Civil Rights Demonstrations

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Civil Rights Demonstration [Note: protestor with “Jim Crow must go” sign].

Demonstrations were major tools of the civil rights movements, such as those in Birmingham and Atlanta, among other locations.  The nonviolent direct action protest proved especially effective, as attested by Martin Luther King’s eloquent “A Letter from Birmingham Jail.”  Demonstration tactics might include marches, rallies, picketing, sit-ins, and other forms of protest.  Such demonstrations were so successful that similar approaches were soon adopted by activists for peace, women’s issues, gay rights, and other causes.