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Creation of the NAACP
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was dedicated to advancing justice for African Americans. -
Scottsboro Boys
Nine young black boys are train-hopping to try and find work, are accused of raping two white women. There was a lot of evidence that proved that they were innocent, but the people of Alabama believe the women anyway. The boys go through 4 trials but are still found unfairly guilty in the end. Many of them lived lives of crime after they were released. Only one of the boys goes on to get fully pardoned. -
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
Jackie Robinson became the first black baseball player to be in the MLB. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown v Board of Education was a series of court cases that fought against school segregation. In May of 1954, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. -
The Murder of Emmitt Till
A young black boy is accused of raping a white woman- in reality he just whistled at her- and is brutally murdered by a group of white men. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Civil Rights movement was started when a woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to stand for a white man when he got onto a bus with no seats open. -
The Little Rock 9
Nine black students are integrated into white schools. White people mob them, and they need federal agents to escort them. This happened after Brown v. the Board of Education. -
Ruby Bridges desegregate elementary school in New Orleans
A young black girl starts going to an all white school. All of the parents pulled their students from the class, and only one teacher would teach her. -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Alabama. After the clergymen who asked him to come write a letter to tell him to have patience and the Letter from a Birmingham Jail was his response. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the United States. This ended public segregation. (It still happened, but now it was against the law) -
Creation of the Black Panthers
A group of armed black people that monitor the police to make sure they are doing their jobs lawfully -
Assassination of Malcolm X
On stage at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a Civil Rights leader, was assassinated by being shot 21 times. -
Thurgood Marshall Named Supreme Court Justice
He is the first black man to be a member of the court. This is after he was the lawyer in the Brown vs Board of Education, which ended school segregation. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil Rights leader and preacher, Martin Luther King Jr., was shot and killed while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Election of Barack Obama
The first black president is elected.