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Malcolm X
Born in 1925 as Malcolm Little, Malcolm X changed his name in order to "signify his rejection of his "slave" name." He went against Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideas about nonviolence in that he urged his followers to protect themselves "by any means necessary." He was the leader of the Nation os Islam and encouraged young blacks to seek confidence in America. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till, a 14-year old African-American boy, was visiting his family in Mississippi in August 1955. After being accused of harassing a white woman, the relatives of the woman kidnapped Till and beat him until death. The nation was shocked; the murder of this black boy only added to the already emerging civil rights movement. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
In Montgomery, Alabama, African Americans refused to ride city buses in order to protest segregated seating. This happened four days after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. Finally on June 5,1956, a Montgomery federal court ruled that separating seating by color violates the 14th Amendment. -
Little Rock 9
On this day, nine black students arrived at a all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. However, the Arkansas National Guard stopped any of the nine kids from entering the school. This brought much controversy for Little Rock. President Eisenhower sent 1,200 members of the U.S. Army to Little Rock and placed them in charge of the 10,000 National Guardsmen. September 25th marked the Little Rock Nine's first full day of classes as they were escorted in by the troops. -
Youth Movement: Sit-Ins
In Greensboro, North Carolina, four African-American college students sat at a whites-only lunch counter. Even though they were refused service, they sat patiently. Threats were shouted at them but they still sat quietly. This is when "the civil rights sit-in was born." -
Youth Movement: SNCC
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was formed founded by the leaders of the Sit-In protests. Ella Baker, a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People official, helped set up a meeting in North Carolina to help support the Sit-In Movement. -
Freedom Riders
13 African-American and white civil rights activists created the Freedom Rides, which were "a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals." They started from Washington, D.C. and planned to end all the way into the Deep South. Along the way they faced violence from white protestors. Finally in September 1961, "the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in bus and train stations nationwide." -
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James Meredith and Ole Miss
James was an African-American man who attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi because of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case which declared "that racial segregation in educational and other facilities violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." This led to riots which ended in 2 dead, hundreds wounded, and many more arrested. After the federal government intervened, James was admitted to the university. -
Project C
Project C(which stood for Confrontation) was a nonviolent campaign against city segregation ordinances. Actions included boycotting stores, sit-ins, and marches. -
The Philosophy of Non-Violence: Letters From a Birmingham Jail
This open letter written by Martin Luther King, Jr., states that people have the responsibility to take direct action on unjust laws in a peaceful manner. He believes that nonviolent actions are an option to end racism instead of simply waiting for the courts to deliver justice. -
Children's March
Because Project C wasn't getting the national attention that they wanted, they used children in the protests. 1,000 African-American children took a day off from school and participated in the protests. They got knocked down by the spray from fire hoses and attacked by dogs. This got them the attention of the country. -
March on Washington
A rally for political and social challenges that African Americans faced was organized in Washington, D.C. 200,000+ Americans gathered here.This helped sparked Marin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. -
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Freedom Summer
Over a thousand white college students worked with the Black community in Mississippi for a voter registration drive even thought they faced many violent attacks from the KKK and even the police and government. They did this because "in 1962, less than 7 percent of the state's(Mississippi) eligible black voters were registered to vote." -
Civil Rights Act
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This was one of the most important civil rights laws because it made discrimination illegal, ended segregation based on race, and protected the voting rights of women. -
Selma to Montgomery March
In Selma, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference wanted to register black voters. On March 25th, 1965, their goal was to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. When they were on their way, they were resisted with violence by state and local authorities. However, they finally succeeded and walked for three days until they arrived at Montgomery. This march helped raise awareness of the challenges that the black voters in the South faced. -
Voting Rights Act
Signed by President Lyndon Johnson, this act called for the right to vote, regardless of race or color. 250,000 black voters had already been registered by the end of 1965.
