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Brown v. The Board of Education
The Supreme Court had handed down its unanimous decision, which put an end to the "separate but equal" facilities which did not allow African-Americans, as they were now seen as unequal as it was against the 14th amendment. This decision helped to "break the back" of state sponsored segregation.
A video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Pe3BTa1O8 -
The Death of Emmett Till
14-year old Emmett Till, while visiting his family in Money, Mississippi, was brutally murdered for flirting with a white women as a black person 4 days earlier. The murder was done by the women's husband and brother. Till was made to carry a 75-pound cotton-gin fan to Tallahatchie River where he was stripped down and beaten close to death. They then gouged both his eyes out, and threw him in the river. Till's mother insisted on an open casket funeral, to show the world what had happened to him. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The event in which Rosa Parks, a black women, refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on a bus (which was what was expected at the time). She was later arrested and fined. Around 4 days later, from December 5th, 1955 to December 20th,1956, it was recorded as the first large-scale protest against segregation in the US, as African-Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama to stand up to their segregated seating. -
Southern Christen Leadership Conference
The Southern Christen Leadership Conference was formed just after the Montgomery Bus Boycott had ended, with the main aim to advance the civil rights in America in a non-violent manner. The conference brought together various types of civil rights organisations and put them under one organisation. The SCLC had 3 basic wants, which all related to giving power to the black members of America to get their rights, as well as stressing the importance of doing so in a non-violent manner. -
The Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders consisted originally of 13 African-American as well as white civil rights activists. They took a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals to which they were met with violence from many white protesters. However, they also drew international attention to their cause and over the next few months, several hundred freedom riders were spawned, and engaged in similar actions. On September 1961, they achieved their goal. -
The March on Washington
The March on Washington was an event in which over 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington D.C. for a political rally for jobs and equality. The event was designed to shed light on political and social difficulties that African-American faced across the country and soon became a key part of the Civil rights movement and is highly remembered for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. This was seen as a turning point for the movement
A video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wDU-oYQN04 -
Malcolm X's The Ballot or the Bullet Speech
The Ballot or the Bullet speech was around the beginning in which civil rights activists started to become violent, despite the original non-violent protest. It was said that: "‘non-violence won’t work in
Mississippi…we made up our minds. That if a white man shoots at a Negro in Mississippi, we will shoot back". This demonstrated to White America that either African-Americans would get their rights and equality, or violence would respond. -
The Civil Rights Act
This act ended the segregation of other races as well as banned employment discrimination on the basis of things such as race, colour, religion, gender and national origin. This act was first proposed by John F. Kennedy himself, and survived many oppositions from southern members of congress. It was later signed into law by Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. -
The Voting Rights Act
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson aimed to overcome legal barriers at both the state and local levels, which prevented African-American's from voting, under the 15th Amendment. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on the 4th of April, 1968, which caused shock around the entire nation. The death of Martin Luther King Jr. caused to an eruption of anger among African Americans, as well a a period of national mourning, which helped to speed up the final legislative achievement in the Civil rights era: The Equal Housing Bill.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr/videos/history-of-the-holidays-martin-luther-king-jr-day -
The Fair Housing Act
Signed into law as a somewhat follow up of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination of the sale, rental and financing of housing based or race, religion, national origin and gender. This bill was subject to heavy debate in the Senate, but was passed quickly in the House of Representatives, just days after the assassination of the leader of the civil rights movement, MLK. This act stands as the final great legislative achievement of the Civil rights era.