the driver notice him standing and that
is when he told the four of us to let
him have those seats life liberty and
the pursuit of happiness are just some
rights and freedoms that these people
work towards welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top 10 American civil rights
activists from the time I was very small
I remember the sounds of bombs exploding
across the street our house shaking for
this list we’re focusing specifically on
the purveyors of freedom and equality
within the United States and those who
have had a significant impact on
national and world culture and if this
is your kind of thing be sure to check
out our list of the top ten
international civil rights activists
number ten Rosa Parks they said that
about one and every five had to be
assisted out of the building they would
just go into a faint three months after
the shocking murder of Emmett Till in
1955 an african-american woman took a
stand for civil rights by refusing to
give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama
bus the move for arrest and trial as
well as the subsequent bus boycott
effectively put Rosa Parks at the
forefront of the civil rights movement
led by Martin Luther King jr. and many
others I tried to have a little anger as
possible but I tried to use it to help
people who were suffering and many who
were discouraged and did not have the
courage to try to take a stand for
themselves while she wasn’t the first to
defy racial segregation parks became a
prominent voice for human rights around
the world and continued on through the
decades with an extensive career in
politics that had her collaborating with
multiple civil rights leaders ladies and
gentlemen is a great honor to present
the 1993 essence award to someone who in
many ways made it possible for all of us
to have an evening as dignified as this
miss Rosa Parks
[Applause]
number nine Harvey Milk in the Bay Area
there are hundreds and hundreds of gay
doctors most of who are closeted because
of the fear of loss of jobs in San
Francisco they can quote come out the
city of San Francisco California has
long been known for its diversity and
association with the 60s counterculture
movement but it wouldn’t be what it is
today without the work of Harvey Milk
kids all the people all the time have no
intention to try to I just put my views
out and just keep going forward by the
early 70s the native New Yorker had
moved to the Bay Area and openly
embraced his sexuality
while embarking on a political career
that would forever change the city’s
LGBT community are you having a
supervisor for all the people I have to
be that’s what I was elected for I have
to be there to open up for the dialogue
to the sensitivities of all people all
the problems as the first openly gay
person elected to office in California
Harvey Milk’s influence could certainly
be felt in 1978 Cali and though an
assassin’s bullet silenced his voice
forever it certainly didn’t silence his
spirit or his legacy because the if we
learn from history that the struggle
goes on the eventually we will win
number eight Angela Davis some very very
good friends of mine were killed by
bombs bombs that were planted by racists
a radical feminist and a longtime
educator this woman was famously
targeted by Richard Nixon and Ronald
Reagan for her political beliefs Angela
Davis is best known for the Marin County
Courthouse incident involving the
Soledad brothers who are accused of
murdering a prison guard in the early
1970s armed teenager Jonathan Jackson
stormed the courtroom which resulted in
four deaths while Davis was charged with
kidnapping and first-degree murder for
purchasing the firearms she became a
fugitive
after she fled the state but after her
capture and several months in jail Davis
declared her innocence and an all-white
jury would ultimately find her not
guilty as well all she received the
support of various notable figures it
was musicians like the Rolling Stones
John Lennon and Yoko Ono who
immortalized the active
through popular music
[Music]
with her steadfast beliefs and ability
to connect angela davis has long been a
polarizing figure and a prominent civil
rights activist so-called war on drugs
has been the major motor driving the
rising prison population number seven
Cesar Chavez the para non-violence
really rests on the on the reservoir
that you have to create in yourself of
patience one in the American Old West
town of Yuma Arizona he was a
mexican-american that transcended
perceived myths of his race while
ultimately becoming a mythical figure in
death today everyone is familiar with
the iconic phrase yes we can which was
adopted by President Barack Obama in
2008 yes we can heal this nation yes we
can repair this world yes we can however
it was Cesar Chavez who previously made
it famous during his 1972 24-day fast in
support of the United Farm Workers with
the Spanish si se puede
vassilis que no so no somos los
valiente’s oh man mujeres que hombres
que si an es tiempo de belem with a
non-violent velocity and grassroots
ideology Cesar Chavez changed the way of
life for endless field workers and
established a legacy as a modern day
folk hero he was responsible for a lot
of the labor pains that we see today the
protections the benefits but the basic
right to organize an affiliate number
six Thurgood Marshall historians will
note this hour at the White House in a
garden ceremony a 58 year old great
grandson of a slave is nominated by
President Johnson to be a Supreme Court
justice in 1954 the Brown v Board of
Education case ended the segregation of
American schools and it was a 45 year
old lawyer that played a prominent role
the decision of the Supreme Court is the
law of the land whether they believed in
it or not
the late John F Kennedy would later
promote Thurgood Marshall to the Court
of Appeals in 1961 and during the
turbulent era of social unrest that was
the 60s he became the first African
American Justice of the Supreme Court a
position which he maintained for nearly
25 years
some activists have made their mark in
history by any means necessary
but it was Marshall who worked within
the law to ensure proper rights for
those suspected of wrongdoing but
perhaps not necessarily guilty of any
crime I think it’s very important to
keep my position clear on that
that when the Democratic nomination
failed to do anything about these
southerners they lost my support number
five susan b anthony at the beginning of
her career of her dedication to women’s
rights she was much too spy as a
teenager this woman was already fighting
for human rights way back in the 30s the
1830s incidentally susan b anthony led
campaigns to end slavery long before the
American Civil War and upon Abraham
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation she
continued to be a champion for the
women’s suffrage movement more than just
a leading figure and supporter of
women’s rights susan b anthony played a
crucial role in changing public opinions
about gender roles in American society
and watched her country literally
transform throughout her 86 years I
think that every February 15th women in
this country should recognize that as
Susan D Anthony’s birthday and just for
a second
safe thank you number 4 Frederick
Douglass about age 6 Douglass found that
his childhood come to an abrupt end he
was assigned to act as the companion and
caretaker of the child mother
honor the plantation many years of slave
forever an American icon of equal rights
born on a Maryland plantation the future
looked bleak for a young Frederick
Douglass yet he persevered and educated
himself through the years by the age of
20 he managed to escape a life of
slavery and as a free man
his skills began to pay off as his knack
for public speaking became evident
Douglass wrote numerous books on his
life experiences years before the end of
slavery and upon the advent of a new way
of life in America he became the first
African American to be nominated for
vice president of the United States upon
his 1895 passing former slaves like
Booker T Washington carried the torch of
freedom to those who have suffered in
slavery I can say I too have suffered to
those who have battled for liberty
Brotherhood and citizenship I can say I
too have battled number three Malcolm X
there was a time when we used to duel in
the mouth over white people we thought
they were ready because we would learn
we were done we couldn’t see him as they
are raised in the American Midwest this
man lived a life of petty crime until he
found personal freedom through the
Nation of Islam in direct opposition to
Martin Luther King’s civil rights
movement Malcolm X aligned himself with
more radical beliefs in support of
African American human rights yet by the
late 60s a personal transformation
effected his world perspective as a more
internal revolution changed his
ideologies tonight for one will join in
with anyone don’t care what color you
are as long as you want to change this
miserable condition that exists on this
earth thank you both a minister and one
of the greatest orators of his time
people listen when Malcolm X spoke which
made him so incredibly dangerous given
the chaos engulfing America and it was
his propensity to speak out that
ultimately led to his untimely death
even so Malcolm littles influence
continues to extend throughout the world
Malcolm viewed white fears insecurities
and anxieties as tertiary what was that
the center was black suffering what was
at the center was a need for black
awakening
number two Abraham Lincoln say there’s
no amendment abolishing slavery says
after the war and I can no longer use my
War Powers to just ignore the Court’s
decisions like I sometimes felt I had to
do might those people i freed be ordered
back into slavery
like many outspoken civil rights
activists Abraham Lincoln understood
that his personal views could lead to
death but understood that change was
necessary
Lincoln was always striving to achieve
to get ahead in the world to achieve
something greater than he had known in
his own childhood as the 16th President
of the United States he led the country
during its most violent era and stood
firm in his belief that slavery should
be forever abolished today he’s an icon
and His image lives on through
photographs but during his lifetime
Honest Abe backed up his talk with
action and while there’s no video of
Lincoln we can only imagine the effect
his presence had on those who
encountered him face to face the end of
slavery the beginning of a new America
every man has a right to be equal with
every other man in this great struggle
this form of government and every form
of human right is endangered if our
enemies succeed before we unveil our
number-one pick
here are some honorable mentions in
order for non-violence to work your
opponent must have a conscience the
United States has known we should get or
forget for the struggle expand and we
should also recognize the progress it
was made and we sang freedom songs
before I be a slave I’d be buried in my
grave or which side are you on boy which
side are you on we decided to march from
Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the
nation into the world the people of
color wanted to be able to cast a vote
number one Martin Luther King jr. if you
believe all are created equal come to
Selma join us join our march against
injustice and inhumanity
we need you to stand with us over 100
years after the end of slavery
one man reminded the world that
african-americans were still living in a
racist society about anything I’m not
fearing any man
I’ve seen the glory as a preacher from
Atlanta Georgia Martin Luther King jr.
promoted a message of peace and racial
equality I have a dream my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content
of that character from the 1955
Montgomery bus boycott all the way to
his legendary I have a dream speech in
1963 day after day year after year dr.
King stood in the face of imminent death
and marched on comforted by the idea
that unity and national support could
and would alter the course of American
history dr. Martin Luther King the
apostle of non-violence in the civil
rights movement has been shot to death
in Memphis Tennessee despite not living
to see his 40th birthday Martin Luther
King jr. reinvigorated a troubled
Society along with the lives of his
contemporaries and future generations we
will be able to speed up the day when
all of God’s children black men and
white men Jews and Gentiles Protestants
and Catholics will be able to join hands
and live together as brothers and
sisters do you agree with our list who
do you think is the most important
American civil rights activist for more
mind-blowing top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
cuz you don’t like the idea of white
people shooting black people down do you
and you’re ready to do something about
it aren’t you
you
[Music]
is when he told the four of us to let
him have those seats life liberty and
the pursuit of happiness are just some
rights and freedoms that these people
work towards welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top 10 American civil rights
activists from the time I was very small
I remember the sounds of bombs exploding
across the street our house shaking for
this list we’re focusing specifically on
the purveyors of freedom and equality
within the United States and those who
have had a significant impact on
national and world culture and if this
is your kind of thing be sure to check
out our list of the top ten
international civil rights activists
number ten Rosa Parks they said that
about one and every five had to be
assisted out of the building they would
just go into a faint three months after
the shocking murder of Emmett Till in
1955 an african-american woman took a
stand for civil rights by refusing to
give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama
bus the move for arrest and trial as
well as the subsequent bus boycott
effectively put Rosa Parks at the
forefront of the civil rights movement
led by Martin Luther King jr. and many
others I tried to have a little anger as
possible but I tried to use it to help
people who were suffering and many who
were discouraged and did not have the
courage to try to take a stand for
themselves while she wasn’t the first to
defy racial segregation parks became a
prominent voice for human rights around
the world and continued on through the
decades with an extensive career in
politics that had her collaborating with
multiple civil rights leaders ladies and
gentlemen is a great honor to present
the 1993 essence award to someone who in
many ways made it possible for all of us
to have an evening as dignified as this
miss Rosa Parks
[Applause]
number nine Harvey Milk in the Bay Area
there are hundreds and hundreds of gay
doctors most of who are closeted because
of the fear of loss of jobs in San
Francisco they can quote come out the
city of San Francisco California has
long been known for its diversity and
association with the 60s counterculture
movement but it wouldn’t be what it is
today without the work of Harvey Milk
kids all the people all the time have no
intention to try to I just put my views
out and just keep going forward by the
early 70s the native New Yorker had
moved to the Bay Area and openly
embraced his sexuality
while embarking on a political career
that would forever change the city’s
LGBT community are you having a
supervisor for all the people I have to
be that’s what I was elected for I have
to be there to open up for the dialogue
to the sensitivities of all people all
the problems as the first openly gay
person elected to office in California
Harvey Milk’s influence could certainly
be felt in 1978 Cali and though an
assassin’s bullet silenced his voice
forever it certainly didn’t silence his
spirit or his legacy because the if we
learn from history that the struggle
goes on the eventually we will win
number eight Angela Davis some very very
good friends of mine were killed by
bombs bombs that were planted by racists
a radical feminist and a longtime
educator this woman was famously
targeted by Richard Nixon and Ronald
Reagan for her political beliefs Angela
Davis is best known for the Marin County
Courthouse incident involving the
Soledad brothers who are accused of
murdering a prison guard in the early
1970s armed teenager Jonathan Jackson
stormed the courtroom which resulted in
four deaths while Davis was charged with
kidnapping and first-degree murder for
purchasing the firearms she became a
fugitive
after she fled the state but after her
capture and several months in jail Davis
declared her innocence and an all-white
jury would ultimately find her not
guilty as well all she received the
support of various notable figures it
was musicians like the Rolling Stones
John Lennon and Yoko Ono who
immortalized the active
through popular music
[Music]
with her steadfast beliefs and ability
to connect angela davis has long been a
polarizing figure and a prominent civil
rights activist so-called war on drugs
has been the major motor driving the
rising prison population number seven
Cesar Chavez the para non-violence
really rests on the on the reservoir
that you have to create in yourself of
patience one in the American Old West
town of Yuma Arizona he was a
mexican-american that transcended
perceived myths of his race while
ultimately becoming a mythical figure in
death today everyone is familiar with
the iconic phrase yes we can which was
adopted by President Barack Obama in
2008 yes we can heal this nation yes we
can repair this world yes we can however
it was Cesar Chavez who previously made
it famous during his 1972 24-day fast in
support of the United Farm Workers with
the Spanish si se puede
vassilis que no so no somos los
valiente’s oh man mujeres que hombres
que si an es tiempo de belem with a
non-violent velocity and grassroots
ideology Cesar Chavez changed the way of
life for endless field workers and
established a legacy as a modern day
folk hero he was responsible for a lot
of the labor pains that we see today the
protections the benefits but the basic
right to organize an affiliate number
six Thurgood Marshall historians will
note this hour at the White House in a
garden ceremony a 58 year old great
grandson of a slave is nominated by
President Johnson to be a Supreme Court
justice in 1954 the Brown v Board of
Education case ended the segregation of
American schools and it was a 45 year
old lawyer that played a prominent role
the decision of the Supreme Court is the
law of the land whether they believed in
it or not
the late John F Kennedy would later
promote Thurgood Marshall to the Court
of Appeals in 1961 and during the
turbulent era of social unrest that was
the 60s he became the first African
American Justice of the Supreme Court a
position which he maintained for nearly
25 years
some activists have made their mark in
history by any means necessary
but it was Marshall who worked within
the law to ensure proper rights for
those suspected of wrongdoing but
perhaps not necessarily guilty of any
crime I think it’s very important to
keep my position clear on that
that when the Democratic nomination
failed to do anything about these
southerners they lost my support number
five susan b anthony at the beginning of
her career of her dedication to women’s
rights she was much too spy as a
teenager this woman was already fighting
for human rights way back in the 30s the
1830s incidentally susan b anthony led
campaigns to end slavery long before the
American Civil War and upon Abraham
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation she
continued to be a champion for the
women’s suffrage movement more than just
a leading figure and supporter of
women’s rights susan b anthony played a
crucial role in changing public opinions
about gender roles in American society
and watched her country literally
transform throughout her 86 years I
think that every February 15th women in
this country should recognize that as
Susan D Anthony’s birthday and just for
a second
safe thank you number 4 Frederick
Douglass about age 6 Douglass found that
his childhood come to an abrupt end he
was assigned to act as the companion and
caretaker of the child mother
honor the plantation many years of slave
forever an American icon of equal rights
born on a Maryland plantation the future
looked bleak for a young Frederick
Douglass yet he persevered and educated
himself through the years by the age of
20 he managed to escape a life of
slavery and as a free man
his skills began to pay off as his knack
for public speaking became evident
Douglass wrote numerous books on his
life experiences years before the end of
slavery and upon the advent of a new way
of life in America he became the first
African American to be nominated for
vice president of the United States upon
his 1895 passing former slaves like
Booker T Washington carried the torch of
freedom to those who have suffered in
slavery I can say I too have suffered to
those who have battled for liberty
Brotherhood and citizenship I can say I
too have battled number three Malcolm X
there was a time when we used to duel in
the mouth over white people we thought
they were ready because we would learn
we were done we couldn’t see him as they
are raised in the American Midwest this
man lived a life of petty crime until he
found personal freedom through the
Nation of Islam in direct opposition to
Martin Luther King’s civil rights
movement Malcolm X aligned himself with
more radical beliefs in support of
African American human rights yet by the
late 60s a personal transformation
effected his world perspective as a more
internal revolution changed his
ideologies tonight for one will join in
with anyone don’t care what color you
are as long as you want to change this
miserable condition that exists on this
earth thank you both a minister and one
of the greatest orators of his time
people listen when Malcolm X spoke which
made him so incredibly dangerous given
the chaos engulfing America and it was
his propensity to speak out that
ultimately led to his untimely death
even so Malcolm littles influence
continues to extend throughout the world
Malcolm viewed white fears insecurities
and anxieties as tertiary what was that
the center was black suffering what was
at the center was a need for black
awakening
number two Abraham Lincoln say there’s
no amendment abolishing slavery says
after the war and I can no longer use my
War Powers to just ignore the Court’s
decisions like I sometimes felt I had to
do might those people i freed be ordered
back into slavery
like many outspoken civil rights
activists Abraham Lincoln understood
that his personal views could lead to
death but understood that change was
necessary
Lincoln was always striving to achieve
to get ahead in the world to achieve
something greater than he had known in
his own childhood as the 16th President
of the United States he led the country
during its most violent era and stood
firm in his belief that slavery should
be forever abolished today he’s an icon
and His image lives on through
photographs but during his lifetime
Honest Abe backed up his talk with
action and while there’s no video of
Lincoln we can only imagine the effect
his presence had on those who
encountered him face to face the end of
slavery the beginning of a new America
every man has a right to be equal with
every other man in this great struggle
this form of government and every form
of human right is endangered if our
enemies succeed before we unveil our
number-one pick
here are some honorable mentions in
order for non-violence to work your
opponent must have a conscience the
United States has known we should get or
forget for the struggle expand and we
should also recognize the progress it
was made and we sang freedom songs
before I be a slave I’d be buried in my
grave or which side are you on boy which
side are you on we decided to march from
Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the
nation into the world the people of
color wanted to be able to cast a vote
number one Martin Luther King jr. if you
believe all are created equal come to
Selma join us join our march against
injustice and inhumanity
we need you to stand with us over 100
years after the end of slavery
one man reminded the world that
african-americans were still living in a
racist society about anything I’m not
fearing any man
I’ve seen the glory as a preacher from
Atlanta Georgia Martin Luther King jr.
promoted a message of peace and racial
equality I have a dream my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content
of that character from the 1955
Montgomery bus boycott all the way to
his legendary I have a dream speech in
1963 day after day year after year dr.
King stood in the face of imminent death
and marched on comforted by the idea
that unity and national support could
and would alter the course of American
history dr. Martin Luther King the
apostle of non-violence in the civil
rights movement has been shot to death
in Memphis Tennessee despite not living
to see his 40th birthday Martin Luther
King jr. reinvigorated a troubled
Society along with the lives of his
contemporaries and future generations we
will be able to speed up the day when
all of God’s children black men and
white men Jews and Gentiles Protestants
and Catholics will be able to join hands
and live together as brothers and
sisters do you agree with our list who
do you think is the most important
American civil rights activist for more
mind-blowing top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
cuz you don’t like the idea of white
people shooting black people down do you
and you’re ready to do something about
it aren’t you
you
[Music]
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