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Brown v. Board of Education decision declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. This landmark Supreme Court decision was the result of years of local grassroots activism challenging segregation in education. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott, initiated by a local activist, Rosa Parks, and supported by community leaders, marked a significant local effort against racial segregation in public transportation. -
The sit-in movement begins in Greensboro, North Carolina, when four African American college students demand service at a whites-only lunch counter. This sparks a wave of sit-ins across the South, organized by local students and activists. -
Freedom Rides commence, organized by civil rights groups and local activists to challenge segregation in interstate bus travel. -
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom takes place in Washington, D.C. It attracts over 250,000 participants from across the nation. -
The march is organized by a coalition of civil rights organizations, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other local groups. Local chapters of these organizations played a crucial role in mobilizing participants and resources.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Local activists and organizations across the country lobbied and organized campaigns to support the passage of this landmark legislation.
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Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, when civil rights activists, led by John Lewis, attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights. -
Local activists in Selma, along with national organizations like SCLC, played a pivotal role in organizing the voting rights campaign.
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. -
Local efforts, including voter registration drives and grassroots organizing in the South, played a critical role in pushing for voting rights for African Americans.