-
Brown vs Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark supreme court case. The justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. The case was led by Thurgood marshall who was a civil rights activist. -
rosa parks
Rosa park was a civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. She was arrested and this sparked outrage and eventually lead to the Montgomery bus boycott. After her arrest, she became a very important civil rights activist -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. This was all in an effort to protest segregated seating. The boycott took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956. This protest is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. This was a major test of the brown v board decision which outlawed segregation in schools. Angry mobs would try and prevent them from entering. The president had to send the national guard to escort the students into the building so they could participate in school. -
Sit-ins
It started in 1960 when young African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. After others saw this they followed this same tactic and it spread throughout the country. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were groups of white and African American civil rights activists who participated in Freedom Rides, bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. The Freedom Riders attracted the attention of the Kennedy Administration and as a direct result of their work, ICC issued regulations banning segregation in interstate travel that fall. -
JFK assassination
35th president was assassinated on November 23, 1963. This all happened while he was on a political campaign in Texas. While he was in a parade lee Harvey Oswald fatally shot the president and he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later -
March on Washington
On 28 August 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the nation's capital. It put pressure on the JFK administration to make a change through legislation. This was also where MLK gave his famous "I have a dream" speech -
Birmingham Protests
Protests in Birmingham began with a boycott led by Shuttlesworth that was meant to pressure business leaders to open employment to people of all races and end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, schools, and stores. The SCLC agreed to help them after there was a lot of resistance from local businesses and political leaders. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This was a very important act and it prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The act gave federal law enforcement agencies the power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities. This was the final act that finally disproved “separate but equal”. -
Mississippi Summer
Freedom Summer was a nonviolent effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system during 1964. Residents and volunteers were met by extraordinary violence, including murders, bombings, kidnappings, and torture. Public outrage helped spur the U.S. Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It outlawed things like poll taxes and literacy tests that were created to make it harder for African Americans to be able to vote. This will forever be a monumental moment in history. -
Selma marches
It was a protest led by MLK where hundreds of people gathered in Selma, Alabama to march to the capital city of Montgomery. It was all in an effort to register Black voters in the South. -
MLK assassination
His assassination led to a lot of anger among Black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be one of the last significant legislative achievements of the civil rights era. He was killed in Tennessee while he was trying to plan a march for sanitation workers.