The Deacons for Defense and Justice were an armed African American civil rights organization in the U.S. Southern states during the 1960s. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive
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History
A group of African American men in Jonesboro, Louisiana led by Earnest "Chilly Willy" Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick founded the group in November of 1964 to protect civil rights workers against the violence of the Ku Klux Klan. Jonesboro is a town in and the Parish seat of Jackson Parish in the northern portion of the U Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are Most of them were war veterans with combat experience from the Korean War and World War II. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Jonesboro chapter later organized a Deacons chapter in Bogalusa, Louisiana led by Charles Sims, A. Bogalusa is a City in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. Z. Young and Robert Hicks. The Jonesboro chapter initiated a regional organizing campaign and eventually formed 21 chapters in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. The militant Deacons confrontation with the Klan in Bogalusa was instrumental in forcing the federal government to invervene on behalf of the black community and enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act and neutralize the Klan. Origins The bill was introduced by President John F Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11 1963, in which he asked for legislation "giving
The tactics of the Deacons attracted the attention and concern of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which commenced an investigation of the group. However, with the advent of the militant Black Power Movement, the involvement of the Deacons in the civil rights movement declined, with the presence of the Deacons all but vanishing by 1968. Black Power is a racially based Political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [1]
The work of the Deacons is the subject of a 2003 Television movie, Deacons for Defense.
Role
In some cases, the Deacons had a relationship with other civil rights groups that advocated and practiced non-violence: the willingness of the Deacons to provide low-key armed guards facilitated the ability of groups such as the NAACP and CORE to stay, at least formally, within their own parameters of non-violence. Nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of physical Violence. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is one of the oldest and most influential Civil rights organizations [2] Nonetheless, their willingness to respond to violence with violence, led to tension between the Deacons and the nonviolent civil rights workers whom they sought to protect.
Roy Innis has said of the Deacons that they "forced the Klan to re-evaluate their actions and often change their undergarments", according to Ken Blackwell. Roy Emile Alfredo Innis (born June 6, 1934, in St Croix, US Virgin Islands) has been National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is a former secretary of state of the U [3]
See also
References
- ^ Deacons for Defense and Justice. Robert Franklin Williams ( February 26, 1925 &ndash October 15, 1996) was a civil rights leader author and the president of the Monroe Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard (b March 4 1908, Murray Kentucky - d Africanaonline. com (13 October 2004). Events 54 - Nero ascends to the Roman throne 409 - Vandals and Alans crossed the Pyrenees "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Retrieved on 2007-04-07. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor
- ^ Mike Marqusee. Mike Marqusee (born 1953 is an American-born writer journalist and political activist in London "By Any Means Necessary", The Nation, 5 July 2004, pp. This article is about the US Publication. For other newspapers magazines and alternate uses by the same name see The Nation (disambiguation. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " 54-56. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Review of Lance Hill's book (see Further reading below). The Deacons for Defense and Justice were an armed African American Civil rights organization in the U
- ^ Ken Blackwell. John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is a former secretary of state of the U "Second Amendment Freedoms Aided the Civil Rights Movement", Townhall.com, 6 February 2007. Townhallcom is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor
Further reading
- The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement, Lance Hill, University of North Carolina Press (2004, ISBN 0-8078-2847-5). The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press) founded in 1922 is a University press that is part of the University of North Carolina.
External links
- "Niggers Ain't Gonna Run This Town" a prize-winning student paper
- The Education of Lance Hill How Lance Hill came to write The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement
- Deacons for Defense 2003 TV movie at the Internet Movie Database
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