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Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a prominent civil rights activists as well as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and '60s. In contrast to MLK's philosophy, he urged his followers to defend themselves against white aggression by "any means necessary", meaning the use of violence. He was assassinated in 1965 at a rally in Washington heights. -
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Civil Rights Movement
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Emmett Till
Emmitt Till was a 14 year old African American boy visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, when he was reportedly caught flirting with Carolyn Bryant, a white, female clerk inside of Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market. Four days later, Carolyn's husband and his half brother J.W. Milam, kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him. They were tried for murder but ultimately were acquitted by an all white, male jury. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was sparked by Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on the Montgomery Bus and was later arrested and fined. This led African Americans to protest against segregated seating by refusing to ride Montgomery buses for 381 days. This resulted in the Supreme Court decision to integrate the Montgomery bus system. -
Little Rock 9
9 students enrolled at a formally all- white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas to test the Supreme Court decision declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On the first day of school at Central High, the Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, called in the state national guard to bar the black student's entry into the school. Later that month, President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the “Little Rock Nine” into the school. -
Youth Movement: SNCC and Sit-Ins
The youth were a key group in the Civil Rights Movement. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was created to give young African Americans a voice and the committee advocated Dr. King's nonviolence philosophy. One way of nonviolent protesting were sit- ins, in which African Americans would peacefully sit in "white-only" restaurants, churches, etc. hoping to end segregation. -
Freedom Riders
A group of 13 African American and white civil rights activists were recruited by a civil rights group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Their goal was to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals and they launched a series of Bus Trips (Freedom Rides) into the south to integrate facilities at bus terminals. Blacks would use "white- only" restrooms and whites would use "black-only" restrooms, which sparked outrage among many people. -
James Meredith and Ole Miss
In 1962, an Africa American named James Meredith attempted to apply to the segregated University of Mississippi. This caused riots to break out on the Ole Miss campus, resulting in the deaths of two students and hundreds injured. Finally, with the support of the Kennedy Administration, Meredith was enrolled into the University. -
The Philosophy of Non- Violence: Letters From a Birmingham Jail
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail because he was protesting in Birmingham. King then wrote a series of letters that advocated the use nonviolence to achieve racial justice. These letters became widely published and were an important text in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Project C and Children’s March
Project C, more commonly known as the Birmingham Campaign, was a series of lunch counter sit-ins, marches on city hall, and boycotts on merchants to protest segregation laws in Birmingham, Alabama. The peaceful protests were met with violent attacks including high pressure fire hoses and police dogs on men, women and children. Thousands of children that were peacefully protesting in the Children's march were met with violence such as being hit with batons, powerful hoses, and threats from dogs. -
March on Washington
On August 28th, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans peacefully marched through Washington D.C. to advocate jobs and freedom. The purpose of the march was to shed light on the challenges that African Americans faced around the country. This was also when MLK gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which was a key moment in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Freedom Summer
In the summer of 1964, several Civil Rights organizations organized a voter registration drive, known as the Mississippi Summer Project. The goal was to increase voter registration for black African Americans in Mississippi. However, the volunteers faced extreme harassment from the white population and the KKK, police, and local authorities carried out several violent acts including arson, beatings, false arrests, and the murders of Civil Rights Activists. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This act was first proposed by JFK, and faced strong opposition from southern members of congress. However, it was finally signed into law by president LBJ and was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Selma to Montgomery March
Even after the Civil Rights 1964 forbade discrimination of voting based on race, African Americans were still faced with fierce discrimination. Early in 1965, over 2,000 activists advocating their right to vote, marched 54 miles, from Selma to Montgomery. After marching for 12 days, they arrived in Montgomery where MLK gave a speech. -
Voting Rights Act
Signed into law by President LBJ, this act prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Its purpose was to overcome legal barriers that were in place on state and local levels that prevented African Americans from being able to vote. While in some cases, the state and local authorities completely ignored the law, it gave African Americans legal means to stand up for their rights.
