-
Plessy V Ferguson
This was a court case where the court was trying to solve an incident of Homer Adolf Plessy. Plessy was an African American who took a set in a "whites only" car of a Louisiana train. He refused to move out of the seat and then was arrested. The case started on April 13, 1896 through May 18, 1896 which was the day of the final decision of the court case. The final decision was a 7-1 vote to Ferguson. (http://bit.ly/1uuLcJp) -
CORE
Congress of Racial Equality is what CORE stands for. It was founded in 1942 and become one of the leading activist organizations. In 1960's CORE, working with other civil rights groups,lunched a series of initiatives. There was the freedom rids, aimed at desegregating public facilities, freedom summer voter registration project, and in 1963 March on Washington. CORE initially embraced a pacifist nonviolent approach to fighting racial segregation.(http://bit.ly/2nCak4H) -
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson was born on Jan. 1, 1919 in California. During this time, there was much segregation, even in professional sports. Jackie Robinson spent some of his youth in the army. After the army, he went to play in the negro league for Kansas City. On October 23, 1945, he met with the representatives of the Brooklyn Dodgers and agreed to join the team. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the MLB. (http://bit.ly/1hNZsa4) -
Sweatt V. Painter
In 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School.The university of Texas was for whites not black's. The university automatically rejected sweatt because of his race. The court found the the "Law school of Negroes", which was to have opened in 1947, would have been grossly unequal to the University of Texas Law School. (http://bit.ly/2nqJY3w) -
Medgar Evers
Born on July 2, 1925 and died June 12, 1963. Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist whose murder brought national attention. He worked for the NAACP where he attempted to segregate the University of Mississippi Law school. He also became the NAACP field secretary of Mississippi. Medgar mostly focused on social justice and voting rights. He, as well as many other Civil Rights Activists, became a target for those who opposed racial equality and desegregation. (http://bit.ly/2iQuaXC) -
"The Southern Manifesto"
This event is also known as The Declaration of Constitutional Principles. This declaration was signed by 82 representatives and 19 senators. It was made up in March 1954, by the United States congress. It was marked a moment of southern defiance against the supreme court's 1954 landmark Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka (KS), which determined the separate school facilities between blacks and whites was unequal. (http://bit.ly/2nqJY3w) -
Brown V. Board of Education
This was another supreme court case. The case was concerning the segregation in schools. This was the name given to talk about 5 different court cases of the same topic. The segregation in schools was a violation of the 14th amendment of the U.S constitution. The Court decided on May 17, 1954 to desegregate all public schools. However, this would take time for all states to plan on how to do it, but it was able to be done in years time. (http://bit.ly/1cnSbhI) -
Period: to
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The bus boycott started when an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested and fined. The boycott didn't start until Parks court hearing. The Montgomery bus boycott was African Americans that refused to ride the buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest. This boycott lasted form December 5, 1955 to December 20,1956. It was 381 days that the African Americans did not ride the buses in Montgomery.(http://bit.ly/1ymBgQq) -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Began right after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was started to coordinate protest activities across the South. SCLC was founded on January 10, 1957 by 60 different people in 10 different states. This was attempt to protest against all the segregation going on at the time. African Americans were advised to reject segregation absolutely and nonviolently. This organization is now nation wide and helps anyone. (http://bit.ly/2mNufPb) -
Little Rock - Central High School
This was one of many moments of the supreme court case about integrating schools in 1954. Nine African American students in Little Rock, Arkansas, where it had become unconstitutional to segregate in public schools. The students were transported by by the state guards. All African American students began their first full day in a non segregated school on September 25, 1957. (http://bit.ly/1ufa8Cs) -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
This was a committee to give younger blacks more of a voice in the civil rights movement during this time.The committee began in 1960 but ended in 1976. The committee played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides. The committee was ran by Ella Baker. Most of the people in this committee were students of the freedom rides time period. (http://stanford.io/1DVi7hZ) -
Period: to
Greensboro Sit-in
A time where many African American students sat in a segregated lunch counter. Many, however, were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace. The sit in caused WoolWorth's and many other locations to change their segregationist policies. The Greensboro sit ins lasted about 5 months and were done in various locations in the South. (http://bit.ly/1MP3Fql) -
James Meredith
James Meredith was the first African American to attend the All-Whites University of Mississippi. He was accepted into the college but was then later rejected when the registrar realized James' race. At this time, all public schools were unsegregated, so James filed a suit alleging discrimination. The court ruled against him. However, the case made it to the Supreme Court where it was ruled in James' favor. (http://bit.ly/1kM5U5i) -
Freedom Rides
Freedom Rides were launched by 13 African American and white civil rights activists. Freedom Rides was a series of trips to the American South to protest segregation is interstate bus terminals. The Freedom Riders were recruited by CORE and began from Washington D.C. to the deep South. The group encountered dangerous violence actions from white protesters but got the attention of many people around the world. (http://bit.ly/1vgaxE1) -
"Letter from Birmingham Jail"
A letter from Martin Luther King Jr. A letter that defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. This was written after MLK and many more civil rights protesters and activists were arrested. The letter was written as a response from criticism he would receive in news articles that were sneaked into for MLK himself. (http://bit.ly/1YSpCQ8) -
March on Washington
More than 200,000 people gathered around at Washington for a political rally known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was organized by many religious and civil rights groups to show the world the challenges African Americans faced during the Civil Rights Movement. The March on Washington was a key moment to the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans and Martin Luther King Jr. (http://bit.ly/1i6tu7Z) -
Bombing of Birmingham Church
Also called the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, was a bombing before Sunday service at this church. The church was predominately a black congregation that also served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls were killed, but many more were injured. Outrage caused protesters and police to fight which drew attention to the hard fought struggle for civil rights of African Americans. (http://bit.ly/1CwahtD) -
Civil Rights Act passed
The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 which ended all segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination. The act was first proposed by John F. Kennedy, but faced strong opposition. Kennedy's successor was the one to sign the act, Lyndon B. Johnson. After the act was signed, legislation aimed at bring more equality and freedom to African Americans in the United States. (http://bit.ly/1udSFsU) -
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
The 24th amendment was passed to help with the Voting Rights Act of African Americans. Legislation said that if they wanted to make this an amendment it had to be meaningful. The amendment outlawed the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections. Although it was a Constitutional Amendment, there were still 5 states that had a poll tax which still mostly affected African Americans. (http://bit.ly/QnfjlF) -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
A voter registration drive by the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Its purpose was to increase voters in Mississippi. Many black Mississippians in and out-of-state faces abuse from the white Mississippians. Many authorities and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) carried out various systematic series of violent attacks. (http://bit.ly/1jCdm18) -
Malcolm X Assassinated
Malcolm X was an African American Nationalist and religious leader. He was assassinated by Rival Black Muslims while he was addressing his organization. He was a civil rights activist who wanted liberation for all African Americans with "any means possible." His home was firebombed a week before he was assassinated by the rival Black Muslims. (http://bit.ly/1lATEnS) -
Selma to Montgomery March
This was a march when SCLC marched to the sate capital of Alabama so African Americans could get the Voting Rights Act approved. Protesters marching from Selma to Montgomery were met with violent resistance from both state and local authorities. They were protected from National Guard Troops and walked for three days to finally achieve their goal. The march helped to raise awareness to the issues African Americans faced to get their voting rights act approved.(http://bit.ly/1nGD5oz) -
Voting Rights Act approved
This was aimed to overcome legal barriers from state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting, even after having the 15th Amendment that stated that anybody could vote. Many civil rights activists faced much abuse for practicing their right to vote, especially in the South. A peaceful march to Montgomery of nonviolent protesters ended with violence from the officials. (http://bit.ly/1x2nE2e) -
Black Panthers
The Black Panthers was a political party to protect African Americans. The party was mostly in neighborhoods to protect African Americans who faced police abuse. They then became a Marxist group for the arming of all African Americans. The party set out to release African Americans from jail,the exception of the draft, and the payment of compensation of African Americans. The party reached up to 2,000 members and went on to be in many major cities. (http://bit.ly/2keqUUA) -
King Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. MLK was a civil rights activist leader who led many activities to help all African Americans and their Civil Rights. This angered many African Americans but sped up the process of helping African Americans obtain the rights they've longed for. James Earl Jay was the person who assassinated MLK, he was sentenced to jail for 99 years. (http://bit.ly/1v0B75e)
