History will reveal that the fight for civil rights in America was waged long before the 1950’s. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass ascended from slavery to advise President Abraham Lincoln who orchestrated the Emancipation Proclamation outlawing slavery in the United States in 1865. Dr. W.E.B. DuBois is credited with being one of the founding members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, more commonly referred to as the NAACP, which was launched through The Niagara Movement at the turn of the 19th Century. Before there was a Rosa Parks who sparked the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, there was a woman born a slave in 1822 by the name of Araminta Rose. She became known as of Harriet Tubman. Tubman conducted The Underground Railroad, a series of 13 expeditions in which she led 70 slaves and their families to freedom along a treacherous route from the South, some as far north into Canada.. As Americans across this country honor the life of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we must rededicate ourselves to the principle of non violence . From Sanford, Florida to New York City from Cleveland, Ohio to Ferguson, Missouri, people must put aside their differences in the face of adversity in order for us to live together in a nation of many races, creeds and cultures. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement from The days of the Abolitionists to the founding of the NAACP, SCLC and today’s National Action Network there have been institutions that have tried to make this nation a better place for all. This year the Westside Gazette Newspaper would like to highlight the works of those throughout the Civil Rights Movement, as we honor those who continue the struggle toward making Dr. King’s “Dream” a reality.
