Heather Booth (Jewish Civil Rights activist) and activist initiation analysis (MFDP)
Grassroots Social Action - Lessons in People Power Movements by Willie, Ridini, and Willard
Chapter 9 - The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party - Analysis: Initiation, Legitimation, and Implementation
I chose this particular section because it talks about 3 stages that a group of ordinary individuals go through in order to establish a legitimate organization (in this case the MFDP). The first stage, as the author notes, is the initiation stage, which happens at the community level.
“In the first, initiation stage, there is a ‘convergence of interests....Common goals and methods for their achievement must be developed...and the proposed action must be identified’” (Willie 141).
The initiation stage took place at the community level (ordinary working blacks). In class, we discussed how SNCC voter registration activists dressed. They dressed very differently to try and get local individuals to register to vote because if they dressed like the locals then the locals would identify with them more. This was the “initiation” stage.
As noted, the quote from the book states “Common goals and methods for achievement must be developed” (Willie 141). These common goals were developed in part because the locals were able to identify with the organizers, as stated above. If they could not identify with them, chances are the MFDP would not be able to make it to stage II (legitimation).
“In addition, getting blacks in the local community to support the efforts of the MFDP was difficult due to the threat of extreme violence, economic reprisal, and existing divisions within the black community” (Willie 141).
Despite this, the initiation stage still managed to attract enough ordinary blacks to make it to phase 2.
Heather Booth - Jewish Civil Rights voter registration activist
Official Statement - “I grew up in a family that had good social values, reflected in our Jewish heritage, culture, and history. When I was growing up, at one point I wanted to be a rabbi, but was told (at that time) women couldn’t be rabbis. I went to Israel when I graduated from high school in 1963, and the experience of Yad Vashem (the holocaust museum) had a transforming effect on me: I promised myself that in the face of injustice I would struggle for justice” (http://jwa.org/feminism/booth-heather).
So, she is basically saying visiting the Holocaust museum made her want to become a force against injustice, hence why she began to participate in the Civil Rights Movement (particularly SNCC voter registration efforts in Mississippi).
Further down the page, she notes that originally, her activist origins started with anti-war protests on a college campus.
Although a personal notable story, Booth is more known for her activist participation in the area of women’s movements. She is the founder of JANE (a powerful group focusing on pro-choice in the abortion debate).
Booth also knew Fanny Hamer. Here is a photo of her playing guitar for Hamer:
