Against Poverty: The Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example

The picture showing Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, taken in 1967, is one that shows the two founding members of the Black Panther partyThe background of the photograph is that of a banner of the Black Panthers Party which enhances the defiant mood of the photo. The photo, captured sideways, conveys the sense of a moment captures without the knowledge of the subjects. Another photograph, featuring Gloria Richardson facing the Maryland National Guard and forcing them off, in May, 1964, says a similar tale of defiance and perseverance.

The spirit of resistance that won the African-American community their fair rights shines bright on the face of Richardson. The photo is taken from an angle whereby the full face of Richardson is visible and this enables the viewer of the photo to assess the full impact of the expression that Richardson gives the member of the Guard. Dressed almost like a soldier, Richardson is flanked by other activists who are seen to rush to her aid. In a certain sense, the girth of the soldier is as important, in an ironic way, as the serious expression of Richardson, to the impact of the photo.

The photo that has as its subject the crowd that had gathered for the March on Washington, which happened on August 28, 1963, focuses upon the determination that can be seen in the faces of the participants. Rather than being a static work of art, the photo brims with the dynamism that characterized the resistance movements of the sixties when there was a new hope for the African-American community. The photograph, clicked from the front of the crowd, anticipates the movement of the crowd in a manner that is symbolic of the forward motion of the movement.

The leaders of the movement are at the forefront and attempt to keep the crowd together. The placards seek jobs for the African-Americans and the economic needs of the community are highlighted. The October 1966 Black Panther Party Platform and Program document that spells out the ten demands of the party talks of the importance that the resistance movements f the sixties placed on the economic aspect of liberation. The document is scathing in its account of the lack of compensation for the atrocities that the blacks had had to suffer.

The document talks about the racism that prevailed in America, terming it to be worse than the racism that was practiced by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. The document seeks for basic amenities to be provided for the African-American community by the state; however, it denounces the state itself, hinting that the African-American community is capable of attaining political autonomy from the American state (October 1966 Black Panther Party Platform and Program). The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Founding Statement created in 1960, unlike the Black Panther Party’s document of 1966, talks of a nonviolent movement that could overthrow feelings of hatred between the races of America.

The document adopts a moderate tone and expresses moderate sentiments. Historical oppressions are sought to be forgotten in an evangelical act of forgiveness. The document seeks to strike at what it feels to be the root of the problems in America, prejudice. The document seeks to remedy this through love, which it feels would eliminate racism. The document talks of nonviolence as a remedy that would soothe the feelings of hatred that racial prejudice had given rise to over the centuries. According to the document, it would also ensure justice for all, which would naturally then overthrow injustice (Student Nonviolent