The Aces_ group assignment 3
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California State University, Northridge *
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Course
302
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
6
Uploaded by ElderPrairieDog3102
Isaiah Brown
Gabriela Lazcano
Maria Poghosyan
Reagan Cordova
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
This historical organization selected by our group members has inspired each of
us to be thankful for their extraordinary accomplishments as leaders of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, (SCLC). According to the
National Park Service
website, “Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth,
and others, founded the SCLC in order to have a regional organization that could better
coordinate civil rights protest activities across the South” (
National Park Service
, 2022).
For this assignment, we will be focusing on Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin,
Ralph Abernathy, and Fred Shuttlesworth and how these four used their leadership
skills to help the SCLC with their mission to make a difference in the world.
In order to better understand how these four were able to lead such an important
group in history, it is important to understand: what is leadership? Well, according to
chapter 9 of the book
Communicating In Small Groups: Principles and Practices
by
Steeven A. Beebe and John T. Masterson (2020), leadership is defined as “...behavior
or communication that influences, guides, directs, or controls a group” (p. 154). As we
have learned in this class, there are many different aspects that contribute to a groups
overall success. Leadership, or having a leader that is able to do the things previously
mentioned.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is a figure widely known in the United States for making a
difference in how people of color were treated. He is especially important for the SCLC
since according to the
National Park Service Website
, Martin Luther King, Jr. was the
“...organization’s first president from its founding until his assassination in 1968”
(
National Park Service
, 2022). What made Martin Luther King, Jr. so special? Well, King
actually displayed many characteristic that make a great leader. We would argue that
Martin Luther King Jr. displayed a functional perspective of leadership. According Beebe
and Masterson (2022), the functional perspective “...examines leadership as a series of
behaviours that may be performed by any group member to maximize group
effectiveness” (p. 155). And that is exactly what King did that made him such a great
leader. Simply looking at one of his speeches for instance, allows us to realize how he
had his followers believe that they too could make a difference if they truly put their
mind to it. One of his most famous speeches includes his “I Have a Dream” speech, in
which we delivered at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 according to
Marshall.edu
. (2020). On this website, we can see how King used his words to inspire
those in attendance to make the difference they wanted to see in the world.
Furthermore, there is another aspect of the functional perspective that also explains
why Martin Luther King Jr. can be considered a leader. Referring back to the book, in
the functional approach, “...leadership behaviors fall into two categories: (1) task
leadership and (2) process leadership” (Beebe & Masterson, 2020, p. 155). We would
argue that King was focused a bit more on the task leadership, since he was the face of
the movement. According to Beebe and Masterson (2020), task leadership is related to
the “communication directed toward accomplishing a group’s task or goal” (p. 243);
which is what we would argue is the main focus when it comes to Martin Luther King.
Bayard Rustin was an advisor for Martin Luther King Jr, and was a leader in his
own right. According to
Stanford.edu
(2022), “The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and
Education Institute”, Rustin was “...instrumental in the formation of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), proposing to King in December 1956 he
create a group that would unite black leaders in the South…” (
Stanford.edu
, 2022).
Although Rustin was not the face of the SCLC per se, he was a leader in the way that
things got done because of him. Afterall, according to the same website, Rustin
“...developed the guidelines for discussion for the founding meeting of the SCLC…”
(
Stanford.edu
, 2022). Referring back to the book, authors Beebe and Masterson (2020)
mention that anyone can become or be a leader. In the case of Bayard Rustin, from our
research we argue that he performed task-leadership behaviors such as coming up with
ideas that would ultimately help the SCLC complete their goal.
When we’re talking about Martin Luther King and the protests that have
happened during that time we always think of who's gonna be his right hand, which in
this case is Ralph David Abernathy. He was Martin's right hand, a good friend who had
also experienced racism when he joined the army in World War II. One of the harshest
things is receiving racism when you’re serving for your country. Back with Luther King,
every colored has recived hate and racism toward them, during those times it was the
truth which was quite sad.When I think of Ralph, the first thing that comes to mind is
Rosa Parks and her arrest. When Rosa was in the bus and she didn’t give her seat up
to a white men, a whole riot broke out causing her to be arrested and kicked out of the
bus, but why? The women was innocent and as a rule men should always give space to
women, its a major sign of respect but in this, it was the opposite. Ralph had that spark
in him when were talking because just as much Martin was doing, he was participating
right by his side.
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Fred Shutterworth, he’s the type of man that reminds of winning and protecting
other people. I see Fred as a man who will stand up to himself and others with nothing
but facts and straigh points. Fred was called the most courageous civil rights fighter in
the South which I do agree with because with his look, smile and confidence that is the
aora thats giving me. What stands to me about Freddie what when supreme court ruled
against the segregation of busses, he rallied the membership of ACMHR(Alabama
Christian Movement for Human Rights) that challaneged the segregated busses which it
did occur during that time. Both of them men did their job very well and set their foot
down and got the message thru by their words and actions.
Referring back to the book,
Communicating In Small Groups: Principles and
Practices
by Steeven A. Beebe and John T. Masterson
(2020), our group would argue
that when it comes to the leadership style of the SCLC, the group falls under a
democratic style. Leadership style was defined as a “consistent pattern of behavior
reflecting a leader’s beliefs and attitudes” (Beebe & Masterson, 2020, p. 158). A
Democratic style fits our group the most because as said in the book, leaders have faish
in their group members and try to involve them when it comes to making decisions.
(Beebe & Masterson, 2020, p. 158). A great example of this is the relationship between
Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin. As mentioned previously, Rustin was a close
advisor to King, which can be seen as two group members working together to achieve
their goal.
In all, our group would argue that our group, the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference was successful as a group overall. According to the
National Park Service
(2022), the SCLC “...moved to the forefront of the civil rights movement alongside
several other major civil rights groups…” (
National Park Service
). Additionally, as a
group, the SCLC took action in “boycotts, marches, and other forms of nonviolent
protest…” (
National Park Service
, 2022). As a matter of fact, the official website for the
SCLC,
Nationalsclc.org
, has lots of information on how the group is still operating today.
Segregation may have been abolished, but there is still so much work to be done.
References
The all-new National SCLC
. The All-New National SCLC.
(2022, August 14). Retrieved
November 17, 2022, from https://nationalsclc.org/
I Have A Dream
. OneMarshallU. (2020, October 23). Retrieved November 17, 2022,
from https://www.marshall.edu/onemarshallu/i-have-a-dream/
U.S. Department of the Interior. (2022).
Bayard Rustin
. National Parks Service.
Retrieved November 17, 2022, from
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/bayard-rustin.htm
U.S. Department of the Interior. (2022).
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC)
. National Parks Service. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/sclc.htm
Beebe, S. A., & Masterson, J.T. (2020). Chaper 9 Leading Groups. In
Communicating in
small groups: Principles and practices
(pp. 153-166). essay, Pearson
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