The Civil Right Movement - Book Report/Review Example

The Civil Right Movement March Book One is a graphic novel adapted from the life and experience of the occurrence of the civil right movement. Change is inevitable and every leadership system brings changes that come with challenges that even a good leader cannot avoid. A good leader is one who is able to handle the obstacles without limiting the effective of power. Governance is important to any nation as it formulates policies that aid in the running of business of the government. Governance is never smooth as leaders ability is under testing and the leadership structure. As indicated in March, the authors’ explore the dark moments in the leadership. The novel codes different accounts of the civil-rights movement marked with violence and fighting. The experiences in the 60’s are vivid in mind of Congressman Lewis as well as other coauthors amidst the early days of their childhood. This paper discusses the happenings of the civil right movement. Civil right movement marks the history of America in the 1960’s when young black minds rose to fight for equality across all races. Congressman John Lewis being the student leader during the tenure alongside other scholars’ such as Martin Luther King Jr. risked their lives to protest over the bad leadership. The book highlights the occurrence where black people were mistreated, for instance after the ‘success of the Nashville Student Movement’s ‘sit-in’ students organized campaign to push for the desegregation of its lunch counters. The protesters aim was to include the blacks in benefiting from services just as fellow white classmates (Powell, 146). Black students lacked access to essential services even though they had money and were isolated. During the demonstration, the white police dispatched the protesters using water cannons and fire hose. Many black people lost their lives during the era as they fought for freedom. Different scenes from the book explain the suffering of blacks in the hand of white police such as physical assault, humiliation, and attempted murder (86). Leadership is difficult especially when the situation is unstable or the leadership is under test. Good leadership is not about the leader but about the people’s right to live. Governance in itself is a challenge and one has to be sober to rule. The problems of ruling are numerous with some external, others coming from people and situations; internal, stemming from within the leader and those arising from the nature of the leadership itself. For instance, nonviolent protesters including schoolchildren took part in the major campaign in Birmingham, Alabama prompting the then president John F. Kennedy to push for the passage of new civil legislation (Carlos & Rose, 296). Human beings have equal rights regardless of the skin color, race, religion or origin and protest by the blacks resulted in the legislation-outlawed segregation in public facilities and racial discrimination in employment and education. The popular representation of the movement centered in the influence and philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. and his slogan of ‘I have a dream’. True leadership makes great demands on people as well as the person in charge. A president is responsible for the nation's development and wellbeing of its citizens, for upholding a standard, often for being the group's representative to the rest of the world and its protector as well (Joseph, 78) . Leaders in most cases are suppose to motivate themselves, and not be seen as weak even in the midst of trouble but actually remain enthusiastic about what they're doing. Their role of servant hood to the population to stay evident to the population and all that entails. In other words, they have to be leaders all the time. As indicated by the selfless lifestyles the influential black people fought to see the change in treatment of fellow Africans and implement the modern civil rights movement. The coalition was for a cause and the protesters never lost hope as each experience draw them closer to their freedom. The strength and determination demonstrated by the civilian motivated their leaders to continue with the struggle (Scott, 316). Good governess gives equal opportunity to its citizens and a listening ear for their troubles instead of dictatorship. The African-American civil right movement is marked as a dark month in the memory blacks. The process to secure legal recognition and federal protection of their rights from the government and mistreatment avoidance was painful. It is clear that the State failed on leadership as a government mandate is to protect and watch over its citizen. The author captures a scene where a ‘young protester from Tennessee State University student Fred Leonard, a dedicated activist and Freedom Rider. The second protestor struck by the police officer was LeRoy Wright also a student. Yet another scholar, Leonard’s rib was cracked, and Wright’s head split open (Powell, 57).” The ugly scenes took place in the open and this mispresent the management. Division of law to favor some section of individuals while neglecting the rights of others is erroneous. Democracy requires that each person has equal opportunity and is the responsibility of the authority to offer full protection to people. The mistreatment of the protesters was real with the police killing many people in the presence of thee media. Top leaders were reluctant to enforce law that would protect blacks as they were viewed as foreign and inducers. This was until the Montgomery march that marked the culmination of the African freedom and struggle (82). The subsequent protest received support from some section of whites. Modern leadership is not easy, as a leader has to lead and motivate a diversified group of people. A leader faces complex and globalized environment and manage a government requirement as well as keep up competition and guide the interest of its citizens. The government ensures the well-being of the citizens and always thriving to shield them from harm. The best leadership approach on the civil rights movement was to understand the reason behind the protest than and use of non-violence direct action as a tactic and in the end win the trust and support of the leaders (Scott, 2013). Developing leaders just as other leaders face difficult situations and being a new comer in authority is tricky. In today’s context, leaders are encouraged to participate in a nation relationship-oriented and pursue leadership skills. Leaders are required to adopt management skills, mobilizes, lead and deal with changes with their citizen in mind. Incorporation of development initiatives helps in boosting the welfare of its entire people with discrimination (Carlos & Rose, 126). Legislative achievement during the phase of the civil right moment was noted because of unity. The emergence of black power movement saw the establishment of native leadership and its cooperative attitude together with its nonviolence and the will for political and economic sufficiency. The Africans unity and continuous determination to forge ahead and lobby their plea to the leadership melted the heart of some influential individuals and the white population. A government ensures security of each individual and offers a chance to better live hood in and enjoy democracy. In fact, the African-American freedom struggle nevertheless left a permanent mark on American society. Works cited Carlos, Navarez & Rose ,Penrose. Leadership theory and the community college: applying theory to practice. Stylus Publishing, Canada; LLC., 2013. Print. Joseph, Olmstead. Executive leadership. New York; Routledge, 2010. Print. Scott, Norton. Competency-based leadership: a guide for high performance in the role of the school principal. Oxford; R&L Education, 2013. Print. Read More