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Plessy vs. Ferguson
In 1896, Homer Plessy was arrested after refusing to sit inside a Jim Crow train car. The U.S. supreme court case decided to uphold the constitutionality of racial segregation laws under the doctrine of "separate but equal". This event set back civil rights for decades. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The NAACP is an African American civil rights organization founded February 2nd, 1909 with the purpose of ensuring equal rights and eliminating racial discrimination of any kind. The NAACP had major significance in the civil rights movement by starting anti-lynch movements, helping dismantle Jim Crow laws, and helping with the ban on segregation. -
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
This supreme court case declared the racial segregation at public schools unconstitutional. -
The Death of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was an African-American teenage boy who was lynched in Mississippi at the age of 14 years old after he was reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till's death became one of the driving catalysts for the civil rights movement in order to prevent future similar incidents caused by rascism. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1st, 1955 African-American woman Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This resulted in black community within the Montgomery community led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. starting a mass protest that lasted 13 months that ended with the racial segregation on public buses to be deemed unconstitutional and showing that non-violent protests can lead to a powerful positive change. -
Little Rock School Integration
9 African-American students who were prevented from attending Little Rock Central High school due to segregation sought out the help of the NAACP and started a movement that ended with the school becoming desegregated. -
Freedom Rides
The Freedom Rides intended to test the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African-American human rights activist and spokesperson of black muslim group Nation of Islam who encouraged "black power" amongst his followers. X saw the limitations of MLK's no-violence protests and his Muslim teachings and encouraged his followers to gain equal rights by any means nesscary, including violence. -
Black Panther Party
Founded in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party is a civil rights group that focused on the self-defense of African-Americans, community programs to help blacks, and forming black workers groups. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African-American civil rights activist, civil rights leader, and pastor. MLK's beliefs of non-violent protests set the overall tone for the civil rights movement. MLK has also led plenty of peaceful protests with the purpose of strengthening the civil rights movement.
