NAACP-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
they fought for the rights of colored people
Martin Luther King Jr.-civil rights activist/member of NAACP. He was from Atlanta Georgia. assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. He was the leader of the bus boycott and youngest recipient of Nobel Peace Prize.
Malcolm X- born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NB to a biracial couple- white father, black mother. KKK came to their house and told them to get out of town. After his father was killed and his mother was put in a mental institution, Malcolm got into some bad things (drugs and burglaries) and was sent to prison. While there he became a follower of black muslimism. He became a spokesman for the equality of blacks and whites. He was assassinated during a speech on February 21.
Jackie Robinson-first African American baseball player to play in the major leagues in his era. played for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka- case that over-ruled the Plessy v. Ferguson case that had established the separate but equal doctrine. NAACP helped fight this case for the Browns and other families that had tried to enroll their dark skinned children in an all white school. Case was lost locally but at the US supreme court, they won.
Little Rock 9-once BVB won their case, it was ordered that all schools be de-segregated. arkansas was not exactly good about letting this happen, so President Eisenhower made sure it did. 9 black students were enrolled in an all white school. They also had to be escorted from class to class by troops from the arkansas national guard.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott- Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and was therefore arrested. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Black citizens refused to ride the bus and this caused financial trouble for the bus companies because African-Americans were a majority of their customers.
Greensboro sit-ins- as many other things at this time, lunch counters were segregated. 4 black college freshmen sat at the white lunch counter and ordered, but they were asked to leave. The next day they came back with more people and continued to do so until segregation was declared unconstitutional and so lunch counters were desegregated.
Freedom Rides-After the Montgomery Bus Boycott, segregation of buses was no longer allowed. Freedom Riders would ride the interstate buses from the northern states into the south pretty much just to test the new rules. white riders did not respond well at all, actually they were violent.
Birmingham, Alabama—1963- 16th Street Baptist church was somewhere activist leaders met. a man in a car got out, put a box under the steps. Shortly after, bomb went off, and it killed 4 little girls. at first, people blamed the governor of alabama because he had previously made the comment that alabama needed "a few first class funerals." It was later discovered it was actually a member of the KKK. He was charged and later not guilty.
Mississippi Summer Project( Freedom Summer project)-trying to get black voters registered. freedom houses and freedom schools were also set up in towns in Mississippi to help African Americans.
Selma, Alabama—1965-"Bloody Sunday" marches from Selma, AL to Montgomery, AL. During the first of three marches, the people were brutally attacked. The second march happened 2 days later, but was unsuccessful. The third one was the only march that made it to Montgomery, which took 5 days and military and FBI escorts.
Voting Rights Act of 1965-Didn't make African Americans jump through all the hoops they had to go through before (like literary tests) so that they were able to vote.
Civil Rights Act of 1964-put an end to segregation all together.
Stokely Carmichael-activist originally from Trinidad. he was a freedom rider and a member of SNCC. went on the March Against Fear in memory of the man who started it and got shot during it. He was famous for his Black Power speech saying "black people in this country need to unite."
Black Panthers-supported Black Power movement. originally was supposed to protect black neighborhoods
Affirmative action-laws in place so people are not able to discriminate against others specifically in the work place
Jesse Jackson-African American activist who ran for presidency in 1984 and '88.
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