Teirra brooks

Background…

• Linda Brown, an African American third grader from Topeka, Kansas,had to walk one mile every day to get to a “black school”.

• Even though there was a "white elementary school" only seven blocks away.

Taking it to court…• This is how the Brown vs. Board of

Education lawsuit was started in 1951. Linda’s father, Oliver Brown, and thirteen other parents tried to enroll their children in the local "white schools" in the summer of 1950, but were turned down because they were African Americans.

• They were told they must attend one of the four schools in the city for African American children.

The results…

• These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education for their children.

• After three long years the case finally ended on May 17, 1954 with the court finding in favor of Linda Brown and the other African American children like her..

Emmett Till• At the age of 14 Till traveled from

his home town of Chicago to Money, Mississippi to visit relatives.

• He was not accustomed to the severe segregation he experienced while in Mississippi.

• While befriending local boys, Till showed them a picture of a white girl from back home that he claimed to be his girlfriend. The boys in disbelief dared Till to go into a store and talk to the white woman. He went in, bought some candy, and on the way out he said “bye baby”.

• A few days later, two men kidnapped Till from his uncle’s cabin in the middle of the night. Till’s body was found three days later in the Tallahatchie River.

• Till’s body was so badly beaten it was almost unrecognizable.

• The news of this horrific murder spread and people were outraged at the crime.

• At the time it was hard to find people willing to testify against the white men. It was unheard of for a black person to accuse a white person of committing a crime. Finally, Till’s uncle testified against the men.

Roy Bryant – store ownerJ.W. Milam – Brother-in-law

Murderers

“Have you ever sent a loved son on vacation and had him returned to you in a pine box so horribly battered and water-logged that someone needs to tell you this sickening sight is your son – lynched?” – Mamie Bradley

• The courage of Till’s uncle encouraged other blacks to testify against Bryant and Milam.

• Defense attorney John C. Whitten influenced the jury to free the men.

• The jurors deliberated and came back with a verdict of “not guilty”

• The Emmett Till case proved that violence in the south could affect them in the North.

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks made one of the most significant civil rights stands of all time on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery Alabama. Parks refused to give up her seat to white passengers and move to the back of the bus. The driver had her arrested and she was fined ten dollars. She wasn’t the first to be arrested for this but was the first well known figure in the community to be. She had once been the secretary to the president of the NAACP. DR. Martin Luther King Jr., the local pastor in Montgomery felt a protest was needed and the buss line was boycotted. After a year of tension in the community the boycott worked and the supreme court ruled the segregation on buses illegal.

Rosa Parks

bus

strikeinmate

GoingFor A ride

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• Established in 1957• Original name was the Southern Negro Leaders

Conference on Transportation and Non-violent integration.

• Developed after Montgomery Bus Boycott• Leader was Martin Luther King Jr• The main goal of the SCLC was to advance the cause of civil rights in America in a non-violent way.

SCLC Significance • They battled for the rights of African Americans,

especially throughout the south • Preformed many sit-ins, rallies and marches to for

desegregation in public places, voter registration drives, and boycotts against stores who wouldn’t desegregate

• Their marches are credited with hastening the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Organized the March on Washington• Very strong organization until the death of MLK

LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

LRCHS was the focal point of the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957. Nine African-American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, were denied entrance to the school in defiance of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering integration of public schools.

The historic Brown vs Board of Education case declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High; however, these nine were “greeted” by 1,000 violent, white protestors.

THIS EVENT, WATCHED BY THE NATION AND WORLD, WAS THE SITE OF THE FIRST IMPORTANT TEST FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S HISTORIC BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION DECISION OF 1954

The Little Rock Central High crisis is considered to be one of the most important events in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Motown1959-present

Important People♫ Berry Bordy founded Motown records. He was born on

November 28th, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He is now 82 years old.

♫ Stevie Wonder was born on May 13th, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. He is now 61 years old.

♫ Marvin Gaye was born on April 2nd, 1939 in Washington, DC.♫ Debbie Dean was born on February 1st, 1928 in Corbin,

Kentucky. She was Motown's first white female solo recording artist. She died on February 17th, 2001.

♫ Sondra “Blinky” Williams was born on May 21st, 1944 in Los Angeles, California. She is 67 years old today.

Motown is a record label that was founded by Berry Gordy. Motown is also the first black owned record company. It populized soul music.

THE GREENSBORO SIT-IN•On February 1, 1960, four students from the North Carolina Agriculture and Technical school sat down at the lunch counter inside the Woolworth's on 132 South Elm Street in Greensboro, North Carolina.•The four asked for service and promptly denied by the lunch counter staff, as store policy only served white men at the lunch counter. The store manager asked the four to leave immediately.•The next day, more than twenty African American students who had been recruited from other campus groups came to the store to join the sit-in. White customers cursed and aggravated the black students, who read books and studied to keep busy. The lunch counter staff continued to refuse service. •Newspaper reporters and a TV Videographer covered the second day of peaceful demonstrations and others in the community learned of the protests. •On the third day, more than 60 people came to the Woolworth's store. A statement issued by Woolworth's national headquarters said the company would "abide by local custom" and maintain its segregated policy.•The fourth day, word spread and peaceful protests began at Greensboro’s Kress Store, with more than 300 protesters showing up. •The movement then spread to other Southern cities such as Richmond, VA and Nashville, Tennessee.

The Four who started it All

Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair Jr.)- Graduated from Dundley High School in 1959 and received a bachelor of science degree in sociology from N.C. A&T in 1963

Franklin Eugene McCain- He graduated from Washington’s Eastern High School in 1959. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from N.C. A&T in 1964.

Joseph Alfred McNeil- A Wilmington native, he graduated from Williston Senior High. McNeil received a degree in engineering physics from A&T in 1963. His roommate was Ezell Blair Jr.

David Leinail Richmond- Richmond grew up in the East White Oak community and attended Jonesboro Elementary and Lincoln Street Junior High and graduated from Dudley High School.-At N.C. A&T, he majored in business administration and accounting but left the school three credits short of his degree.

Others that helped them succeed.

Ralph Johns - He opened a clothing store on East Market Street, which attracted many A&T students as customers, including the Greensboro Four. He is thought to have encouraged the students to challenge segregation and to have tipped off the press on the first day of the sit-ins at Woolworth.

Dr. George Simkins Jr.- Longtime civil rights activist and Greensboro dentist, he was president of the local NAACP chapter from 1959 until 1984. In 1955, he and several other black men were arrested for trespassing after they played nine holes at the all-white, municipal Gillespie Park Golf Course.

Charles O. Bess- Former busboy at Woolworth's. Worked the day of the original sit-ins and throughout the sit-ins at Woolworth.

Rev. Cecil Bishop- Former chairman of the Greensboro Human Relations Commission and was active for 15 years in the civil rights movement.

Ima Edwards- When she retired in 1993 from Woolworth, she was one of only two employees still working at the South Elm store who was there on Feb. 1, 1960. At the time of the sit-ins, Edwards ran the bakery counter.

Clarence L. “Curly” Harris- Manager of the Woolworth Store during the sit-ins.

Freedom RidersStarted by a group called the Nashville Student

GroupThey were women and men of different races

against segregation The group started with desegregating restaurants

and movie theaters The group traveled to the deep South in hopes of

challenging the Jim Crow laws.

Freedom RidersThe people who were a part of the Freedom Rides

boarded buses and traveled down South. Blacks and whites sat beside each other which

was considered a crime in the South. There were many violent attacks targeting the

Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were arrested and sent to

Parchman Farm.

First African American student to attend the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)

Meredith’s struggle to be accepted is a key benchmark in the Civil Rights movement

Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent in federal marshals as escorts for Meredith

In riots that followed, 160 marshals were wounded; two bystanders were killed

Meredith graduated from Ole Miss in 1964

He wrote Three Years in Mississippi (1966) about his experiences

James Meredith (1933- )

James Meredith

In 1966 Meredith began a solitary March Against Fear, from Memphis, TN, to Jackson, MS, to protest racism

A white man shot him with a 16-gauge shotgun!

Other Civil Rights leaders – including Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael – continued Meredith’s march for him

Meredith recovered and rejoined the March in time to arrive successfully in Jackson

James Meredith

Meredith studied in Nigeria and at Columbia University in New York

In the late 1960s Meredith became a stockbroker and dropped out of the Civil Rights movement

He grew more conservative and joined the Republican Party; he ran unsuccessfully for office

Meredith still travels the world, has published 16 books, and runs the Meredith Institute

Project C This was the plan

made by Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders to stage sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and other demonstrations in non-violent ways.

The “C” stands for Confrontation

The demonstrations were aimed at stores that supported and implemented segregation

Continued After their list of demands, which included

the desegregation of stores and restrooms, was denied there were sit-ins held for three days.

Police used brutal force on the protesters, which included: being beat by night sticks, being attacked by vicious dogs, and being sprayed by high powered hoses.

King was arrested and was put in jail after the demonstration.

Protesters being attacked by dogs

Being sprayed by high powered hoses ^ < King in the police station after he is arrested

Medgar Evers: Background Info

• Dealt with racism as a child• Served during WWII• He attended Alcorn College (1948-1952)• married fellow college student Myrlie Beasley

in 1951.

Medgar Evers: Civil Rights

• first National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) field secretary in Mississippi

• led efforts to help James Meredith integrate the University of Mississippi in 1962

• after midnight on June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot in the back as he stepped out of his car

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM

April 16, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama

Written by civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while in Birmingham Jail after reading a newspaper article “A Call to Unity”

MLK was arrested after a non-violent campaign for ending racial segregation

Addresses to 8 of MLK’s fellow clergymen of the state of Birmingham of “unjust” laws

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM….CONTINUED

•Shapes a voice for African Americans that they will no longer “Negotiate”

•Black organizations insist on taking direct action to advocate their movement (marches, sit-in strikes, parades, etc.)

March on Washington

• August 28, 1963• 250,000 people• March led by

Martin Luther King Jr. a civil rights activist who believed in civil disobedience to protest racial inequalities of African-American’s.

• Led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964

“I have a dream….”• The most

memorable moment that was taken from the march was the moving speech that Dr. King delivered on the Lincoln Memorial

• I have a dream....

The 16th street Baptist Church was used as a meeting place for Civil Rights, by leaders such as Martin Luther King.

On Sunday, September 15, 1963 a white man placed a box under the 16th street church and at 10:22am the bomb exploded.

The bomb killed four girls and injured 23 others.

Tensions became high when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) became involved in a campaign to register African Americans to vote in Birmingham.

Chambliss was arrested and charged with murder and possession of 122 sticks of dynamite with out a permit.

Tried on October 8, 1963.

Found not guilty of murder

Was given a hundred dollar fine and 6 month jail sentence for the dynamite

Robert Chambliss, member of the Ku Klux Klan

Sidney Poitier

Born February 20, 1927 in Miami, Florida His parents were both Bahamian Found a place in acting after the Broadway production

“Lysistrata” Sidney was the first black actor to win an Academy Award

for best actor Many movies he starred in were The Defiant Ones, Lilies of

the Field, To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

In 2002, 38 years after receiving the Best Actor Award, Poitier was chosen to receive an Honorary Award

Since 1997 he has been the Bahamian ambassador to Japan

Sidney Poitier

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

• Origins– On February 1, 1960, a group of black college

students from North Carolina A&T Universityrefused to leave a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro,North Carolina where they had been denied service

– This sparked a wave of other sit-ins in college towns across the South.– The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was created on the

campus of Shaw University in Raleigh two months later to coordinate these sit-ins, support their leaders, and publicize their activities.

– SNCC grew into a large organization with many supporters in the North who helped raise funds to support SNCC's work in the South

– SNCC's major contribution was in its fieldwork, organizing voter registration drivesall over the South, especially in Georgia,Alabama, and Mississippi.

– In 1961 SNCC began expanding its activitiesfrom direct-action protests against segregation into other forms of organizing, most notably voter registration.

• Ending– After the Democratic convention of 1964, the group began to split into two factions –

one favoring a continuation of nonviolent, integration-oriented redress of grievances within the existing political system, and the other moving towards Black Power and revolutionary ideologies. In 1965 the white members were expelled.

• Activities– SNCC played a major role in many civil

rights movement activities:• The sit-ins and freedom rides• The 1963 March on Washington

Freedom Summer was a highly publicized campaign in the Deep South to register blacks to vote during the summer of 1964.

White local and state officials kept blacks from voting through formal methods, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, and through cruder methods of fear and intimidation.

The Freedom Summer campaign was organized by a coalition called the Mississippi Council.

FREEDOM SUMMER

The organization of the Mississippi Freedom Party (MFDP).

Officials established Freedom Schools in Mississippi. Freedom School buildings and the activists homes

were targeted by white supremacist groups. Most infamous act of violence was the murder of

three civil rights workers. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael

Schwerner.

FREEDOM SUMMER

The murders influenced national support for the Civil Rights Movement.

1965 Voting Rights Act- federal legislation that outlawed the tactics Southern states had used to prevent blacks from voting.

"Before the 1964 project there were people that wanted change, but they hadn't dared to come out. After 1964 people began moving. To me it's one of the greatest things that ever happened in Mississippi.” –Fannie Lou Hamer

Freedom Summer left a positive legacy on America.

FREEDOM SUMMER

Civil Rights Act of 1964Enacted July 2, 1964

Purpose?• Outlawed major forms of discrimination • Protected African-Americans and women• “Ended” racial segregation in the United States

Illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex,

and national origin.

Mississippi Burning: 1964• CORE, NAACP, SNCC organized their

freedom campaign- concentrated in Mississippi

•Objective: to end political inequality of African Americans

•Also established 30 Freedom schools- targets for white mobs

•June 21, 1964: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were

all shot dead on the way home from visiting the site of a firebombing

•The FBI discovered the bodies, buried on Old Jolly Farm, on August, 1964

Mississippi Burning continued• October 13, 1964: James Jordan

(KKK member) agreed to cooperate with the FBI in their investigation of the murders.

• Impossible to try the men and get a conviction in front of a white Mississippi judge, so the government decided to charge 19 members of the mob with conspiring to deprive the three men of their civil rights (1870 law)

• Judge William Cox dismissed 17 of the men, supreme court overruled and Mississippi Burning Trials started on October 11, 1967

• 7 of the of the 19 men were found guilty of depriving the three men of their civil rights.

• On June 21st Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of the man slaughter of the three men

Sources: Spartacus.com and google images

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmAqrMtB-Qg

Muhammad Ali• Born January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky

• Birth name is Cassius Marcellus Clay

• Began boxing in high school after learning from a policeman, and continued on to become the world heavyweight champion in 1967.

• Proclaimed “I am the greatest!” after a streak of wins

• “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”

• Took the name “Muhammad Ali” after making a religious change and joining the Nation of Islam (also known as the Black Muslims)

Clay vs United States• In 1967, Ali was drafted but he refused

and stated it was against his religion.

• He was charged with violating the Selective Service Act

• Convicted of draft evasion and charged a $10,000 fine and five years in prison

• A judge ruled in 1970 that Ali could still box

• A fight was scheduled with Joe Frazier, the new heavyweight champion

• In the same year, Ali went back to court and won the case and went on to continue boxing and reclaim his title.

• Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease later in life

Malcom X Malcolm X, born as Malcolm Little in

Omaha in 1925. He moved to NYC, where he

became involved with drugs and crime. He was imprisoned at 21.

While in prison, he converted to the Nation of Islam, a sect that called for strict behavior, and demanded for a separation of races.

1964, he broke away from the Nation of Islam, due to a clash with the leader, Elijah Muhammad. He formed his own organization, the Organization of Afro-American unity.

Malcolm’s beliefs went against the civil rights movement’s idea of integration.

He later leaves to makes a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Malcolm X was a minister of the nation of Islam. He preached about self-reliance and self-protection. He supported black pride and black nationalism. His powerful speeches led many people to follow his cause.

Assassination • Upon his return to the United

States, Malcolm was willing to consider a limited acceptance of whites. The Muslims from the Nation of Islam considered Malcolm to be a hypocrite.

• On February 21st, 1965, Malcolm was shot and killed by Black Muslims from the Nation of Islam, as he was about to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Harlem.

• He was 39.Significance

He offered younger generations of blacks a more aggressive option as opposed to Dr. King’s peaceful integration. He inspired the rise of “black power” and groups such as the Black Panthers.

SELMA, ALABAMA

A major campaign took place to pressure federal government to enact voting rights legislation in 1965 • Martin Luther King Jr. led Southern Christian Leadership Conference

(SCLC)

The protests involved a series of confrontations on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. • The first confrontation (March 7, 1965) became known as “Bloody

Sunday.”

Protesters attempting to march from Selma to Montgomery were attacked by state and local authorities.• Television coverage of the violence outraged the nation.

• After the federalization of National Guard troops, President Johnson helped the protesters finally achieve their goal

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed later that year, guaranteeing the right to vote to ALL African Americans

• Especially in the Deep South, African American participation skyrocketed• 63% increase in number of African American registered voters

SELMA, ALABAMA

Watts Riots (8/11-15/1965)

• The Watts Riots were a severe series of racial riots named after the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.

• What began as a simple arrest on a suspected black drunk driver quickly grew into a major riot, where the police ended up having rocks and other objects thrown at them. After the first night, meetings were made to try to keep the peace, but they failed.

• One the rioting got violent enough, police got physically attacked, firemen were blocked from doing their duties, and stores suspected of discrimination were burned or looted.

• Eventually, the National Guard had to be called in to stop the angry, violent crowds and keep order, and martial law was declared in the area.

The Aftermath of the Watts Riots

• It took four days to calm the neighborhood and stop the riot.

• Around 30 people were killed during the chaos, and over a thousand more were injured as a result of the incident.

• Almost three times as many people were arrested at the time, and millions of dollars of property were lost due to arson, looting, and other methods of property damage.

• Unsurprisingly, most of the property damage that was done was inflicted on white properties, especially the discriminatory ones.

• The Watts Riots were one of the first major civil rights riots, with over 30,000 people actively participating during them.

Carmichael was a radical civil rights leader in the 1960’s

Was arrested for participating in the “march against fear.” Upon release he gave his first “Black Power” speech

Used the phrase to encourage black pride and socio-economic independence

Carmichael helped to increase the number or registered black voters from 70 to 2,600 in Lowndes County, Alabama

Stokely Carmichael calls for “Black Power”

Black Power was an idea that African Americans needed to unite and work together for civil rights. It became a political force to either elect representatives or force their representatives to speak their needs

It became the rallying cry for young African Americans throughout the Country

Black Panthers• They were founded in

October 1966 • Huey Newton and Bobby

Seal founded the party for self-defense

• They fought to establish revolutionary socialism

• This group followed Malcom X’s beliefs

• Party’s agenda was to establish real economic, social, and political equality across gender and color lines

Original six black panthers: Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Huey P. Newton, Sherman Forte, Bobby Seale, Reggie Forte, and Little Bobby Hutton

• April 25th, 1967-the first issue of The Black Panther, the party’s official news organ, goes into distribution

• The next month the party marches into the capital of California with weapons in protest of the state’s attempt to outlaw carrying loaded weapons in publico Kindles the fire to the resistance movement in the U.S.o Initiating minority workers to take up arms and form new

Panther chapters outside the state• October 1967-police arrest the Defense Minister of the

Panthers, Huey Newton, for killing a copo Panther Eldridge Cleaver begins the “Free Huey”

movement• 1968-Mao’s Red Book becomes a requirement in the club• 1969-set up kitchens in cities across the country, feeding

more than 10,000 children every day before they go to school

I pledge allegiance to my Black People.I pledge to develop my mind and body to the greatest extent possible.I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my People in their struggle for liberation.I will keep myself physically fit, building a strong body free from drugs and other substances which weaken me and make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my Black brothers and sisters.I will unselfishly share my knowledge and understanding with them in order to bring about change more quickly.I will discipline myself to direct my energies thoughtfully and constructively rather than wasting them in idle hatred.I will train myself never to hurt or allow others to harm my Black brothers and sisters for I recognize that we need every Black Man, Woman, and Child to be physically, mentally and psychologically strong.These principles I pledge to practice daily and to teach them to others in order to unite my People.

Thurgood Marshall

• Civil rights activist, attorney, and judge

• Won more cases before the US Supreme Court than any other American

• Became the first African American to be a justice on the Supreme Court on October 2nd, 1967

Thurgood Marshall• Served as justice for 24

years before retiring• Supported individual rights • Believed in the

Constitution and efficiency of the law to eliminate racial discrimination

• One of the most effective civil rights crusaders in the 20th century

Edward Brooke (1966-1978)• Served for the US Army in WWII• First African-American to be elected into the

senate by popular vote• Only African American to have ever been re-elected in the Senate

Brooke’s Main Objectives

• Low-income housing• Increase minimum wage• Racial equality in the South• Mass transit systems and commuter rail

subsidies

Martin Luther King Jr’s Assassination• King was shot on April 4, 1968, standing on the balcony in front of his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.• The FBI arrested James Earl Ray• However, many people including some of King’s own family believed him to be innocent.• They believed the FBI to be partially if not fully responsible for his death.• Ray was captured on June 8, and Sentenced to 99 years in prison.

The .30 caliber bullet entered through his right cheek, through his neck severing his spinal cord, and stopped at his shoulder blade.

After the assassination riots broke out all across the country.