1. Civil Rights Movement

2. Timeline of Key Events
1954 Brown v.s. Board of Education: The Supreme Court declared segregation in schools to be unconstitutional
1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott due to the arrest of Rosa Parks
1957 Martin Luther King becomes the president of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) / Civil Rights Act is passed
1960 First student sit-ins against segregation in the South / SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee formed
1961 Freedom Riders’ movement takes off
1963 NAACP Leader, Medgar Evers, was assassinated / March on Washington protest / Birmingham church bombing

3. Timeline of Key Events (Cont’d)
1964 Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize / Congress passes Civil Rights Act, declaring discrimination based on race illegal
1965 Malcolm X was assassinated / Selma Civil Rights March was led by MLK / Voting Rights Act was passed, making it illegal to restrict anyone the right to vote
1966 Black Power was introduced by Stokely Carmichael
1967 State laws forbidding interracial marriage were declared unconstitutional / Thurgood Marshall became the first Black American to be appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson
1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray.

4. The Causes for the Struggle
For decades after the end of slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in Southern states and across parts of America still inhabited a starkly unequal world of disenfranchisement, segregation and various forms of oppression, including race-inspired violence.
“Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels barred them from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and train cars, from juries and legislatures.
People were denied basic human dignity as well as rights of full citizenship in the U.S.

5. The Outcomes of the Struggle
Policies that forced integration and protected the rights of all people
Formation of groups that advocated for the rights of African-Americans
Media coverage of issues surrounding those who were marginalized in the U.S.
Protest culture allowed masses of people to gather to voice their frustrations
A new perspective of what it means to be black and a minority (empowerment)

6. Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK was a Christian Baptist minister who led non-violent protests throughout the South
Organized black churches through the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
Non-violent approach: believed that love was stronger than cruelty
Wanted to fight through empowering people to vote
Wanted an integrated society in which people of all backgrounds could live together peacefully
Hopeful approach to reform

7. Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an ex-convict who ended up being a leader in the Nation of Islam, a religious group
Wanted to create a separate, economically self- sufficient and racially proud nation of blacks within America
Promoted black nationalism
Believed that racism should be fought against by “any means necessary”
Practical approach to reform