-
Brown v Board of Education
Brown v Board was the Supreme Court case that ended segregation. Although it changed the course of history, it was not a simple nor quick decision. White people did not want their children attending school with black people; as a result violence and riots broke out, with some schools closing so as to stop desegregation in schools. -
Lynching of Emmet Till
Emmet Till was a 14 year old boy on vacation in Mississippi. He was kidnapped, beaten, shot and drowned by Roy Bryant and JW Milan because a white woman accused him of whistling at her. Roy and JW were guilty, but not charged. Maime Till, Emmet Till’s mother, chose to have an open casket funeral for her son. Many people saw a picture of her son’s disfigured body and were outraged. This was the spark of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Little Rock Nine
Three years after Brown v Board of Education, the first high school in the south voted to integrate. Little Rock Central High School allowed, but did not welcome, nine black students to attend their high school. On the first day, they weren’t even allowed inside the school, as the governor of Arkansas sent the National Guard to block their entrance. It wasn’t until President Eisenhower sent the National Guard to protect these students that they atttended school regularly. -
Rosa Parks ignites Montgomery Bus Boycott
Like everything else in America during Jim Crow, buses were segregated. Black people were to stand to allow white people to sit. Rosa Parks decided to take a stand and refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested as a result. Outrage spread throughout the city and 40,000 people boycotted the Montgomery bus system until the city changed its bus segregation laws. On December 21, 1956, after 381 days, Montgomery’s buses were desegregated. -
Southern Cristian Leadership Conference
This organization was formed to organize people to protest throughout the South after the Montgomery bus boycott. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the first president of the organization. This organization played a key role in many peaceful protests like the March on Washington and the Selma Voting Rights Campaign. -
Greensboro Sit-Ins
4 college students sparked a movement of peaceful protests against segregation. It started at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The men sat in a place where only white people were allowed to sit. The staff refused to serve the college students. The men continued to come in and “sit-in” and their actions inspired peaceful protests throughout the country for years to come. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
This organization stemmed from the Greensboro Sit-Ins, also organized by students. It was an integral (no pun intended) part of getting young black people to lead. 200 students from Shaw university attended the first conference. -
Freedom Riders
A group of college students rode an integrated bus from Fisk University to the Deep South. They did this to deliberately violate the Jim Crow Laws. They suffered immense violence and some even death. -
March on Washington
Martin Kuther Kinb Jr. gave his historic “I Have A Dream” speech To 250,000 people at the March on Washington. People marched for job equality and freedom. It was organized by the SCLC and NAACP. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This Act passed because of the years of work and organization from black people and allies. It outlawed the discrimination of someone based on their race, nationality, or sex. It also desegregated public spaces. -
March on Selma
These were 3 different marches that took place on a 54-mile stretch of highway in Alabama. Many protestors were attacked by state troopers on Bloody Sunday, a day full of violence from an otherwise peaceful protest. This March led to the passing of Voting Rights Act later on. -
Voting Rights Act 1965
This was a pivotal law that outlawed discriminatory voting practices like reading tests and poll taxes. These practices directly hindered black folks from the democratic right to vote. However, there are still issues like poll locations and strategic district-making still affect minorities’ right to vote.