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Brown v. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Overturning “separate but equal” by stating it was an unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing citizens with “equal protection of the law” -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The boycott was born after Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. proposed a citywide boycott against racial segregation on the public transportation system, which continued for 381 days. Rosa Parks quote: “I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” -
Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students integrated Central High School in 1957. The Arkansas governor opposed them, but President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce desegregation and protect them. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The first act protected African Americans’ right to vote and created a commission to investigate voter fraud. -
Nashville Sit-ins
Groups of Black students attending college in Nashville, Tennessee, coordinated a series of protests against segregated lunch counters. Some closed their businesses rather than serve Black students. -
Sit-In at Woolworth's Lunch Counter
Four Black college students refused to leave Woolworth’s lunch counter without being served and hundreds of Black Americans joined the protest in the following days. This later led to a boycott of many segregated lunch counters in the area. -
Freedom Riders
White and African American student activists rode buses and stirred up chaos in the Southern states by sitting in "white-only" areas on buses and in bus terminals. They were met with violence and arrests from white supremacists. -
March on Washington
Protest against civil rights abuses and employment discrimination. 250,000 individuals gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to listen to speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. -
Segregation Laws Map
This map shows the Civic Rights Movement continued throughout America, as the laws began to get lifted in the Midwest. However, segregation is still shown to be prominent in the South, where the movement mainly takes place. -
Bloody Sunday
600 activists marched from Selma to Montgomery to protest the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson and to encourage the enforcement of the 15th Amendment. As the protesters neared the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met with unparalleled violence from the Alabama police for refusing to stand down. -
Poor People’s Campaign
50,000 demonstrators, led by Ralph Abernathy, marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. 5 days after the march, authorities closed Resurrection City and 100+ residents were arrested when they refused to leave the site and arrested during a demonstration in the U.S. Capitol. -
First African American President of a White University
Dr. Clifton Wharton Jr. was appointed as the president of Michigan State University, a predominantly White university. Additionally, he was the first African American to be admitted into the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. -
First African American Congressional Representatives
Barbara Jordan and Andrew Young became the first African American Congressional representatives from the South since 1898. Young is also the first Black U.S. congressman from Georgia since Reconstruction -
National Black Feminist Organization
Florynce Kennedy and Margaret Sloan-Hunter founded the National Black Feminist Organization and has the purpose of addressing problems of discrimination faced by Black women. -
First National Celebration of Black History Month
In February 1976, Black History Month was officially recognised across the United States to honour African American history and culture, building on Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s 1926 creation of “Negro History Week” and expanding it into a month-long celebration timed with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. -
University of California Regents v. Bakke
Declared that race can be one of the several determining factors in college admission policies and addressed the discrimination faced during the admissions
“Title VI proscribes only those racial classifications that would violate the Equal Protection Clause if employed by a state or its agencies” (Justice Lewis Powell). -
Rally at the National Mall
An event, organized by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, included a day full of speeches that addressed racism and issues within the Black community -
First Black President of the United States
In 2008, Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African American President of the United States. His election was a major milestone in America’s journey toward racial equality and inspired millions around the world. Obama was born in Hawaii and raised in a multicultural family. He studied at Columbia University and later graduated from Harvard Law School, where he became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review -
Charleston Church Shooting
Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, carried out a racially motivated mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina—one of the oldest Black churches in the U.S.—killing nine innocent Black church members during Bible study; his actions, which were rooted in hatred and influenced by white nationalist beliefs, shocked the nation, led to his conviction, sparking intense national discussions about racism and gun violence -
Global Black Lives Matter Protests After George Floyd's Death
George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020, in the U.S. sparked the largest wave of racial justice protests since the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring millions across the world—including the UK—to march against systemic racism, police brutality, and the historical legacy of oppression. -
Kentanji Brown Jackson Becomes First Black Woman on U.S. Supreme Court
In 2022, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as the first Black woman nominated and confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, bringing with her a powerful voice shaped by experience as a public defender, federal judge, and champion of civil rights, with a background deeply rooted in advocacy for equal justice and fair sentencing.