ABSTRACT
Time, culture, and social space create unique conditions for developing knowledge that can engage individuals in actions that ultimately transform societies. Ideally, the intent of social activism is to rectify inequities and transform society to the benefit of the majority, who represent the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. Often, the identified leaders of effective social movements become the focus and are portrayed as icons, touted as larger than life in their character and their abilities to coalesce groups for a common cause. Among the well-known leaders of civil disobedience and non-violent protests in support of human rights are Mahatma Gandhi, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. There also are countless lesser-known men and women whose leadership in the fight against racism and inequity challenged segregation in the United States and South Africa, leading to significant process toward democratic societies. The Greensboro Four (i.e., Joseph McNeil, Jibrell Khazan (born Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, David Richmond), Reverend Dr. Prathia Hall and Diane Nash, and the women and men of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee are among the activist advancing the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Sacrifices by Robert Sobukwe, Charlotte Maxeke, Helen Suzman, Oliver Tambo, and the women and men of the African National Congress were instrumental in ending the apartheid regime. Ramsamy (2016) detailed the active leadership of E. S. Reddy in mobilizing international protests against apartheid.
