Thursday, September 29, 2016

Exploration Four: Making Sense of the 60s: Gabby Biliran


James Farmer, co-founder and director of the Congress of Racial Equality, was born in 1920 to his mother, a teacher, and his father James Farmer Sr., a minister who also happened to be the first African American citizen to earn a doctorate in the state. A studious person, Farmer followed in his father's footsteps and went to college, where he learned about Mahatma Ghandi and peaceful protests.  He founded CORE because of a sit in that he and his friends participated in at a chicago diner. This was only the start of him challenging segregation. Then he started the freedom rides, bus protests to challenge segregation even more. Farmer was a close friend to Martin Luther King Jr. and helped him fight segregation. For his work, he received the Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton. James Farmer died on July 9, 1999 at the age of 79.
From the discussion of Ain't Scared of your Jails, I learned that the 60s were a trying time. It was not a peaceful place, and everyone was fending for themselves based on their race. In the documentary, Ben West said "Peace, quiet, and good order will be maintained in our city to the best of our ability," however it was clear to see that this was not easy.

James Farmer is the man to the direct left of MLK
In "Church," it is explained that monks offered the american soldiers help, but that it is an ironic gesture since American soldiers were often terrible towards innocent civilians in Vietnam. In "The Man I killed," it talks about how O' Brien's guilt is so overwhelming to the victim. Both these themes stood out the most to me because it completely contradicts each other in the treatment the soldiers had to people. 




7 comments:

  1. What lead to John Farmer to start the freedom rides, or how did he get this idea?

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    1. the Supreme Court had said segregation of bus passengers was unconstitutional but the south had ignored it, so they wanted to take a stand against the south

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  2. How did James Farmer come to know Dr. Martin Luther? Was it through their pursuit of Civil Rights?

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  3. Farmer and MLK were friends, shared the same occupation and were well-known for their actions. Despite similarities, this is the first time I've heard of Farmer. If only we had learned about both in earlier times...

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    1. I agree, it makes me wonder how much information we don't know about such big movements in our history

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  4. Farmer and MLK were friends, shared the same occupation and were well-known for their actions. Despite similarities, this is the first time I've heard of Farmer. If only we had learned about both in earlier times...

    ReplyDelete

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