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Brown vs board of education
In Topeka Kansas, a father by the name of Oliver brown wanted to enroll his daughter Linda brown in a white school. He wanted to enroll her, not to cause trouble, but for the principle. He challenged the Supreme Court on their segregation laws, to which the Supreme Court took in his case and grouped it in with four other cases. By the end of it, the Supreme Court rules 9 - 0 that the separate but equal is unethical. Unfortunately, a lot of these black students will not go to school with whites. -
The murder of Emmet Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy who was murdered in Money Mississippi by two men. The two men were Roy Bryant and his half brother JW Milam. They kidnapped, tortured and killed Emmet, who was staying with his uncle. They found his body in a nearby river, horribly mutilated and Weighed down by a giant fan with barbed wire around his neck. The jury found the men not guilty in under seven minutes. His mother chose to have the funeral be open casket so the world could see what it did to her son. -
Rosa Parks and the bus boycott
Rosa parks was arrested in Montgomery Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. After her arrest, Martin Luther King Jr and the church tell everyone to boycott the busses on December fifth. For 381 straight days, the busses ran mostly empty and bus companies started to lose a lot of money. The Supreme Court eventually ruled to have the busses let black people ride. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In Atlanta Georgia, there was a meeting of black church pastors where they discussed coordinating events for black people. This group eventually elected MLK as their first president. Their main strategy was to use nonviolent means to get their way. This group registered blacks to vote, opposed the Vietnam war and provided better jobs for black people -
Little Rock Nine
In Little Rock Arkansas, nine students tried to go to an all white school. This prompted The governor to call on the national guard to try and stop them. Meanwhile, president Eisenhower called upon 1,200 soldiers to make sure these students made it to school and back safely. By 1959 every school becomes integrated. -
Greensboro sit-ins
In Greensboro North Carolina Four college students would go to Woolworth’s store and sit at the lunch counter. When they were refused service and told to leave, they would sit and stay there in protest. They would do this every day to protest, and eventually the number of students would start to grow. This eventually went on until there were 1,000 students participating. -
The Freedom Riders
Starting in Washington and going to the south, 60 freedom rides that 436 participated in would go on busses to the heavily racist south to try and desegregate bus stations, hotels, and diners. These riders were usually met with violence and racism, such as the KKK and even the burning of a bus. Many of the riders were beaten and attacked on these rides. -
The March on Washington
In Washington D.C. about 250,000 people marched Peacefully for jobs, peace and freedom. This event was especially significant since this is where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech. Martin Luther King was actually the last speaker to go on that day. -
Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr was probably the most influential person in the civil rights movement. He gave his famous “I have a dream speech” at the end of the march on Washington. He was unfortunately assassinated at the age of 39 on April 4th 1968. He marched in Selma and he helped lead the bus boycott. He was The most legendary advocate for civil rights in history. -
Civil Rights act of 1964
In Washington, the civil rights act being passed was VERY important since it let the government outlaw and prevent discrimination based on race, religion, etc in business and things of the nature. This was very important for the civil rights movement -
Malcom X
Malcom X was a very significant leader in the civil rights movement, he lived to the age of 39. He was arrested several times in New York because they feared how much he inspired people of color. He was Islamic and he wanted black people to believe in themselves and start their own businesses. Unfortunately he was assassinated and shot 21 times. -
Selma
About 600 marchers wanted to walk to Montgomery which was 54 miles away so that they could register to vote. Unfortunately, once the marchers made it to the Edmund bridge, they were brutally attacked and beaten by troopers that were waiting for them. They tried again later, but this time Martin Luther King marched with them. On the second attempt, they were allowed through. -
Voting rights act of 1965
In Washington D.C. another act was passed that allowed African Americans and other races to vote. The matter was not a state matter anymore, it was a federal matter. This act was important because it outlawed discrimination based on race in voting. LBJ was a big advocate for this.