more unity between Black people. A Civil Rights Movement needs to be as inclusive of as many different people and perspectives as possible, which includes The Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
Finally there are some people who criticize Gloria Richardson today as having one of the bloodiest SNCC committees because she was ambivalent about non-violence as a philosophy or a tactic, but lots of non-violent peaceful warriors had their doubts about, whether non-violence would work, or not at some point in time, including Martin Luther King, Jr.
If people are to be non-violent peaceful protesters, then they have got to dialogue, struggle with the morality of violence and non-violence and think for themselves to decide which way they are going to go. It may take many years to figure out what is right. People should keep faith in the younger generations and know that in the end, they will do the right thing.The younger generations should not simply be written off. No one should be written off.
Works Cited
Alexander, Keith L. “Gloria Richardson pushed aside a bayonet as a 60’s Civil
Rights Activist. Now at 98, she wants the new generation to fight on.”
Washintonpost.com. The Washington Post. https://washingtonpost.com/.
local/gloria richardson-civil-rights-BLM/ 2020/12/10/19.
Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963.
Touchtone: Simon and Schuster Inc., 1988.
“Cambridge,MD 1963: When the Civil Rights Movement Hit Back.” July 3, 2014
Liberationschool.org. Accessed Sept.24,2021.
“Gloria Richardson.” snccdigital.org. Accessed Sept. 24, 2021.
“July, 1963: Treaty of Cambridge.” snccdigital.org. Accessed Sept. 23, 2021.
X. Malcolm. “Message to theGrassroots.” New York, Grove Press Books, 1966.
White, D. “Cambridge,Maryland Riots (1963).” www.blackpast.org.
January 4, 2018. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. blackpast.org/- african-
american-history/ cambridge-maryland-riot-1963/
XYZ Dialogue: What is Martial Law?
10/28/21
Quote of the month:
“Racism is ingrained in this country. This goes on and on. . .
We marched until the Governor called martial law. That’s when you get their attention. Otherwise, you’re going to keep protesting the same things 100 years from now.”
—Gloria Richardson
X: Martial Law happens, when there is an emergency and the military has to be brought in to maintain order.
Y: Martial law has been declared approximately 60 times in the history of the United States. It happens when there is a war,a natural disaster like a bad hurricane or a wild fire in California that claims a lot of acres. There is so much chaos going on that the Army National Guard is called in to help evacuate people, or to bury dead bodies, or help get supplies of food or water to people. Mass medical attention may be needed.
Also, martial law has been declared when there is rioting in the streets. It gets people’s attention because our democratic rights are suspended temporarily. That means people can be arrested for no reason. No charges are needed, and people can be put in jail indefinitely. Gloria Richardson and the leaders of CNAC were put in jail for their own “protection.”
Presidents sometimes declare Martial Law, if a war is going on. State Governors can and do declare Martial Law a lot, but not always in the event of an actual emergency. It is a dubious law that the Supreme Court has not said much about, other than that there must be an emergency: a natural disaster,or a war. The last time Martial Law was declared was in 1963, in Cambridge, Maryland, by Governor J. Millard Tawes. There are some people that question why it was called. There were Black, unarmed, peaceful protesters, not likely to overthrow the U.S. government. During World War 2, Martial Law was declared in Hawaii. Japanese-Americans were gathered up and shipped to incarceration camps for the duration of the war, but not in Hawaii. Did German-American people ever get gathered up and put into incarceration camps during World War 2?
Z: Looks to me like Black people, and all people of color live with Martial Law, all of the time,anyway: chaos, Non-violent, peaceful protesters getting thrown in jail, for no reason. . .Martial Law means White people lose their democratic rights too. That is why Martial Law gets everybody’s attention.
Works Cited
“Martial Law.” law.cornell.edu: Legal Information Institute. Accessed Oct. 27, 2021.
