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Brown v Board of Education (May 1954)
It was a Supreme Court ruling that was against the segregation of students in school as it was unconstitutional.
It also emphasized the fact that “separate but equal” is not really equal as the segregated schools are not equal and they do not get equal resources and treatment. -
Emmitt Till murder (August 1955)
Emmit Till was going to visit family in Money, Mississippi and he was murdered for flirting with a white woman
After the mother heard about the death of his son, she wanted the son and he was unrecognizable and so the mother wanted the public to see the brutality that is taking place among black people and that is why she wanted an open-casket burial -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts (December 1955- December 1956)
This was a civil rights protest where black people refused to ride the Montgomery bus in Alabama due to segregated seating
It was regarded as the largest segregation demonstration in the U.S
Before Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to give a white person a seat.
One of the leaders of the Montgomery Boycott was Martin Luther King.
This led the U.S. Supreme Court to order Montgomery to integrate its bus system -
Little Rock 9 (September 1957)
This was a group of nine black students who were admitted to an all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
This was done in order to test the Brown v. Board of Education Bill was to ensure desegregation.
The governor sent the National Guard to block the nine students from entering the school
When President Eisenhower saw this he sent federal troops in order to escort the children to school. Indeed this brought awareness to the civil rights movement. -
Lunch Counter sit-ins (Greensboro) (February 1960)
This took place in North Carolina when four black college students sparked the civil rights movement when they refused to leave an “all-white” counter after being denied service
The students did not give up which brought about protests in the store.
This continued until the lunch counter was integrated.
It was televised and this led to other sit-ins -
Freedom Bus Rides ( May 1961)
A group of white and African American civil rights activists participated in the Freedom Rides, which were bus rides through the South.
They started protesting in the segregated bus terminals.
The freedom riders used only-white restrooms and lunch counters on the bus.
They were arrested and suffered great brutality and this drew attention to the international attention of the civil rights movement. -
March on Washington (August 1963)
It was a massive protest march that took place in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
It was a march for job and freedom and to draw attention to the inequality that is being faced by black people
This is where the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther was presented
This was caused by the congress cutting off the funding of the Fair Employment Practice Committee.
It was the third anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling urging the government to follow through. -
Birmingham protests (1963)
Birmingham was the most prejudiced city and so the black people wanted to get attention and it was also a chance for them to re-energize.
The people were being arrested however they remained non violent but Martin Luther King ran out of money to bail people out and not long after he was also arrested
The children were led to protest and got national attention and the federal government had to clean that up.
This is when MLK wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Prison” -
Civil Rights Act 1964 (July 1964)
This is an act that banned segregation in public places and employment discrimination in terms of sex, gender, and race.
It was one of the greatest legislative achievements of civil rights as it survived great opposition of the Southern members of Congress
The congress expanded the Act and introduced other civil rights such as the right to voting -
Freedom (Mississippi) Summer (June - August 1964)
It was also known as the Mississippi Summer Project where voter registration aimed at increasing the number of black voters in Mississippi.
Other white people volunteered to help in the fight against intimidation and discrimination in voting polls
News of coverage of the violence, arrest, and even murder captured the attention of the civil rights movements
This increase in awareness led to the Voting Rights of 1965 -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (August 1965)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Johnson.
It aimed at removing barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting which was under the 15th Amendment. Gave the African Americans the right to vote -
Selma Marches (March 1965)
The Selma march was one of the civil rights protests that took place in Alabama where racism was a big issue
The protesters marched about 54 miles to the state capital of Montgomery as they wanted to settle the issue of voting rights but they were confronted with violence
This was important because it raised awareness of the difficulties that were being faced by the black people in the South and called for action for national voting rights