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Rosa Parks refuses to give seat
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not sitting at the back of the bus and not giving up her seat for a white person. This event was able to help change the mindset of many other black people in the United States. Many more people decided to follow her by doing the same thing and it would soon get out of hand. This caused a change so you could sit anywhere on the bus.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Civil Right Leader Killed
A civil rights leader by the name of Medgar Evans was killed when he was coming home from work and a bullet hit him in the back. This was thought to be the doing of some white group that did not like the new laws that made it bad to be discriminatory towards people of the opposite race.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Freedom to travel
For decades blacks have had to ride separate buses and trains. Even on their own buses, they were forced to sit in the back. This began the change the lives of many African Americans in the United States. This was able to give the blacks the ability to be able to sit where they wanted in buses now instead of sitting at the back. One person who started this change is Rosa Parks.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Freedom Riders
A group of black and white males took their motorcycles down to the Jim Crow south. They attempted to use white-only bathrooms, waiting rooms, and restaurants. This caused many of the whites who were not a part of this group to get very upset about what they were doing and how some of their own kind were helping them do it.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement -
March On Washington
An American activist by the name of A. Philip Randolph was going to do a march on Washington which he thought would help in the fight for black people's rights. He wanted this march to demand jobs for African Americans, but it was soon called off because PDR agreed to ban the discrimination.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Martin Luther Speech
Martin Luther King gave his speech on August 13, 1963, which would change the lives of black people around the United States. His speech was trying to tell people that there should be equality in this country and that all the economic and employment jobs were to be available for everyone. This soon was able to change the law and make whites and blacks equal.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Civil Rights Act
This act was introduced by JFK before he was assassinated and was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. This was a big turning point for the black community because this was able to stop discrimination based on race or color.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Voting Rights Act
With the passing of this bill gave the black community a big jump that they probably thought might have never happened before. When this bill was passed to become a law, it gave the people in the black community the ability to vote and it would be a full vote instead of just the below 1 vote that they had before.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Bloody Sunday
This event is when some British paratroopers fired at some people and the civil rights supporters were very mad because of this. Even though this does not connect directly with the black community, it shows that some of the people are fighting to keep those laws/rights in place.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1960-1964-45443 -
Fair Housing Act
This act became law on April 19, 1968. This law made it so that there would be no housing discrimination against anyone of race or color. This helped the black community because it allowed them to buy a house without the fear of other around them trying to judge or do mean things to them because they have a home.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement#fair-housing-act-of-1968 -
Dr. Wharton
In 1970, Dr. Wharton became the first African-American president of Michigan State University. This was a great thing for the black community because it showed that a black person was able to become the president of a University that was mostly made of white people.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Attica prison riot
The cause of the riot was that the prison was very overcrowded and the conditions were inhumane. The prisoners wanted there to be a change, and Russel Oswald was trying to delay that from happening. This then caused the inmates to take over on September 9 and hold 40 guards, hostage. The government was soon able to take over the prison again, but with many casualties.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-milestones-civil-rights-movement/ -
Leroy Paige
In 1971, Leroy Paige was nominated as the first Negro League veteran into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This was able to show the black community that even people that might be in a different league and a different skin color can still be good or better than other players that are white. It also shows that people now respect black people for their efforts and reward them for it.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
George Johnson
George was an award-winning black writer, artist, and activist. This is able to show that after the laws have been put in place to have no discriminatory views of black and white which shows here with a black woman winning a award.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley was the first black woman in 1972 to become a part of the United States Congress. This is a big step for the black community because most black people could not have gotten into such high political power, but now we can see that it is now possible with the changes that have been made.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Andrew Young
Andrew was the first black congressman to be able to get into office. He was also an aide to MLK Jr. by being in all of his most important riots and helped him achieve his goal in the end. This is able to show that the laws that have been put in place are at work and that more people in the black community will try to get higher up jobs.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Thomas Bradley
Thomas was the first black mayor of Los Angeles. This is able to help show the black community that they are able to take higher-up jobs than the ones they had before, and they can do these things if they just believe in themselves.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Arthur Ashe
Arthur was a professional tennis player who won 3 grand slam titles as a single player. This is able to show others that it is possible to compete and win at the highest level of sports even if you were discriminated and laughed at in the past.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444 -
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad is a professional boxer who wanted to pursue his career in boxing but was drafted for war. He decided to not go and was put in jail. This shows that some people who were told what to do when the laws were not present can now try and pursue their dreams and not worry about things that might be in their way. Another could be that this can show that the black people should stick up for themselves.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1965-1969-45444
