Sunday’s non-violent march on the bridge was a historical moment.
We checked with the National Civil Rights Museum and it’s been 50 years since the Mid-South has seen a protest to the same magnitude of what we saw Sunday night.
It was in 1966 when James Meredith began his “March Against Fear Walk” in Memphis to protest the lack of voting rights for Blacks in Mississippi.
Joseph Kyles, President of Rainbow PUSH Memphis, helped to negotiate with Black Lives Matter protesters on the I-40 bridge on Sunday.
Kyles said he was impressed that the protesters kept their cool and kept the protest non-violent. However, he says these protesters still have a lot to learn about ways to bring about effective change.
“That’s what I saw walking up on that bridge, young people that don’t know how to guide that anger and turn that passion into good,” said Kyles.
In the days since that historic bridge protest, he’s had many of those same activists in his office discussing ways to get their message across.
“What we’re trying to work with young people is to make sure they understand you have to work inside the system and outside the system,” said Kyles.
Kyles says it’s not enough to have just social activists on your team, but you must add attorneys and legislators to your team as well.
“Honestly, change comes slowly,” said Kyles.
Take note of the civil rights movement. It took many years of protests before any change happened.
“It was a good eight, nine years after the Rosa Parks Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Supreme Court decision in 1954. We don’t really see change, legislation wise, really come to the front until the summer of 1963, ” said National Civil Rights Museum historian Ryan Jones.
Jones said most of the major historical protests were always spurred out of some great tragedy, such as the death of two sanitation workers in 1968 from a faulty garbage truck. The iconic “I Am A Man” campaign began shortly after their deaths.
What this generation of protesters have going for them is social media. They are able to pass a message along with a click of a button.
Take this into consideration, the Black Lives Matter Movement is only three years old.
Getting the message out there is easier, but making it stick could take years of work.
