Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

It appears that a gift for tackling civil rights issues might be somewhat of a hereditary trait. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference named Bernice King as the new leader of the US Civil Rights movement. Yes, this Revered King is related to that Reverend King. It’s in the blood. Bernice King is the youngest child of the late Dr. Martin Luther King who co-founded the SCLC movement in the late 1950s.

Bernice King will serve as the first female president in SCLC history and the third King family member to fill the position. Ms. King’s election comes at a crucial time for the organization that has suffered damaging setbacks in influence due to internal conflict and differences of opinion on current civil rights issues.

King has vowed to use her influence as a means to find common ground between civil rights leaders of the 1960s and the civil rights movement of today. In response to the announcement of her election, King remarked, “I stand before you as a daughter of the civil rights movement calling forth the daughters and sons of the next generation of social change. I am a King, yet I am mindful that I am not the only one.”

The SCLC has about 10,000 members and about 80 chapters in 17 states. The organization was founded in the height of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s following the Rosa Parks incident in Montgomery. Since its inception, the organization has seen its share of success and controversy. Most recently, it has been widely criticized by others in the civil rights movement for its hands off approach to issues of the gay community – King herself having led an anti-gay-marriage march in 2004.

While America continues to struggle to define civil rights for all individuals regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or socio-economic status, civil rights organizations of all kinds fight to keep the issues of all humans fresh in the minds of policy makers and the general public alike. The Leadership Conference of Civil Rights is an extensive network of organizations working to secure and preserve the rights of all Americans. Check out who is involved and what you can do to take action in protecting civil rights for all Americans.

Photo by Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, wikimedia.