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Brown v. Board of Education
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, effectively overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson. This decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and African American students were inherently unequal, mandating the desegregation of schools across America. -
Emmett Till Murder
14-year-old Emmett Till, a Black boy from Chicago, was brutally murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman. His open-casket funeral and the acquittal of his killers sparked national outrage and helped launch the modern Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, organized a year-long boycott of the city buses. The protest led to a Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine Black students integrated the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, facing intense opposition and requiring federal troops for protection. Their courage challenged school segregation and drew national attention to civil rights. -
Greensboro Sit-ins (Lunch Counter Sit-ins)
Four Black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, sat at a whites-only lunch counter and refused to leave when denied service. Their peaceful protest inspired a wave of sit-ins across the South to challenge segregation. -
Freedom Rides (May-Dec)
When many African Americans went to the South and rode buses in order to challenge segregation in the South. -
Birmingham Protests (April-May)
These protests were aimed at ending segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Policemen and firefighters shot peaceful demonstrators (including children) with powerful, high-pressure water guns. -
March on Washington
250,000 people went to Washington, DC, to demand civil rights for African Americans. This is when Martin Luther King gave his "Dream" speech. -
Freedom Summer (Mississippi Summer Project)
Freedom Summer was a 1964 voter registration drive aimed at increasing the number of registered Black voters in Mississippi. Over 700 mostly white volunteers joined African Americans in Mississippi to fight against voter intimidation and discrimination at the polls. -
Selma to Montgomery Marches
In March 1965, civil rights activists organized three protest marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to advocate for African American voting rights. The first march on March 7, known as "Bloody Sunday," saw peaceful protesters brutally attacked by law enforcement at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, drawing national attention and leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. It is considered one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.