-
The Storied History of the NAACP – BlackPressUSA
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was created on February 12, 1909, in New York City, by an interracial group of activists, reformers, and intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, and Oswald Garrison Villard, partly in response to the horrific 1908 Springfield Race Riot, aiming to secure equal rights for African Americans through legal challenges and advocacy -
This massacre was a continuous 18 hours of nothing but mob activity. Homes and businesses were bombed and looted. -
The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers unjustly accused of raping two white girls on a train in Alabama in 1931, leading to highly publicized trials that became a symbol of racial injustice, unfair legal processes (all-white juries, rushed proceedings), and the fight for civil rights, with the U.S. Supreme Court eventually intervening due to egregious violations of due process, highlighting systemic racism in the American South. -
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by joining a baseball team called the dodger during a time of racial troubles. He stood through all of the racist remarks and he held onto his passion. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, even if the segregated facilities are equal in quality. -
Emmett Till was murdered on August 28, 1955, in Money, Mississippi, after being abducted from his great-uncle's home by two white men who then brutally tortured, shot, and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River, an event that became a pivotal catalyst for the American Civil Rights Movement. -
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States -
The Little Rock Nine were nine Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957, becoming pivotal figures in the American Civil Rights Movement after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling mandated school desegregation, facing intense hostility and requiring President Eisenhower to send federal troops to ensure their entry, marking a historic moment against segregation and for equal educational opportunity. -
Six-year-old Ruby Bridges made history on November 14, 1960, becoming the first Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in the South, William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans, escorted by U.S. Marshals amidst massive protests, a pivotal moment symbolizing courage and the Civil Rights Movement against segregation, a year after the Brown v. Board ruling. -
The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. -
a monumental peaceful protest where over 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial demanding civil and economic rights for African Americans, culminating in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and significantly influencing the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and signed into law on July 2, 1964, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public places, employment, and federally funded programs, marking a pivotal moment for equality in the U.S. after overcoming a significant Senate filibuster. -
Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and human rights activist who founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was also a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) was passed by Congress in August 1965 and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965. The landmark federal statute prohibits racial discrimination in voting and is considered one of the most effective civil rights laws ever enacted in U.S. history. -
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was created in Oakland, California, in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, born from frustration with systemic racism, poverty, and severe police brutality against Black Americans, even after civil rights laws. Initially the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, their core activity was monitoring police to protect communities, inspired by Malcolm X and Black Power, evolving into a Marxist organization providing community services -
Thurgood Marshall was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 13, 1967, becoming the first African American justice, confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1967, and sworn in on October 2, 1967, serving until his retirement in 1991 after a distinguished career fighting for civil rights, famously winning Brown v. Board of Education before joining the bench. -
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel while supporting striking sanitation workers, with James Earl Ray later convicted for the crime, though King's family and others believe a larger conspiracy, possibly involving the FBI, was involved, as official investigations have yielded inconclusive evidence of a lone gunman. The murder sparked nationwide riots, mourning, and intensified civil rights activism.