Civil Rights Movement

  • Brown vs. Board of Education

    The court case Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that segregation in public schools is illegal because it violated the 14th admendment. Many white georgians didn't want blacks to be in the same school as them, so they kept segregating schools because there wasn't a time table.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    The movement started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Black leaders started asking people to boycott the buses since they were 75 percent of the passengers. In June 1956, the court ruled that segregation in buses violated the 14th admendment, so segregation on buses were illegal. The movement lasted 381 days.
  • Woolsworth Sit-ins

    4 black men did the first sit-in at Woolworth, and they refused to give up their seat until the store closed. THe police came, but they didn't arrest them. The next day, more students joined the sit-ins until 300 students sat at the counters. The sit-ins spread to 55 cities, and in the summer of 1960, dining halls across the South integrated blacks and whites.
  • Freedom Rides

    THe Freedom Rides were started by CORE, and 13 African Americans and 6 whites rode a bus to New Orleans, and when they stopped for a break, they used mostly white only places. Angry mobs waited for them, and they attacked them with bombs and metal pipes. Many were arrested, so more people joined to help the cause. Later, The Interstate Commerce Comission prohibited segregation in interstate transit terminals.
  • Albany movement

    Albany movement
    The Albany movement consisted of hundreds of black protestors and white police. MLKJ was the leader chosen by the SNCC to keep the momentum to challenge segregation. Thousands of protestor were arrested by Laurie Pritchett who didn't use brutality against them. MLKJ soon ran out of people, and after he was arrested, he was released against their will. MLKJ thought that the movement was a failure because he was released and the police didn't use violence, but the movement was a success later.
  • Project C

    The Burmingham Campaign aka Project C were series of protests. Many were arrested including MLKJ, and when he was in jail he wrote the "Letter from Burmingham Jail. These protests were reponded with violence from the white supremicist, and the Klu Klux Klan bombed a church and killed 4 girls. Negotiators came to a compromise with King to desegregate lunch counters, remove all white only and colored only signs, and boost up black employment.
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    200 thousand blacks and whites gathered at Washington for the most successful protest. MLKJ and other poeple had amazing speeches and performances, but the most known was the "I have a dream speech". It called for the end of racial injustice in social and political life.
  • Selma to Montgomery Marches

    MLKJ led thousands of demonstraters to Montgomery with the SNCC and SCLC. The 54 mile march was stopped with mass arrest, but police brutality increased as time progresses. Televisions broadcasted "Bloody Sunday" in response to the violence of the police. People were shot and beat up. King gathered more people for a no-violent protest, and later on, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in front of them.
  • Memphis Sanitation Strike

    Memphis Sanitation Strike
    After 2 blacks were crushed by a malfunctioning waste truck, Sanition workers decided to strike because of the poor working conditions. Police used tear gas on the demonstrators, and after that more people like college students and high school students started to join. Over 100 hundred people were arrested, and some wear even killed or beat up. MLKJ came into Memphis late to see the chaos, and the next day, he was assassinated.
  • Race Riot in Augusta

    Race Riot in Augusta
    After the mysterious death of a mental and handicapped black named Charles Oatman in prison which the police said to be caused by falling of his bed, the tension between blacks and the police grew. Blacks were burning and destroying property, so Governor Lester Maddox ordered the police to kill the protestors. Many of the balcks were unarmed, but the police killed 6 people and arrested over 300 blacks.