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Events that led towards the "I Have a Dream" speech

By Alexzagal

  • Sit-in Movement

    Sit-in Movement
    Four African-American college students initiated a sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This sparked a wave of protest by local students and activists across the south.

  • Freedom Rides

    Freedom Rides
    This was another crucial grassroots effort, civil rights activists James Farmer and John Lewis organized these rides to challenge segregation in interstate bus travel. They faced a ton of violence and resistance but because of this, they drew national attention.

  • Birmingham Campaign

    Birmingham Campaign
    Led by Fred Shuttlesworth and others in Birmingham and Alabama. Local activists engaged in nonviolent protest and faced police violence, which gained sympathy from the nation, then Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became involved in the struggle and it drew national attention.

  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    This was a collaborative effort between several grassroots and civil rights organizations, which included Southern Christian leadership and the Congress of Racial Equality. It was a massive peaceful march across the capital of the nation, where about 250,000 people gathered to demand civil right and economic equality.