Black Power and Protest: Is Non-Violence Still Effective?

In the workshops and presentations I’ve given and participated in this month, the idea of power has been recurring. Consequently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about power and protest, and the efficacy of the Civil Rights Movement.  Did King’s methods work? If not, why do we celebrate them like they did? If they did work in the 50s and 60s, will they still work today?

I was looking through a folder and found some writings I wrote back in 2007. After hearing about  Genarlow Wilson and the Jena 6, I wrote for days about my thoughts on the inequities seen in the legal and political systems through the years. The piece I’m reading in this video was written after I returned from the mass demonstration in Jena, LA. I was very disappointed that the Jena 6 were still in Jail after we left. I was confused as to why we went down there and concluded that the 20,000 people who gathered to FREE the 6 students unfairly locked up had gathered for nothing. The “largest civil rights demonstration in years” was a failure in my eyes.

Do you think these methods are effective in 2012? Is the Occupy Movement gaining ground or is it just gaining attention?