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Creation of the NAACP
The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was founded on February 12, 1909, in New York City, by an interracial group of activists, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells, in response to the 1908 Springfield race riot and the ongoing racism and discrimination faced by African Americans. -
Scottsboro Boys
The "Scottsboro Boys" refers to nine African American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931, a case that became a landmark legal battle highlighting racial injustice and the struggle for fair trials. -
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball's modern era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that outlawed racial segregation in public schools. The unanimous decision declared that separating students by race violated the 14th Amendment's "Equal Protection Clause". -
The Murder of Emmitt Till
In August 1955 two Mississippians bludgeon and kill Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy, for whistling at a white woman; their acquittal and boasting of the atrocity spur the civil rights cause. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement, began in December 1955 after Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, sparking a 381-day boycott of Montgomery's public buses by African Americans. -
The Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were nine African American students who, in 1957, became the first black students to integrate Little Rock Central High School, facing significant opposition and violence in the process. -
Ruby Bridges desegregate elementary school in New Orleans
On November 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first Black student to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, facing significant racial opposition and becoming a symbol of the civil rights movement. -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King Jr defends his nonviolent civil rights activism, arguing for the right to disobey unjust laws and criticizes white clergymen for their silence and white moderates for their lukewarm support, emphasizing the urgency of fighting for racial equality. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
On stage at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was gunned down as his pregnant wife and four daughters took cover in the front row. Three members of the Nation of Islam—Mujahid Abdul Halim, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam—were soon after charged with first-degree murder. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, ending segregation in public places and banning employment discrimination. -
Thurgood Marshall Named Supreme Court Justice
On August 30, 1967, the Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first Black person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was no stranger to the Senate or the Supreme Court at the time. -
Creation of the Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. It was a revolutionary organization with an ideology of Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense, particularly against police brutality. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Election of Barack Obama
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.