THE ROLE OF CHURCHES AND FAITH
By Miles
During the Civil Rights movement, religions and churches played a massive role on the path to freedom. According to Bernard LaFayette, “The church was not only the meeting place for the movement in the South, it also was the center of the movement in that it served as the symbol of the movement. That is to say that the church represented the freedom” (LaFayette 2004). The church represented freedom because it was the only place where blacks were allowed to congregate in masses.
When I began researching the role of churches and religion during the Civil Rights movement, I did not entirely understand until I went to five churches around the South. While we were at the First Baptist Church of Selma, AL, Ms. Louretta Wimberly told us that “churches were a place where the community was informed about protests” (Wimberly, 2019). Also, preachers would encourage the members of their churches to fight for their freedom. In addition, most protests, such as the Selma to Montgomery march, were planed at a church and a lot of marches began at churches. The Selma to Montgomery march began at Brown Chapel AME in Selma, AL. According to the US Park Service, “Both the building and the members of Brown Chapel AME Church played pivotal roles in the Selma, Alabama, marches that helped lead to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act” (year).
Religion also played a role in speeches. Martin Luther King, Jr. named one of his speeches “Our God is Marching On” (1965). This makes community members have faith in getting voting rights, MLK uses religion to make this happen. In King's speech he says “How long, not long.” This also gave the black community hope that the voting rights act would soon be passed. Churches were the main meeting place during the movement and religion was the driving force behind it.
When I began researching the role of churches and religion during the Civil Rights movement, I did not entirely understand until I went to five churches around the South. While we were at the First Baptist Church of Selma, AL, Ms. Louretta Wimberly told us that “churches were a place where the community was informed about protests” (Wimberly, 2019). Also, preachers would encourage the members of their churches to fight for their freedom. In addition, most protests, such as the Selma to Montgomery march, were planed at a church and a lot of marches began at churches. The Selma to Montgomery march began at Brown Chapel AME in Selma, AL. According to the US Park Service, “Both the building and the members of Brown Chapel AME Church played pivotal roles in the Selma, Alabama, marches that helped lead to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act” (year).
Religion also played a role in speeches. Martin Luther King, Jr. named one of his speeches “Our God is Marching On” (1965). This makes community members have faith in getting voting rights, MLK uses religion to make this happen. In King's speech he says “How long, not long.” This also gave the black community hope that the voting rights act would soon be passed. Churches were the main meeting place during the movement and religion was the driving force behind it.