civil disobedience

                                  Civil disobedience is not anything new in the world. It has been around for

centuries and it’s still going on. Civil disobedience can happen in many ways. It can be peaceful,

violent and destructive. Some good examples of civil disobedience are Malcolm x, Caesar

Chavez, martin Luther king junior, Rosa parks and many more people. Many of the civil

disobedience these men or women committed were to defend their human rights. Most of

them did it by giving speeches or simply refusing peacefully to do something that they didn’t

think was right.  Civil disobedience can be done to do good or bad. Some civil disobedience is

done to commit crimes and some are to proof a point on history.

 

 

                           An excellent example of civil disobedience would have to be Malcolm x. 

Malcolm x was an African American male who was sentenced to prison for a robbery he

committed. When he was sentenced to prison Malcolm x did not know how to read or write.

While he was in prison Malcolm x took advantage of his time to learn how to read and write. 6

years later Malcolm x was released from prison. By the time that Malcolm x prison term

finished he had written around 1 million words in 6 years. When Malcolm x was released from

prison he became an activist. He was also became a minister of temple number 4.  He gave

many speeches to help support human rights for African Americans. Malcolm x speeches

helped many African Americans fight for their rights.  In one of his speeches he said “ if you are

not free should you be allowed to have a life”. Malcolm x movie. This quote means that why

have a life if you cannot use it, enjoy it, and live it.  Part of Malcolm x anger comes from the

death of his dad. The kkk’s killed his dad because he was African American. The police ruled it

as an accident even though everyone knew it was a murder.  As part of making a point and a

serious statement Malcolm x changed his last name to x. in a speech Malcolm x said “we don’t

know our last name.  Our last name was given to us by our slave master.” Malcolm x didn’t

know his last name but only the one that the slave master put to one of his ancestors. He

decided to change his last name to x. Malcolm x also talked a lot about racism that was direct

towards them. Many African Americans received unfair punishments, prison terms and even

death. Malcolm x fought for rights even after being in prison. Malcolm x is an example of civil

disobedience because he didn’t just sit and let everyone treat African Americans bad. He stood

up and gave speeches, protest and he gave many good indirect protest/ strikes. He made a

difference in a society that denied them everything.

 

 

 

                                Another perfect example of civil disobedience is Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez

grew up in a poor family. He also became a poor farmer who eventually got tired of poor

treatment and very low pay for workers. “ all my life, I have been driven by one dream, one

goal, one vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if

they were not important human beings” pg 53 the commonwealth of California. This quote is

very important because it shows what Cesar Chavez really felt and what he wanted to do to

relief his anger. Cesar Chavez did many strikes and a few speeches in favor of farm workers

rights. Cesar Chavez was putting his life and his freedom at risk because of what he was doing

with immigrants. Many authorities had warned them and especially Cesar Chavez that it might

cost him allot or even his life. “ tragic events forced farm workers to declare a new international

boycott of California table grapes”. This is one of all the many boycotts Chavez made to earn

the rights, wages and respect his fellow worker friends deserved. This also controlled to earn

his people rights and respect. Cesar Chavez did not use violence in any of his strikes, boycotts or

types of protest. Even though everyone used violence against Cesar Chavez and the protesters

they never fought back with violence. They fought back with speeches and boycotts that cost

the companies more and gave Cesar Chavez more power and reputation of being no violent.

 

 

                                         Another example of civil disobedience is Martin Luther king Jr. Martin

Luther King Jr. fought for African American people’s rights when they decided to separate

things. Those for black those for white. “ We don’t belong in gangs, we don’t have guns, we

don’t do drugs, we want to go to school, we want to be professionals, we want to work hard,

and we want to have families.” Pg 49 from remarks to the convocation of the church of Christ in

god. This quotation shows what Martin Luther king Jr’s point of view is. We want to do good

and not evil . In this peaceful and great  speech, millions of people attended to support the African

American rights in the society. He also wanted to restore peace between white people and

black. White people hated the black communities but Martin Luther king jr. refused to sit down

and let the poor treatment continue. He didn’t care about the authorities being against him and

his speeches. All he cared about was to get his vision of black and white communities to get

along across the nation.

 

                                Civil disobedience can be good or bad. The examples I showed were about

good causes in the community. Malcolm x, Cesar Chavez and martin Luther king jr. were perfect

examples of civil disobedience because they were a minority that was not accepted at the time.

But they did not care if they were risking there life, getting in dangerous situations or breaking

a law because they fought for what they believed.