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Creation of the NAACP
The organization was partly formed in response to the Springfield Riot of 1908 and the ongoing challenges of racial discrimination and violence facing African Americans. -
Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in 1931. -
The Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were nine African American high school students who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas -
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He became the first African American player to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 1954 that state-sponsored segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. -
The Murder of Emmitt Till
In Mississippi, two men bludgeoned and killed Emmett Till for whistling at a white woman. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest against racial segregation on Montgomery, Alabama's public transit system. -
Ruby Bridges desegregate elementary school in New Orleans
Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old girl, became the first African American student to attend a formerly white-only school in New Orleans. -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963 while imprisoned for leading nonviolent civil rights demonstrations in Alabama. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The act outlawed discrimination in public places. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African American human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. -
Creation of the Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. -
Thurgood Marshall Named Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall was named to the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13, 1967, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King was shot while standing on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Election of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.