In this essay I will discuss Loeb’s reflection on Rosa Parks for
an example of individual versus collective efforts to promote social change.
Subsequently, I will review “ Youth, Identity, and Power”, an article written by Carlos Munoz Jr., about the
Chicano Student , which lead to the Chicano Power Movement of the 1960s. I will compare and analyze both
movements, what did the collective accomplished and it what ways group
involvement caused these movements to be sustainable.
Rosa Parks earned the title of “mother of the civil rights movement”
when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. However, this was not
the first act of social movement Parks had, since she was involved with her
local NAACP for twelve years. While enrolled in other activist groups, Parks
learned about another bus boycott that had great success two years prior to her
bus boycott. At first sight, everybody would agree Rosa Parks was the first
woman taking a first step to fight discrimination against African Americans but
Loeb states “ Park’s decision didn’t come out of nowhere. Nor did she
shingle-handedly give birth to the civil rights movement. Rather, she was part
of a longstanding effort to create change.” (Loeb, 2010, p.2).
Consequently, the successful social movement to defend African
Americans’ rights was the result of many people working together to accomplish
a goal. Like Rosa Parks, other people such as E . D Nixon, teachers, and African
American community were part of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Cars Porters,
working for their civil rights. Loeb discusses a very interesting point about
the importance of understanding there are no special individuals with the ability
to make changes, but everyone who is committed to do so.
The Chicano Movement is another example of how united the group
was and how long they worked to accomplish what Mexican Americans enjoy today. It
all started on March 1968, when over a thousand students walked down the
streets of East Los Angeles, and by the end of the day ten thousand students
had join the movement, which lasted a week and a half. This students created
such a strong movement “it disrupted the largest school district in the nation
and captured front-page headlines and national attention.” (Loeb, 2010, p.12).
The strike organizers were facing time in jail for conspiracy and
influenced other youth of the militancy generated by the high school where it
all started. The result was another student strike that at the same time lead,
to new major youth organizations, the Chicano Power Movement. Eventually, this
movement spread across the United States and grew strong, not only because
those thirteen students who were tired of racist teachers, among other things, but because they attracted
more activists to join their cause; if those thirteen organizers would have
never spread their cause and had good organization skills, the cause would have
ended in jail with them.
In conclusion, Rosa Park and Chicano Power Movement’s analysis show
a clear understanding of how much can be accomplished collectively rather than
individually. For this reason, social movements are stronger, causing them to
be sustainable and with positive results. Of course we cannot underestimate the
individual who originally starts the cause because, it takes only one person to
stand for the right cause to make others fight for it as well. But in the end,
the more people for the same cause, the more will get from authorities and
politicians.
References
Loeb, P. (1999 (2nd ed.)). Soul of a citizen, Living with
conviction in challenging times. New York NY: St, Martin's Griffin.
