Discussion 5.2: Nonviolent Social Movements Today
Describe a contemporary nonviolent social movement. What does this movement seek to change? Compare this movement’s approach to MLK’s four steps. Would you make any recommendations to this group to increase their effectiveness? 
            The contemporary nonviolent social movement brings social change on a global scale. Nonviolent tactics are used to bring social change. The nonviolent social movement seeks to change society’s norms and culture. The four basic nonviolent campaign include the;

  1. Collection of the facts to investigate the presence of injustice.
  2. Negotiation.
  3. Self-purification.
  4. Direct action.

The approach of the social movement of Martin Luther King was also nonviolent, and the four steps mentioned above are also aligned with the nonviolent resistance. It avoids violent activities. The Martin Luther King also stated that the difference between just and unjust act is the alignment with the moral law. The peaceful negotiation was considered as the King’s goal to for political change to achieve the final goal of the social movement. Self-purification involves the questioning of oneself by questioning our own moral strength. And the final action is the direct action of nonviolent resistance. I think that these four steps are effective for nonviolent social movements (The Atlantic, n.d).

References

Hall. (2007). The long civil rights movement and the political uses of the past. In The Best American History Essays 2007. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, (pp. 235-271).
The Atlantic. (n.d). Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/
 
 

Milestone 4: An Open Letter to the Movement – Tactics of Resistance

 
 
For this milestone activity, you will be asked to explain how nonviolence can be applied to a contemporary social movement (or a social issue that should become a social movement) that you are passionate about.  Your social movement needs to be approved by your facilitator before you submit your milestone.  You will describe the social movement, how nonviolent resistance can be used, how it can be implemented and what the necessary steps are for it.
 

  1. Describe and summarize Martin Luther King’s approach to non-violent resistance. Discuss each of the four steps he outlines in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Do you agree or disagree with this approach? Why or Why not?
  2. Next, describe a social movement happening today (or a social problem that should have a movement behind it). What is this movement fighting for? What are the key factors surrounding this problem?
  3. Explain how nonviolent resistance might be used to overcome this social problem or how it can be used in the social movement? What is nonviolent resistance? What are the tactics/processes involved?  What will be the projected outcomes of using nonviolent resistance?
  4. Would you recommend this approach? Why or why not?

 
Be sure to follow the letter format from Purdue OWL listed in the Materials.