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Lincoln "frees" the slaves in America
In 1865 the 13th Amendment (abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime put in place) but; the fact that it is only two sentences long highlights another widespread misunderstanding: the 13th Amendment speaks nothing about race or inequality other than prohibiting slavery. And Lincoln, for all his reputation as the Great Emancipator, had never responded to those worries. -
Jackie Robinson
The first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern period, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player. On April 15, 1947, Robinson began playing first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the color line in baseball. Robinson's signing by the Dodgers signaled the end of professional baseball's racial segregation, which had kept black players in separate leagues since the 1880s. -
"Separate but equal" = unconstitutional
"Separate but equal" was a legal doctrine in the United States that allowed for racial segregation facilities for different races, such as schools and public spaces. However, in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the court ruled that "separate but equal" was unconstitutional, as it violated the principle of equal protection under the law. Although this occurred not much changed, but nonetheless was a win for the African American community. -
Emmett Till's Murder
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African-American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi. Emmett Till was visiting family when he was accused of whistling at a white woman. The accusation led to his abduction and subsequent murder. The two men responsible for his death were acquitted by an all-white jury, sparking outrage and bringing national attention to the injustice faced by African Americans. -
Rosa Parks
When Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, she ignited the fight for racial equality. 17,000 African Americans began the Montgomery Bus Boycott on December 5, 1955, in response to Parks' incarceration. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycottt
The Montgomery bus boycott, which began with Rosa Parks's arrest on December 1, 1955, lasted for 13 months and culminated in a decision by the US Supreme Court declaring that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional -
Orval Faubus and The Guard
The night before the teenagers (Little Rock Nine) were scheduled to report to classes at Central High on September 2, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus issued an order for the state's National Guard to barricade their entry. Governor Faubus directly went against the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by defying the desegregation of schools. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law on September 9, 1957, marking the first significant civil rights bill passed since Reconstruction. It made it possible for anyone attempting to keep someone from voting to face federal prosecution. Additionally, a panel to look into voter fraud was established. -
Little Rock Nine- Eisenhower Steps in
President Dwight Eisenhower issued an executive order on September 23, 1957, directing federal forces to keep the peace and order during the Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas's integration. Due to Orval Faubus defying the law. -
Ernest Gideon Green
Ernest Gideon Green, the only senior of the Little Rock Nine, became the first black Central High graduate in 1958. After overcoming daily harassment, he attended Michigan State University and earned an MA in sociology. He worked as the director of the A. Philip Randolph Education Fund and later as Assistant Secretary of Labor. He is currently a Senior Managing Director at Lehman Brothers. He has held positions on several boards, including the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and NAACP. -
Sit-In at Woolworth's Lunch Counter
When four college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave a Woolworth's lunch counter without being served, they made a stand against segregation. Hundreds of people joined their cause over the following days, leading to what became known as the Greensboro sit-ins. Protesters boycotted all segregated lunch counters until the owners gave in and the four initial students were served at the Woolworth's lunch counter, where they had first stood their ground. -
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people traveled from all over the nation by automobile, bus, rail, and airplane to participate in the March on Washington to demonstrate in favor of African Americans' freedom and employment. This was the biggest human rights political demonstration in US history. The famous "I Have a Dream" speech was given by Dr. King on the Lincoln Memorial's steps. It is said that the March on Washington assisted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Civil Rights Act 1964
Discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is illegal according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This civil rights act's provisions prohibited hiring, promoting, and firing practices based on race and sex. -
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Chicago Freedom Movement
The Freedom Movement was founded in opposition to racialized employment and health inequities, inadequate education, and segregated housing. Numerous marches and boycotts were held. On August 5, 1966, King led a march in a white area. Firecrackers, bottles, and rocks were thrown at the marchers. King was one among the thirty injured. On August 26, 1966, following negotiations with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, led to public housing construction and mortgage accessibility. -
Voting Rights Act 1965
President Lyndon Johnson signed this act into law on August 6, 1965. It prohibited the prejudicial voting procedures that were implemented in numerous southern states following the Civil War, such as requiring literacy tests before one could cast a ballot. -
March Against Fear
James Meredith, who integrated the University of Mississippi in 1962, organized a march to raise awareness about African Americans' anxiety about voter registration. Despite being shot by a gunman, other leaders continued the cause. The 220-mile March Against Fear aimed to alleviate these concerns. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the leading civil rights organizations, attended the march to help lead. -
Shirley Chisholm
The first Black woman elected to Congress, Representative Shirley Chisholm of New York, takes the oath of office. She founded the Women's Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus, served seven terms, and became the first Black woman to run for president in a major party in 1972.
“The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it," Chisholm wrote in 1973. -
The First National Black Political Convention
Convention held in Indiana, the group's founding document opens with these words: "The Black Agenda is addressed primarily to Black people in America. It rises naturally out of the bloody decades and centuries of our people’s struggle on these shores. It flows from the most recent surgeries of our own cultural and political consciousness. We attempt to define some of the essential changes which must take place in this land as we and our children move to self-determination and true independence." -
First African America in Space
Col. Guion “Guy” Bluford, Jr. becomes the first Black American to visit space as part of the Challenger Space Shuttle crew. A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, he served as a flight engineer and mission specialist and returned to space three more times and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to travel into space at the age of 36. On the flight, Dr. Jemison served as the science mission specialist. She carried out material science and biological science experiments during the shuttle mission, and she co-investigated the bone cell research experiment. -
Election of Barack Obama
In 2008, fifty years after the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans felt a renewed feeling of hope with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. His triumphal address moved many to tears, making him the first African American to occupy the nation's top office. -
Start of BLM (Black Lives Matter)
Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager, was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012. The incident sparked the formation of Black Lives Matter (BLM), a movement aimed at combating racial injustice and inequality, highlighting the issues in the American justice system and patterns of racism. BLM fosters goodwill between police officers and communities through social gatherings and conversation, aiming to establish a network that is too big to ignore and bring about change. -
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris becomes the first Black and South Asian American woman to hold the office when she is sworn in as the nation's first female vice president. She was the first Black woman to serve as attorney general of California and the second Black woman to hold the position of U.S. senator. Her parents are immigrants, coming from India and Jamaica.