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Brown v Board of Education
This was the revolutionary decision made by the Supreme Court which in all, stated that schools should be desegregated. This was momentous because it proved that the ruling made for Plessy vs Ferguson, "separate but equal" actually didn't apply and that separating kids was unfair and not enriching. The only holdback is that desegregation in schooling was said to be done at 'deliberate speed' which would be slower for more southern states. -
Emmett Till Murder
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy who was visiting his family one summer in Mississippi from Chicago who was accused of whistling to a white woman. Two white men then went after him at night and lynched him, they were later found not guilty of their crimes. His mother held his funeral open-casket to display to the country and media the terrors African-Americans even children faced in the South. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
The Montgomery Bus Boycotts were sparked when Rosa Parks, Secretary of the NAACP was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white man. This arrest prompted for a year long boycott on the buses in Montgomery Alabama by the black population. This protest truly showed how a community could come together to display unity in a cause they believed in; desegregation on public transport. The bus companies lost a lot of money from these boycotts which prompted the de-segregation of the buses. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine intelligent African-American students who intended to attend Little Rock Central HighSchool in Little Rock, Arkansas. This came as schools were beginning to be integrated but Arkansas being a more Southern State was against this and would bring out their guard to prevent the children from entering the school. Eventually, mobs of angry white individuals would gather around the school protesting in anger at the integration. -
Lunch Counter sit-ins
The Lunch counter sit-ins began when a group of college students from North Carolina A&T university began to sit in at 'whites only' lunch counters which upset many. They were also a part of SNCC and would often get condiments thrown at them and upset other white customers and store owners because many white people wouldn't want to eat at an integrated lunch counter so store owners lost money. -
Freedom Bus Rides
The Freedom Bus rides were a group of African American and white men and women who rode Greyhound Buses along the Interstate throughout the South. Although buses were de-segregated bus stops weren't so they worked on these stops becoming de-segregated. They were met with mobs and even beaten by police because the opposite race would go into the other races restroom. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a march to the capital of over 200,000 demonstrators rallying for freedom, bringing attention to the discrimination against African Americans as well as employment discrimination. This march is forever marked by Martin Luther King's famous 'I have a Dream' speech where he speaks about unity between the Black and white race. -
Birmingham Protests
The Birmingham Protests were organized by the SCLC in order to win integration in Birmingham, especially the downtown areas. This was more of a media capture which displayed images of young children being firehosed by the police department. Many adults were being arrested and eventually MLK was arrested as well where he wrote his famous "letter from a birmingham jail". -
Freedom (Mississippi) Summer
Freedom Summer was a voter drive which resulted from intimidation and unfair restrictions on African American Voting. Many faced poll taxes and literacy taxes and wanted to protest the discrimination and hold-back they had on voting. Media played a large part in this protest because many members of the KKK and other oppressive groups would beat and harrass the protestors and this contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Civil Rights Act 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by Congress and prohibits discrimination by race, sex. This passage was revolutionary however many other aspects had to come to be resolved such as voting rights. -
Selma Marches
The Selma Marches consisted of various marches to protest voting rights for African Americans. They spanned from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for a 54 mile long march lead by MLK. Many of the marchers were met with tear gas from police officers and this was also a key component in the media to show the struggles African Americans had to prosper through. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited the usage of poll taxes and literacy taxes at the polls which prevented African Americans from having the ability to vote. It also allowed for protective measures with federal voting officers watching the polls to prevent a violent outburst or prevention on African American voters.