The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an American Civil Rights Organization. It was created mainly to participate in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-60. The first President was Martin Luther King Jr. till he was assassinated on April 4,1968.
Primarily the work of SCLC was focused on education and voter registration, and acquired success in spite of facing criticism from younger activists groups. Thereafter SCLC joined Albany Movement, a broad protest against segregation. It instilled the belief in many leaders that nonviolent direct action protests, like boycott, is a weapon that always leads to success in battles against evils of social inequality like segregation.
Based in Atlanta, the basic objective of SCLC was to co ordinate the local organizations working for the absolute equality of African Americans. SCLC also joined hands with Congress on Racial Equality, March on Washington, and many more issues and events. On 28th August almost 200,000 people actively marched towards the Lincoln Memorial to demand equal justice for all citizens abiding by the law. Here Martin Luther King made his famous speech 'I have a Dream'.
SCLC continued its civil rights movement well into the 1960s, based on a series of highly publicized protest campaigns. Despite months of protest, Albany's police chief jailed many demonstrators and activists without letting the public know, while the protests of The Southern Christian Leadership Conference finally declined under inefficient leadership.
