Leaving a Legacy: The Civil Rights Movement in America

The words “Is he the one” resonates within and spirals throughout different scenes of the civil rights, groundbreaking film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Most people have a common, resounding response to “is he the one” as a distant memory of the film: when Miss Jane speaks of a young boy born on the plantation, Jimmy Aaron, and his distinct features as a prominent leader among his black family. Jimmy had a developed mind, a well informed background, and the capability to lead his people, leading his people to believe that he was indeed the long-awaited “one.” As a youngster, Miss Jane notably remembers, his promising characteristics as a person – on his way to fantastic change in the social ideology of America, as well as an earned and deserved portion of influence on the heart of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Ever since the slave days, remembered clearly only by the stories of the oldest among us, and spoken of with a somber nostalgic feeling, Black Americans (especially in the remarkable years of America’s 1950s and 60s) – had been anticipating a leader, a present-day Moses, to finally lead his people out of the darkness and into the Promised Land. For many who have studied and remember, Martin Luther King may have been the all-resounding “one.” However my mind is slightly hesitant to whole heartedly concur with that statement -with King’s gentle humility of written word standing right behind mine. In reference to “the one,” neither Jimmy nor King fully represents Moses, literally speaking. It was a developing movement of many years, and cannot be limited to the occurrences, actions, or spoken word of one or two people.

“The one” is relative – it refers (in my opinion) more to a particular social movement, representing all the bold black men and women who finally took a stand after so many generations of unnecessary disgrace. I would even go as far as to recall the white Americans who took an even bolder stance against the wrongful consequences of racism present in America.

“The one” represents the entire population of Jimmy’s as well as their followers, whose own names and reputations have long been unintentionally forgotten. Whose families once mourned heavily, but who have since moved on, greatly so in course to the actions of their long passed loved ones. Their legacy forever remains. This is a place for King’s own remarkable and incredibly relevant words: “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” These young men and women, every imaginable shade of color painting their flushed cheeks and stern, determined brows, represent “the one.” The one who stood for what was right. The one who died for what is right. And the one, whose legacy, as well as spiritual presence, will live on in the United States of America – eternally.