how did having prominent leaders that would not back down aid the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's?

Question

would the changes made then still have occurred if those brave men and women of conscience have gone w/the status quo and not acted as they did? if it would've happened anyway, how many years would the Movement have been set back if they hadn't?

Answer 1

The Civil Rights movement would have been dead without them. It takes leadership to keep an issue in the forefront as well as to inspire those involved to remain active against all odds. Martin Luther King provided Blacks with the leadership they needed when he spearheaded the Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks had refused to give up her bus seat to a white person and was put in jail for the "offense."

Chow!!

Answer 2

I disagree with most answers here. There was no dearth of leaders in the black community. The Civil Rights Movement was led by a series of grass-roots organizers like SNCC (Student NonViolent Coordination Comitee). The government attempted to cherry pick which Civil Rights leaders would lead the movement and Kennedy went as far as directing MLK jr. to direct the March of the Million as the one prerequisite to allow the march to go on lawfully. It goes without saying that MLK jr. gained such leverage because of official fears that unless they heeded to a respectable pacifist of the Christian faith they would have to deal with violent insurrectors of the Muslim faith.
So, no, prominent leaders were not the key. Low level organizing and the threat of insurrection made the passing and enforcing of the Civil Rights Act possible. Think of the violence in racial relations since the passing of the act as the leftover energy of blacks and the government dealing with their grievances in the way they originally intended to solve them. By legitimizing the civil rights of blacks, the US government released a lot of the pressure in race relations.

The shortcomings of the act would be eventually redressed by the Panthers, and the government managed to single out those unwilling to compromise and murdered them. The movement for blacks rights was decapitated and minimal concessions were made. Racial disparity has not been settled and the true face of the movement comes back to haunt white america every time they cross the line. Riots and civil disorder are the results of the dismantling of the Black POwer movement. So, no, it wasn't because of a few prominent leaders. The US gov had to murder much more than a few prominent leaders to kill the Black Nationalist movement.
Always remember your government murdered not only MLK jr and Malcolm X but also Fred Hamptom. COINTELPRO (FBI) harassed Huey P. Newton, Elijah Muhammad and Stokely Carmichael. Also remember that the police murdered George Jackson and massacred the inmates in Attica, killed 2 and injured 12 in Jackson State; and that the National Guard murdered 4 students and injured 9 at Kent State.
So, no, it was not because of a few brave men. I mean, ask the FBI, they had to slaughter hundred of people to stop the civil rights movement... of course when crack came about it made all that much easier.

Answer 3

The immediate effects today would;ve taken a longer time to achieve possibly 10-20 years.