-
New ideas on poems
Claude McKay wrote the following poem: If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot...
Like men we'll face the murderous cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! These words were shown as a dangerous because they showed the new ideas of young black people and especially because they talked about fighting back -
Committees to seek help for the needy
The communists started to organized committees to help the most needed. One of the organizers were Angelo Herndon and he was arrested for 5 years in prison with the charge of promoting revolution until he was freed because the law he was arrested for was unconstitutional. To the Establishment, these type of men were a sign of a willingness to fight -
Committee on Civil Rights
President Harry Truman started the Committee on Civil rights because he knew he had to change the situation of blacks in the United States because of two reasons. The first was to calm down the frustration of the American black people. The second was to change America's image that world already had. The United States was accused of being a racist society.
The Committee talked about laws against lynching but the government took no action. But the segregation of the armed forces was finally over. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The decision in which the court ordered to stop the segregation of black children in country's public schools. This action occurred thanks to the lawsuits of southern blacks. But sadly, most of the schools were still segregated ten years later. -
Martin Luther King preaches for nonviolence
During the boycott, he gave a speech that was later going to be used as an inspiration for racial justice. In the speech, he talks about nonviolence being the best weapon against the one who hated them. The speech gained more white and black followers for him. -
Claudette Colvin Montgomery Bus
When she was only fifteen years old, Claudette Colvin asserted her constitutional right to her seat on a Montgomery bus. This action helped to start the movement for civil rights. She was insulted by the white people and policemen who later arrested her. She was charged with the violation of the segregation law. -
Rosa Parks Montgomery Bus
Rosa Parks was a 43-year-old woman that refused to give her seat up in a Montgomery bus that had segregated seats. She was arrested for her refusal. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Because of the problem that Rosa Parks had, a group of black people from Montgomery made a mass meeting in which they planned not to ride the buses in order for the city to lose a lot of income. This movement resulted in the bombing of black churches, shotguns, and arrests of leaders of the Boycott. Even though the circumstances, the blacks continued the boycott and in 1956 The Supreme Court made segregation on buses illegal. -
Lunch counter refusal
When the four first-year students arrived at the cafeteria at an African American college in North Carolina, the store wouldn't serve them anything to eat only because they were in a whites-only. section. This spread all around the southern cities. At the end of 1960, lunch counters started to serve black people as well. -
Segregation of Interstate buses
The segregation of Interstate buses was illegal, but it was not enforced by the law of the south. The "Freedom Riders" got on one of those buses that went from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. They were beaten, attacked with fists and iron bars while the police and the FBI did nothing. -
SNCC Freedom Riders
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized another group of Freedom Riders who were later arrested and attacked by the whites. These movements greatly influenced young black children from all around the world making them learn how to demand their rights. -
"I Have a Dream" March
Martin Luthe King lead a march on Washington D.C. inspired by his speech "I Have a Dream". Most of the crowd felt amazed by the words in this speech, but others felt that it lacked the anger that many blacks had. -
"Mississippi Summer"
The SNCC and other organizations were seeking help from young people from all around the country to help against racial injustice. But, violence and danger were increasing making them ask for help to President Lyndon B. Johnson for federal protection. At the end, they got no answer. -
Civil Rights Act
The uproar of civil rights for the blacks made the Congress pass some civil rights laws. The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 promised much but were ignored or poorly enforced -
Voting Rights Acts
When the Congress made this law it made a difference in southern voting. 60% of the blacks registered for voting and it reached the same percentage as white voters. -
Death of Malcolm X
Martin Luther King was very famous in the black community, but it was being replaced by new heroes with the slogan "Black Power". Malcolm X was Black Power's spokesman. He was assassinated while giving a speech. -
Black Ghettos
The outbreaks caused that the biggest urban riots in American history turned out in black ghettos across the land. Gunfire was the responsible for the death of 83 people in Newark, New Jersey, Detroit, and Michigan -
Matin Luther King, poverty and war
Martin Luther King started to worry about other things besides the civil rights. He started to focus on poverty issues. He made a commentary about the war between The United States and Vietnam. King said "We are spending all of this money for death and destruction, and not nearly enough money for life and constructive development" -
Martin Luther King's death
The FBI started blackmailed and threatened King with his private phone conversations trying to destroy him. He was later assassinated as he stood on the balcony outside his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. The blacks saw this as an act of injustice against them, bringing new urban violence -
Public Office
More than two thousand African Americans held public office in southern cities making a big advance. Blacks started going to the University, to law and medical school, schools without segregations. These changes brought a lot of publicity in newspapers and televisions.
