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Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a 1954 Supreme Court case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. It challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine from the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The Court ruled that segregated schools created a sense of inferiority among African American children, making them inherently unequal. This landmark decision helped to pave the way for the Civil Rights Movement and the desegregation of public institutions in the U.S. -
Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott
In 1955, Rosa Parks, a Black woman, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a year-long protest led by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The boycott successfully challenged segregation on public buses, leading to a Supreme Court ruling that declared bus segregation unconstitutional. Parks’ courageous act became a key moment in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old Black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of flirting with a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. He was brutally beaten, murdered, and thrown into a river. His mother held an open-casket funeral to show the world the horrors of racism. Despite clear evidence, an all-white jury acquitted the two white men responsible for his death. Till's murder and the trial sparked outrage and helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr., was a key civil rights organization that advocated for nonviolent protest to end racial segregation and injustice. It played a central role in major movements like the 1963 March on Washington. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, following the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. Their brave actions faced violent resistance but were pivotal in the fight for desegregation in U.S. schools. -
Greensboro Sit ins
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, following the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. Their brave actions faced violent resistance but were pivotal in the fight for desegregation in U.S. schools. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges is an African American civil rights activist who, at age 6 in 1960, became the first Black student to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South, at William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans. Her courage helped challenge segregation in education. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who, in 1961, rode interstate buses into the segregated South to challenge bus segregation. They faced violence and arrest but their actions brought national attention to racial injustice and helped desegregate public transportation. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in 1963, where over 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand racial equality, economic justice, and civil rights. It’s famously known for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement -
Civil Rights Act (1964) 4
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended segregation in public places, banned employment discrimination, and strengthened the federal government's ability to enforce civil rights laws. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, a prominent African American civil rights leader, was assassinated on February 21, 1965, while speaking at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was shot by members of the Nation of Islam, a group he had once been part of but later left due to differences. His death marked a significant loss in the struggle for racial justice. -
Selma to Montgomery Marches (Bloody Sunday)
The Selma to Montgomery Marches were a series of protests in 1965 aimed at securing voting rights for African Americans in Alabama. On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, state troopers brutally attacked marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This sparked national outrage, leading to the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act (1965)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a key civil rights law that aimed to eliminate racial discrimination in voting. It banned literacy tests and other discriminatory practices, and provided federal oversight in areas with a history of voter suppression, significantly increasing African American voter registration and participation. -
Assassaination of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. His death shocked the nation and marked a tragic moment in the Civil Rights Movement. King was a leading figure in advocating for nonviolent protest to end racial segregation and injustice.