Civil Rights Movement - Annotated Bibliography Example

The paper “Civil Rights Movement " is an intriguing example of an annotated bibliography on history. King, Jr., M. L. (1963). “I Have a Dream”. The US National Archives and Records Administration.  Authority: The speaker is Martin Luther King, Jr., the iconic leader of the civil rights movement. He was well-respected for his high-mindedness and for the weight of his moral convictions, his standing as a religious leader preaching non-violence and peace, and was recognized as the leading voice of the drive of African Americans for economic and social justice.

This piece is a speech delivered at the so-called “March on Washington” in 1963. Its purpose is to lay out a vision of a future that transcended race hate, and which secured the place of African Americans in American society, not through their skin color but their human values and worth (King, Jr., 1963). Credibility:     The primary source’s credibility is unimpeachable, given that it is an authenticated copy of the speech of Martin Luther King himself, and provided by the US National Archives from their authenticated website.

The credibility of the piece itself springs from the credibility of the man, and of the response to the speech by those who were present as well as future generations who followed in their wake. Its purpose was to unite rather than to sow further hate, and that it has been considered one of the primary texts of the civil rights movement speaks volumes about the credibility of the piece (King, Jr., 1963). Relevance:      The primary source is central to the investigation of the fundamental guiding philosophies and principles of the Civil Rights movement (King, Jr., 1963) King, Jr., M. L. (1963b). “Letter from Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]”. African Studies Center- University of Pennsylvania.

   Authority:       The author again is Martin Luther King, Jr., the face of the civil rights movement. He was well-respected for his high-mindedness and for the weight of his moral convictions, his standing as a religious leader preaching non-violence and peace, and was recognized as the leading voice of the drive of African Americans for economic and social justice. This piece is a letter written by King while he was incarcerated at the Birmingham County Jail.

In it, he addresses an audience consisting of clergy like himself, although the public nature of the letter also implied that he spoke to a more general audience, namely the American public in general (King, Jr., 1963b). Credibility:     The source is credible and is a celebrated piece of writing from this era in American history. It is well-documented and studied, and the source website itself is also verified as a primary source of scholarship on African American studies (King, Jr., 1963b). Relevance:      Like the speech, this primary source contains some of the most important aspects of the philosophy and morality that underlies the civil rights movement (King, Jr., 1963b).   Litwack, L. (2008). Fight the Power.

Dole Institute of Politics.   Authority:       The speaker is History Professor Emeritus at the University of California, a respected academic who dedicated his life to the study of race relations in the United States. It is a talk given at the Dole Institute of Politics. The audience is taken to be members of the academic community, as well as members of think tanks and political experts. The thesis is that the gains of the civil rights movement were made in the context of the real-life survival struggles of African Americans, who had to fight for those rights within an American society that was determined to preserve the status quo (Litwack, 2008).

Credibility:     The talk’s credibility springs from the credibility of the speaker, a respected academic on race studies, and the venue itself, which is itself a recognized venue for political discourse in the US, the Dole Institute of Politics (Litwack, 2008). Relevance:      Litwack’s talk provides a depth perspective from serious and sustained academic effort into the Civil Rights Movement. This talk allows for the proper situating of the primary source materials in the context of the larger academic literature on the civil rights movement (Litwack, 2008).

  Wolfson, A. (2003). The Martin Luther King We Remember. National Affairs.  Authority:       The author is writing in a respected publication in National Affairs. The audience here can be construed as the readers of the publication, which are intellectuals and political practitioners, and the educated class in America. The main idea is that we need to situate the work and the contribution of King Jr. in the context of his complex humanity and the various personal and social forces that shaped his life and his work (Wolfson, 2003).

Credibility:     The source is credible because of the credibility of the writer and the publication as well as that the article has been widely referenced and has stood the test of time (Wolfson, 2003). Relevance:      The article probes deep into the private and inner life of King Jr., to provide a more complete, humanized context within which to understand his life and contributions. This context allows for a more nuanced analysis of the primary sources (Wolfson, 2003).