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A. Philip Randolph leads the Washington March
Well-known African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph suggested a march to show disapproval of racial discrimination in the military and the war industries. As a result of this campaign, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, prohibiting unlawful hiring practices by all unions, businesses, and government organizations involved in wartime activities. Although the march did not occur, it set the stage for future mass demonstrations. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 381 days, was started by Rosa Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other local leaders led the boycott, which resulted in the Supreme Court declaring that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional. This historic ruling marked a major protest against segregation and elevated Dr. King to a position of national importance. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
After the victory of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King and other leaders in the civil rights movement established the SCLC to advance the nonviolent civil rights movement. To advance the use of nonviolent resistance to achieve social justice and equality, the organization attempted to plan, organize, and support local demonstrations and projects throughout the South. -
Greensboro sit-in
Four African American students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to get up when they faced discrimination. Because of their actions, lunch counters were segregated in many places, and thousands of students participated in a wave of sit-ins that spread throughout the South. The Greensboro sit-ins served as an example of the power of direct action and grassroots organizing. -
Freedom Rides
With Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee support, the Congress of Racial Equality multiracial activists entered the segregated South on interstate buses to challenge decisions made by the Supreme Court regarding bus segregation. Their bravery gained national attention and resulted in the federal government implementing desegregation in interstate travel, despite them suffering vicious attacks like beatings and firebombings. -
The Albany Movement
Local activists in Albany, Georgia, including members of the SNCC, started a campaign to desegregate travel facilities. Despite massive arrests and limited immediate progress, the movement organized a multiracial committee to talk about additional desegregation and demanded the release of demonstrators who had been arrested. Significant concepts about coordinated leadership and strategic planning for civil rights initiatives were learned from the Albany Movement. -
The Birmingham Campaign
To remove segregation in public and private spaces, Dr. King, SCLC, and local activists held nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. Commissioner Bull Connor violently used police force against the movement, which included marches, sit-ins, and boycotts. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was influenced by the nation's outrage when images of police dogs and fire hoses being used against peaceful protestors shocked the country. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
One of the biggest political demonstrations for human rights in American history gathered over 250,000 participants to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Leading figures and musicians gave remarks and performed at the event, which ended in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" address. This powerful address, which highlighted the importance of racial fairness and equality, turned into a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was made illegal by this historic law. A significant win for the civil rights movement, it put a stop to workplace discrimination and segregation in public areas. It was the result of years of action and struggle. -
Selma to Montgomery marches
The three protest marches, which took place in 1965 and are known as the Selma to Montgomery Marches, represented the emotional and political peak of the American civil rights movement. The first march, called "Bloody Sunday," saw state troopers in Selma, Alabama, violently beat nonviolent protesters as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Public opinion was influenced by the violence, which strengthened support for the civil rights movement. As a result, The 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed -
Voting Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into legislation. The purpose of this law was to remove state and local legal restrictions that kept African Americans from expressing their right to vote. It abolished racial discrimination in voting, doing away with practices like literacy tests and poll taxes, and greatly boosted African American voter registration and turnout. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
While supporting a sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. His passing tragically changed the course of the civil rights movement and caused widespread riots in American cities. Dr. King's impact continued in influencing the fight for justice and racial equality.