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Brown v. Board of Education
Oliver Brown, father of Linda Brown, wanted to make a change and called NAACP to help. Oliver wanted to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson since he didn’t want his daughter traveling 2 hours away. He wanted to have his daughter attend the white school closer to them in Kansas since it wasn’t far. Oliver felt that the court wasn’t meeting his right of the 14 and 15 amendments due to them not listening to him. They overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in 1954 due to the fact it was unfair. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till went into a store to get candy but he whistled to the owner's wife in 1955. It made her husband mad so 3 nights later her husband Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam kidnapped, beaten and killed him. Emmett’s mom wanted an open coffin so they could see what the people did to her son. There was a trial that took place in September 1955 at Tallahatchie, Mississippi courthouse but they selected an all white jury. It took the jury an hour to find them not guilty. -
Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott
December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was asked to move by James Blake to the back of the bus to the colored seats. Rosa stuck up for herself and didn't move because it was unfair to her. James ended up calling the cops which got Rosa arrested for not following the law of segregation. Once the rest of Rosa family and friends found out they started a boycott until they made a change. Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott lasted 381 days till they didn't ride. They found Rosa parks guilty for disorderly conduct. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was an organization linked to the black churches. 60 black ministers were pivotal in organizing civil right activism. Martin Luther King Jr was elected President. They focused its non violent strategy on citizenship, schools and efforts to desegregate individual cities. It played key roles in the March on Washington in 1963 and the Voting Rights Campaign and March to Montgomery in 1965. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock 9 was a small group of black students in Little Rock, Arkansas. They got to enter Central High with all the white kids due to the Supreme Court getting rid of segregation. The Little Rock 9 were so happy to be able to go to school, but waiting for them were a vicious whit mob. The president had guards protect them. They still got picked on and got their property broken. If they stuck up for themselves they got expelled. At the end of the day it sort of got better for the blacks. -
Greensboro Sit ins
The Greensboro started in February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina. They started with 4 college students and expanded to way more students. The blacks were sticking up for themselves to be able to sit in a restaurant instead of ordering and leaving. They got told that they weren’t able to order and also got told to leave. That’s when multiple people noticed and joined in. They threaten to call the cops but they couldn’t do anything about it because they were able to do it. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was 6 years old when she did a hard test and passed it. Once she passed it she was able to go to an all white school. New Orleans in Louisiana Fedral Marshals escorted her to the school. Ruby and the other black kids chosen to be a student and was taught by one teacher. The white adults didn’t want to have them come to school there. The white kids were also saying mean things to Ruby has she walked up to the school with her mother. She was very advanced that’s why she got chosen. -
Freedom Riders
May 4, 1961 in New Orleans 13 blacks got onto a public bus to stick up for themselves. They were staging a sit in on the bus. They stopped on the kkk territory and there was a mob waiting for them. They were getting attacked once they got off the bus. Once other blacks heard they joined in. They would trap some of them in the bus while they set it on fire and break windows ins their faces. They ended up making a law to end segregation and protect the blacks. -
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963 there was a March on Washington to make peace with white and colored people. The protest was held in Washington D.C. they made sure it was peaceful and respectful for jobs and freedom. They wanted to make a difference since whites didn’t like them. That day Martin Luther King Jr was the last speech of the day which was “I Have a Dream”, he wanted to make a difference in the world. Eventually that speech did change some people perspectives on the blacks. -
Civil Rights Act (1964)
On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights Act was established to end discrimination. Martin Luther King speech made ideas that discrimination was not fair to the blacks. Lyndon B. Johnson prohibited the Civil Right Act, so the blacks are able to go into public places and not get kicked out. He wanted them to be able to join what they wanted and not be scared to them. Lyndon made a change and it was a good change due to the “I Have a Dream” speech. -
Assassination of Malcom X -Civil Rights Leader
On February 21, 1965 in New York, NY Malcom X was shot 21 times. A couple weeks prior to Malcom death his house with his wife and kids got firebombed with them inside. Thomas Hagen, Norman 3x Butler and Thomas 15x Johnson were the ones who shot him. He was trying to change the perspective of people with religion. He changed is religion to Islam to help him change the perspective. He got out of the religion before he was shot. He wanted things to change even if it wasn’t in the best way. -
Selma to Montgomery “Bloody Sunday”
On March 7, 1965 in Selma, Montgomery there was a march. Southern Christian Leader Conference helped lead it including Jon Lewis. They crossed the bridge but there was a sheriff with his troops. The blacks wanted to talk to someone, but the sheriff said no. The sheriff rode into the crowd and started beating the blacks for not doing anything. The blacks were having a peaceful protest but ended up getting hurt. The whites felt bad for the blacks because they weren’t doing anything to harm people. -
Voting Rights Act (1965)
On August 6, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson banned the literary test since the blacks had to take to vote. It wasn’t fair because the whites didn’t have to take it plus they made the questions really hard for the blacks. If they didn’t pass they wouldn’t be able to vote. Lyndon B. Johnson wanted them to be able vote since it was a federal matter not a state matter. This was all in Washington D.C. when Lyndon B. Johnson banned it. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - Civil Rights Leader
On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was shot with a snipers bullet by James Earl Ray. James was sentenced 99 years in prison for killing Martin. Martin was on a balcony at Loraine Motel and that where he got shot. He said is final speech that day, but after the Martin Luther King Jr. day was passed it brought a bigger crowd to understand the history he made for the world.