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Emmet Till Murder
On the day of August 28th, 1955 Emmett Till was accused of whistling at a grocery clerk. The clerk later informed her husband about it and he and his half brother kidnapped Till from his home and mutilated him. He was later shot in the head and thrown into the Tallahatchie river. He was found three days later. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was later arrested, fined, and charged with failing to yield her bus seat to a white man. Buses were designed for colored people to sit in the back while the whites got the front of the bus, but Parks had had enough. Her and the driver of the bus had had incidents before this one, so when he asked her to move from her seat so the man could sit there she completely ignored his request. -
Little Rock Central High School Integration
It was the day of September 3rd, 1957 and nine colored black students had recently enrolled at the school of Little Rock which was an all white school. It was the students first day at their new school, but unfortunately they were unable to even get through the front doors. This was because the school had informed the Arkansas National guard to keep the students out of the school. Later in the Month president Eisenhower sent federal troops to the school to escort the children to class. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was held on August 28th, 1963. Both blacks and whites attended the event and after the march nearly two-hundred thousand gathered for music and speeches. Martin Luther was the last speaker of the day and gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. His speech reached all the news headlines and showed America that we were stronger than the hate that surrounded us. -
Birmingham Bombing
On the morning of September 15th, 1963 a group of colored people gathered for Sunday morning services, but this morning was going to be one of the biggest turning points in the civil rights movement. Four men who were suspected to be involved in the Klu Klutz Klan had planted a bomb in the church and waited for for services to just about begin and detonated the bomb killing four girls and injuring many others.This sparked tragedy around the nation causing a setback for the civil rights movement. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2nd, 1963 which made it illegal to judge based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The act was originally introduced by the former president, Jonn Kennedy, but after his assassination Johnson picked up on the idea and put it into place. The colored Americans were happy to see this bill passed, but it did not help completely. Black Americans were
still mistreated and not viewed as equals. -
Race riots of 1964
A six day period of rioting started on July 18th, 1964 after a black teenager was shot by an off duty police officer. This caused tension all over the nation including New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Los Angeles. After all the dust had settled one more person had been killed while protesting, one-hundred had been hurt and nearly four-hundred fifty had been arrested. Martin Luther spoke out after the protests saying that this is exactly what we do not need if we want equal rights. -
Watts Riots
On August 11, 1964 the Watts Riot began, it lasted until August 6th. This was caused because of a drunk driver who was pulled over by a police man and abused which caused a big up roar. This mistake by the officer would end up costing the city of Los Angeles forty-million dollars. His abusive arrest also caused thirty-four people to die, one-thousand and thirty-two to be injured, and over four-thousand to be arrested. This was a costly mistake knowing that it could have be avoided with peace. -
Martin Luther wins Noble Peace Prize
On October 4th, 1964 Martin Luther was awarded the Noble Peace Prize. He was awarded this prize because of his excellence in guiding the civil rights act in the right direction. He was also the youngest person to be presented with award. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is Assassinated
On April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther was shot by James Ray. The Civil Rights leader was at a convention in Memphis, Tennessee when he was struck in the jaw by a high powered sniper rifle which hit his spinal cord in the process and he was pronounced dead when he arrived at Memphis hospital. As for the man who shot King, he was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison without the chance of parole. This was a trememdous loss for our nation especially since laws were being passed for equal rights.
