Motown Success and Survival 1961-1971

Abstract

The sixties were very challenging to black Americans both in the North and the South. Many blacks moved north, many still coming to Detroit because of the booming auto industry. Those that remained in the South continued to struggle for rights that kept them separated from whites, forming such organizations as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Already established were the National Urban League (NUL) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). How did Motown begin and how did it manage to achieve such success when times were obviously difficult for blacks in the United States?