... and in the ensuing civil rights movement voices were given to this cause. But to what extent was this campaign created by a social movement at grass roots level - there can be little doubt that the grass roots were in full support of the movement, but there remains the question of leading the movement. Social movements by their very nature thrust certain figures to the forefront, the best example in this case being Martin Luther King Jr. His role was, of course, fundamental to the movement, yet there is a mistake of seeing him as the prime instigator rather of the movement rather than the major national spokesman for it. A large degree of local initiative was displayed throughout the black struggle for freedom, certainly enough to suggest that the revolution was, in many respects, coming from below. Post-World War II, a growing number of religious, civic, labour and intellectual ...

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