1. Sit-Ins, Freedom Riders and MLK
The Movement Expands
Sit-Ins, Freedom Riders and MLK

2. Make a small timeline (1954-1965) across the top of your paper and record the following events:
Brown v. Board – 1954
Emmett Till’s death – 1955
Sit-Ins –
Freedom Rides – 1961
Marches in Birmingham – Spring 1963
Letter from Birmingham Jail – April 1963
March on Washington - August 1963
16th St. Baptist Church – September 1963
Selma to Montgomery Marches – 1965

3. Question & Goals for Today
Fundamental question:
How do people demand social change?
Goals for today – we will understand:
The goals and effects of sit-ins, freedom rides and marches

4. Organizations
NAACP – National Association for Advancement of Colored People
Goal: Secure equality
Focus: Legal realm – challenging laws (Brown vs. Board)
Appealed to: Educated, middle- and upper-class African- Americans and some white Americans
CORE – Congress of Racial Equality
Formed in 1942
Goal: Secure social equality for African-Americans
Focus – Non-violent protests

5. Organizations SCLC – Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Founded: In 1957, by MLK
Goal: Get real equality for African-Americans
Focus: Large, non-violent protests (peaceful even when attacked)
Impact: Moved the focus of the Civil Rights Movement to the South
SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Founded: In 1960, by students
Focus: The experience of young African-Americans
Worked with: CORE, SCLC and others

6. Sit-Ins

7. Greensboro, North Carolina
Feb. 1, 1960
Students from a N. Carolina college initiated the first sit- in of the Civil Rights Movement
Refused to leave a Woolworth store until they had been served

8. Sit-ins The Goal: Force businesses to serve African-Americans
The participants: Mostly students and young people
The tactic: African-Americans would sit at counters and wait to be served
If they were served, they moved on to the next counter
If they weren’t, they stayed at the counter in protest
Faced incredibly brutal treatment

9. Memphis, Tennessee

10. Film Clip Answer the questions on your sheet:
Describe how African-American students were treated.
What happens after the students sitting at the counter are arrested?
How do whites justify not serving African-Americans?
How did the community begin to rally behind the students who were arrested?
How did students involved in the movement feel about going to jail?

11. Effects The first sit-ins had few direct effects
But other students heard about the sit-ins and CORE and SCLC started organizing additional protests

12. Freedom Rides Freedom Rides
Non-violent attempt to end segregation
Clip- EOTP- I ain’t scared of your jails 27:35- 53:45
Would you say the freedom rides were effective, or not? Why?

13. Marches

14. King organizes in Birmingham
Gov. of Alabama George Wallace declared: “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
MLK decided to focus on Birmingham, one of the most segregated cities
Had closed its parks, pools and golf courses rather than integrate them

15. Birmingham In 1963, people began to march demanding desegregation
Were arrested for marching without a permit
Finally in May, 1000 Birmingham youth marched for equal rights
“The Children’s Crusade”
Police chief “Bull” Connor responded:
Unleashed police dogs on the children
Sprayed them with fire hoses with 700 lbs. of pressure

16. Film Clip

17. The Images

23. Responses
How do you think people around the country would have responded to seeing these images?

24. Effects of Marches in Birmingham
Across the U.S., people were horrified by the images of the violence in Birmingham
Kennedy administration intervened and pushed businesses to negotiate
Ultimately, after tense negotiations, the signs mandating segregation came down
The Civil Rights Movement had gained an important victory

25. Violence in Birmingham
Birmingham proved resistant to change – and violent
Bombings
First an integrated motel was bombed
Then MLK’s brother’s home was destroyed by a bombing
Shootings
NAACP field rep. Medgar Evers was shot in the back
16-year-old black Birmingham youth was shot from behind by a police shotgun
13-year-old boy was shot while riding his bicycle

26. Letter from Birmingham Jail
MLK was arrested for marching in Birmingham
Clergymen published “Call for Unity”
Argued the Civil Rights Movement should be fought in the courts, not in the street

28. 16th St. Baptist Church Meeting place for SCLC
A man placed a box under the steps of the church
At 10:22 AM a bomb exploded, killing four children who were attending Sunday School

29. Responses to MLK
8 white Alabama clergymen wrote public letter about the Marches in Birmingham - "A Call for Unity"
Agreed that social injustices existed but argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets
Called King an “outsider” who was causing trouble on the streets of Birmingham

30. Letter from Birmingham Jail
This letter is one of MLK’s most famous pieces, and is a response to the “Call for Unity”

31. Reading the Letter from Birmingham Jail
Read the letter with your partner
After each paragraph, note the main point of that paragraph on your notes paper

32. Letter from Birmingham Jail
MLK was arrested for marching in Birmingham
While imprisoned, he wrote one of his most famous pieces
Read it
Each paragraph = 1 bullet point summary
2 most important quotes