Urban Word of the Day - 2/23/09

The Niagara Movement –
The Niagara Movement was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. It was named for the "mighty current" of change the group wanted to effect and Niagara Falls, which was near where the first meeting took place in July 1905. The Niagara Movement was a call for opposition to racial segregation and disenfranchisement as well as policies of accommodation and conciliation promoted by African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington. The Niagara movement suffered from a number of organizational flaws including a lack of funding and central leadership. Additionally, Booker T. Washington's opposition drew support away from the group. Following the Springfield Race Riot of 1908, the Niagara movement admitted their first white member, Mary White Ovington, a settlement worker and socialist. In 1911, the remaining membership of the Niagara Movement joined with a number of White liberals to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).