Civil Rights
A journey to equality
To what degree had the civil rights movement contributed to making the United States a more equal and just society?
Tactics and Strategies of the Civil Rights Movement
In the 50s and 60s, life in America would be appaling to the world today. Segregation of black and whites in the South was the norm. The Civil Rights Movement began on December 1, 1955, nine months after a 15-year-old high school student, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat on a public bus on Montgomery, Alabama to make room for a white passenger. Rosa Parks also known as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement did the same thing. Many leaders from within the African American community and beyond rose to prominence during the Civil Rights era, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and many others. They risked—and sometimes lost—their lives in the name of freedom and equality. These leaders used their own different tactics to motivate, influence, and inform the people of their decision to not back down to the ways of segregation.
Civil Rights Movement Begins
Thursday, Dec 1, 1955, 12:00 AM
Montgomery, AL, United States
A More Just & Equal Country
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
He was shot and killed at the age of 39.
Born: January 15, 1929
Died: April 4, 1968
Malcom X
Born: May 19, 1925
Died: February 21, 1965
Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin
On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin was the first person to refuse giving up her seat to a white man.
Unsung Heroes
Elizabeth Johnson Rice
“I knew they were white students, but I wasn’t thinking about racism. I just knew I was a good teacher and I was going to that school.”
On Feb. 22, 1960, less than three weeks after four college students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, N.C., Johnson Rice, then 19, along with her 18-year-old brother Ford and 32 other Virginia Union students, marched into Thalhimers Department Store in downtown Richmond and sat down at the whites-only lunch counter. Elizabeth was one of them.
Matthew Walker, Jr.
Desegregation in Birmingham
King and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) oppose local laws that support segregation. Riots, fire-bombing, and police are used against protestors.
Monday, Apr 1, 1963, 12:00 AM
Birmingham, AL, United States
Bombing of Birmingham Church
4 black girls are killed by bomb planted in church.
Monday, May 13, 1963, 09:00 AM
Birmingham, AL, United States
24th Amendment passed
Poll tax (which had been used to prevent blacks from voting) outlawed. Black voter registration increases and candidates begin to turn away from white supremacy views in attempt to attract black voters