5 Protests That Changed the World
Protests will always have a place in society, here’s why
We are currently among political unrest resulting in a spread of worldwide protests. So it only seems appropriate to recognise how the previous efforts brought upon change, from women’s rights to environmental law.
Today, on the verge of summer 2020, a common fight is still upon us, racism in society. An all too common part of our history.
Following the tragic death of George Floyd, protests have erupted all across the globe, from Trafalgar Square to Washington D.C, causing many new generations to join the marches standing for their beliefs.
With this in mind, I have created a list of five influential protests that changed the course of history, improving the lives of many.
- March On Washington, (August 1963)
Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered during the August 1963 rally to promote racial equality in the United States. More than 200,000 demonstrators gathered peacefully at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C., and the event is credited with pressuring President John F. Kennedy to draw up firm civil rights legislation.
2. The Orange Revolution, (Kiev, 2004)
Hundreds of thousands of people flooded Kiev’s main square to protest the results of the Ukrainian presidential election. Demonstrations continued for 12 days through sleet and snow until a re-vote was called, reversing the results and putting the opposition candidate (whose party colours are orange) in office instead.
3. Women’s Suffrage Parade, (Washington D.C, 1913)
This was the first major national efforts towards women’s suffrage (the right to vote). Alice Paul and the National American Woman Suffrage Association organised a massive parade in Washington D.C on March 3, 1913, just one day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. Seven years of protesting later this led to the Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the vote for women.
4. Soweto school strike and uprising (South Africa, 1976)
Pupils from Orlando west junior school, Soweto, led a walkout in protest. Due to being taught in Afrikaans ‘The language created by the colonisers, deriving from Dutch’. This was the fuse of the movement led by Nelson Mandela which eventually overthrew the apartheid in South Africa.
From April to June, Soweto was in revolt, over 600 people were killed by South African police for protesting.
5. Selma to Montgomery (March 24, 1964)
Following the March on Washington facing brutal opposition from police forces, 8,000 activists set out on the fifty miles from Selma, Alabama to the State’s capital to demand black voter enfranchisement. The efforts of those marching lead to President Johnson passing the Voting Rights Act which forced all states in the US to register black voters.
These five protests show the power people have to elicit change in society. Now more so than ever, phones and modern technology allow us to share information, videos, and educate the world in seconds; if used for good, the potential is limitless.
Thank you for reading,
Brien
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