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1954; Brown vs. Board of Education
This event is what has thought to be what sent the civil rights movement spiraling. This was a series of cases challenging school systems set out by the NAACP to test the problem of colored kids in school systems. This was considered the first step to having black and white children learning the same things out of the same classroom. This would mean the same education and same opportunity coming out of school. -
1955; Montgomery bus Boycott
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing o give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white person. The WPC with the help of other leaders in the black community launched a full out bus boycott to protest against her arrest and also to get some more riding privileges for black people in this time. This boycott lasted for over a year and included about 50,000 african american people in Montgomery. -
1957; Martin Luther King Jr. elected as president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was an organisation designed to provide new leadership for the burgeoning civil rights movement. This brought together the churches, students, and other nonviolent activists Martin Luther king continued o lead this group until he was assassinated in 1968. -
1960; Greensboro Sit In
This sit-in was used as a protest against racial segregation practiced by private sector in the 1960s. On the first of February, 1960 four african american students sat at the whites only lunch counter in the Woolworths store in Greensboro, NC. The four kids left the store after being refused service and requested the manager. This started a span of sit-ins all carried out by african american students. -
1961; Freedom rides
Freedom Rides were journeys made by Civil Rights activists to the Southern States. They were journeys made to test a Supreme Court decision. The first Freedom Ride, organised by the CORE, left Washington DC on May 4th 1961. One bus was firebombed, one group of riders attacked by the Ku Klux Klan and many by mobs in the cities they travelled to. On May 24th 300 riders to Jackson Mississippi were arrested and put in jail. -
1963; The letter from Birmingham Jail
During 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a party of civil rights groups aimed at Birmingham Alabama. At that time, this city was described as the most segregated in America. The police violence against these nonviolent protestors was displayed on the televisions of the nation leading to the outbreak of public outrage. It was during this campaign Martin Luther King Jr. created the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" -
1963; March on Washington
A quarter of a million people marched to the NAtional mall in Washington DC calling and protesting for jobs and freedom. This was the march the Martin Luther King announced his "I had a Dream" speech which consisted off him talking about setting forth a vision for society and kids. -
1964; Race Riots in Harlem
During this time racism had excluded black people from the voting booth and from accumulation, wealth, and resources. The federal government did turn its attention to economic issues with it’s "war on poverty" but programs like Head Start, Community Action Programs, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, were underfunded and met with resistance from blacks and whites from
the start. -
1964; Malcolm X and self defense
Malcolm X kind of went against Martin Luther kings thoughts on a nonviolent approach and said that the black community should try a violent approach and this is a perfect time to fight fire with fire. He says that "If a white man shoots a negro in Mississippi, we will shoot back" -
1968; The assassination of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, 1968. Riots broke out in black neighborhoods in more than 110 cities across the US in the days that followed. After his death, Martin Luther King's wife Coretta Scott King, officially founded the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change to continue his teachings and his campaigns for civil rights and social justice.
