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The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was created on February 12, 1909, by an interracial group of activists, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, and Mary White Ovington, spurred by the horrific 1908 Springfield Race Riot to fight racial injustice and secure civil rights for African Americans through democratic processes, aiming to end segregation and discrimination. -
The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when a white mob attacked the predominantly Black Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as "Black Wall Street" for its affluence and thriving commerce, the neighborhood was systematically looted and burned to the ground in what is considered one of the deadliest incidents of racial violence in U.S. history -
The Scottsboro Boys case began on March 25, 1931, when nine Black teenagers were falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train in Alabama, leading to racially charged trials, Supreme Court involvement, and decades of legal battles, with the men serving over 100 years combined, highlighting systemic injustice before eventual pardons and exonerations decades later. -
jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the MLB by becoming the first African American MLB player. -
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago, was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and lynched on August 28, 1955, in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, after being accused of offending a white woman at a grocery store. His mutilated body was found days later, and his mother's decision to have an open-casket funeral in Chicago exposed the brutality of racial violence to the nation, becoming a pivotal catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. -
Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott was a 13-month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. -
The Little Rock Nine were nine Black students who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in September 1957, testing the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, facing Governor Faubus blocking them with the National Guard, and requiring President Eisenhower to send federal troops to escort them to class, marking a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Ruby was a 1st grader who was the only colored girl in her school. None of the other children’s parents wanted their children in the same class as ruby so ruby went her whole first grade as the only teacher in her class. -
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. It says that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts. -
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that unanimously ruled state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional, declaring that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and violating the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. This decision overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and served as a crucial catalyst for the American Civil Rights Movement -
The landmark Civil Rights Act 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, ending segregation in public places, and prohibiting employment discrimination. Championed by President John F. Kennedy, the bill faced a lengthy Senate filibuster but ultimately passed after significant debate and Congressional action. -
was a massive, peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., where over 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to advocate for civil and economic rights for Black Americans, famously featuring Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and pushing for civil rights legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, by members of the Nation of Islam (NOI) due to his break from Elijah Muhammad, with three men initially convicted: Thomas Hagan (who confessed), Muhammad A. Aziz, and Khalil Islam; however, Aziz and Islam were exonerated in 2021 after evidence revealed FBI/NYPD withheld crucial information, and while Hagan identified other NOI members involved, many questions remain about the full conspiracy, with some historians pointing to Newark NOI members. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark U.S. federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon -
The Black Panther Party (BPP) formed in Oakland, California, in October 1966, founded by college students Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense" to combat police brutality and systemic oppression, inspired by Malcolm X and global anti-colonial movements. They combined Black nationalism with Marxist-Leninist ideology, advocating armed self-defense, revolutionary change, and community programs like free breakfasts, -
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 and sworn in on October 2, 1967, after a distinguished career as a civil rights lawyer and Solicitor General, known for Brown v. Board of Education and his lifelong fight against racial injustice. His appointment marked a historic milestone, symbolizing progress in the nation's struggle for equality and justice. -
The man officially convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. was James Earl Ray, a small-time criminal who escaped prison and was captured in London, pleading guilty to avoid the electric chair, though he later recanted, and the King family believes he was framed in a larger conspiracy involving government agencies and the Mafia. Ray was identified by evidence like fingerprints, a rifle found at the scene, and eyewitness accounts,