US Civil Rights — Key Actors and Groups

The American movement was not the work of one leader but of many organizations and individuals whose different philosophies and methods sometimes reinforced and sometimes clashed with one another. Evaluating their roles and significance is central to answering Paper 1 questions on this case study.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC

Martin Luther King Jr. rose to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became the movement's most recognizable figure. A Baptist minister influenced by Christian teaching and by Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent resistance, King articulated a vision of change through moral persuasion and disciplined direct action. In 1957 he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated protest campaigns through networks of Black c