Martin Luther King Jr.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was born April 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia during the Great Depression. He witnessed the segregation and the inequality between African American's and whites. His father was a Baptist minister and protested for equal rights in voting and in salary for African Americans. King's father was a very big role model for him. After college, King was ordained a minister and was the minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, he witnessed the horrible inequality and violence towards African Americans. Then the Montgomery Improvement Association made King the lead the new group. This group began the protest of the arrest of Rosa Parks for sitting in the "white section" of a public bus. King used his leadership abilities to come up with a protest strategy in order to get a wide range of public support. King started to use Gandhi's non violence ideas combined with Christian thoughts. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually outlawed racial segregation and King was very happy. He, then, expanded his non-violence civil rights movement. King lead many marches and gave many speeches. His most famous speech is his "I have a Dream" speech, which was given in Washington D.C. King became very well known internationally. He, basically, started the civil rights movement and is the most well- known civil rights activist of this time. His ideas of change helped not only African Americans, but women and other groups. His revolutionary ideas changed the lives of African Americans and many others forever. He was even awarded the Nobel Peace Price for all of his work. He was, unfortunately, assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by a white segregationist, James Earl Ray. His legacy will be remembered forever.
By: Alycia B.
By: Alycia B.
Medgar Evers
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Medgar Evers was a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP. He was a civil rights activist and worked very closely with black church leaders and other civil rights activists. He was an insurance salesman, but he eventually quit, in order to work for the NAACP full time. Within no time, he was one of the most vocal and prominent NAACP leaders in Mississippi. Since Medgar was so proactive for the Civil Rights movement he received many death threats and phone calls. The threats became more and more violent and someone even threw a fire bomb into his house. Then when Medgar was walking into his house at night, he was shot in the back and was killed. Medgar was one of the very first people to be killed for his belief in civil rights, so he has become known as of the "first martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement". Medgar Ever's death provoked President Kennedy to ask Congress for a Civil Rights bill, which President Johnson signed into a law the next year. Although Medgar Ever's died prematurely, he made a very important mark in the Civil Rights Movement.
By: Alycia B.
By: Alycia B.
Malcolm X
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Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He had a very hard childhood. Not only did he have to face the segregation and degradation of white, but his father also beat him and his siblings. His father was killed by a streetcar when the family was living in Lansing, Michigan. This caused a lot of emotional and psychological pain for his mother, who was eventually institutionalized. Malcolm went to jail for burglary and it was there he met a man named Elijah Mohammad. Elijah told him about the Nation of Islam (Black Islam) and when Malcolm got out of jail he converted to the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam's main belief was that black were the superior race to everyone. They were black supremacists. Malcolm worked for Elijah when he was out of jail and when he was working for Elijah the Nation of Islam was very impressed with his leadership so they had him start up mosques in Boston and Philadelphia. Malcolm used his teachings from the Nation of Islam to inform blacks that they need to understand their exploitation, fight back when necessary, and to get self-determination "by any means necessary". Malcolm X was a very angry man when it came to racial rights. He was the exact opposite of Martin Luther King Jr. and he believed that violence was necessary in certain situations. Many people did not like Malcolm's beliefs so when he was giving a speech 3 men stood up and shot him 16 times. He died before medical help could arrive.
By:Alycia B.
By:Alycia B.
President Kennedy and Johnson
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John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. The Democratic nominee for president promised active leadership "to get America moving again." His Republican opponent, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, hoped to win by riding on the coattails of Eisenhower's popularity. Both candidates had similar policy issues. Two factors helped put Kennedy over the top: television and the civil rights issue. Kennedy had a well-organized campaign and the backing of his wealthy family, and was handsome and charismatic. Yet many felt that, at 43, he was too inexperienced. If elected, he would be the second youngest president in the nation's history. Americans also worried that having a Roman Catholic in the White House would lead either to influence of the pope on American policies or to closer ties between church and state.
Kennedy and Nixon took part in the first televised debate between presidential candidates. However, Kennedy had been coached by television producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon.
Police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrested the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and 33 other African American demonstrators for sitting at a segregated lunch counter. The Eisenhower administration refused to intervene, and Nixon took no public position. When Kennedy heard of the arrest and sentencing, he telephoned King's wife, Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, his brother and campaign manager, persuaded the judge who had sentenced King to release the civil rights leader on bail, pending appeal. News of the incident captured the immediate attention of the African American community, whose votes would help Kennedy carry key states in the Midwest and South.
The election in November 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by fewer than 119,000 votes.
Continued protests, an economic boycott, and negative media coverage finally convinced Birmingham officials to end segregation. This stunning civil rights victory inspired African Americans across the nation. It also convinced President Kennedy that only a new civil rights act could end racial violence and satisfy the demands of African Americans––and many whites––for racial justice. In 1963, Kennedy began to focus more closely on the issues at home. He called for a "national assault on the causes of poverty." He also ordered Robert Kennedy's Justice Department to investigate racial justices in the South. Finally, he presented Congress with a sweeping civil rights bill and a proposal to cut taxes by over $10 billion.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Johnson's deft handling of Congress led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, a voting rights measure that was the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Johnson's knack for achieving legislative results had captured John F. Kennedy's attention, too, during Kennedy's run for the White House. To Kennedy, Johnson's congressional connections and his Southern Protestant background compensated for his own drawbacks as a candidate, so he asked Johnson to be his running mate. Johnson's presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the South, especially Texas, which went Democratic by 47,000 votes.
In the wake of Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress. It was the fifth day of his administration. "All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today," he began. Kennedy had inspired Americans to begin to solve national and world problems. Johnson urged Congress to pass the civil rights and tax-cut bills that Kennedy had sent to Capitol Hill. Then in July, Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, persuading Southern senators to stop blocking its passage. It prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and sex and granted the federal government new powers to enforce its provisions.
At the start of 1965, the SCLC conducted a major voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, where SNCC had been working for two years to register voters. After a demonstrator named Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot and killed, King responded by announcing a 50-mile protest march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. On March 7, 1965, about 600 protesters set out for Montgomery. That night, mayhem broke out. Television cameras captured the scene. The rest of the nation watched in horror as police swung whips and clubs, and clouds of tear gas swirled around fallen marchers. Demonstrators poured into Selma by the hundreds. Ten days later, President Johnson presented Congress with a new voting rights act and asked for its swift passage, and that summer, Congress finally passed Johnson's Voting Rights Act of 1965.
By: Hannah L.
Kennedy and Nixon took part in the first televised debate between presidential candidates. However, Kennedy had been coached by television producers, and he looked and spoke better than Nixon.
Police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrested the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and 33 other African American demonstrators for sitting at a segregated lunch counter. The Eisenhower administration refused to intervene, and Nixon took no public position. When Kennedy heard of the arrest and sentencing, he telephoned King's wife, Coretta Scott King, to express his sympathy. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, his brother and campaign manager, persuaded the judge who had sentenced King to release the civil rights leader on bail, pending appeal. News of the incident captured the immediate attention of the African American community, whose votes would help Kennedy carry key states in the Midwest and South.
The election in November 1960 was the closest since 1884; Kennedy won by fewer than 119,000 votes.
Continued protests, an economic boycott, and negative media coverage finally convinced Birmingham officials to end segregation. This stunning civil rights victory inspired African Americans across the nation. It also convinced President Kennedy that only a new civil rights act could end racial violence and satisfy the demands of African Americans––and many whites––for racial justice. In 1963, Kennedy began to focus more closely on the issues at home. He called for a "national assault on the causes of poverty." He also ordered Robert Kennedy's Justice Department to investigate racial justices in the South. Finally, he presented Congress with a sweeping civil rights bill and a proposal to cut taxes by over $10 billion.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Johnson's deft handling of Congress led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, a voting rights measure that was the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Johnson's knack for achieving legislative results had captured John F. Kennedy's attention, too, during Kennedy's run for the White House. To Kennedy, Johnson's congressional connections and his Southern Protestant background compensated for his own drawbacks as a candidate, so he asked Johnson to be his running mate. Johnson's presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the South, especially Texas, which went Democratic by 47,000 votes.
In the wake of Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress. It was the fifth day of his administration. "All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today," he began. Kennedy had inspired Americans to begin to solve national and world problems. Johnson urged Congress to pass the civil rights and tax-cut bills that Kennedy had sent to Capitol Hill. Then in July, Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, persuading Southern senators to stop blocking its passage. It prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and sex and granted the federal government new powers to enforce its provisions.
At the start of 1965, the SCLC conducted a major voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, where SNCC had been working for two years to register voters. After a demonstrator named Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot and killed, King responded by announcing a 50-mile protest march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. On March 7, 1965, about 600 protesters set out for Montgomery. That night, mayhem broke out. Television cameras captured the scene. The rest of the nation watched in horror as police swung whips and clubs, and clouds of tear gas swirled around fallen marchers. Demonstrators poured into Selma by the hundreds. Ten days later, President Johnson presented Congress with a new voting rights act and asked for its swift passage, and that summer, Congress finally passed Johnson's Voting Rights Act of 1965.
By: Hannah L.
Shirley Chisholm
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Shirley Chisholm was a member of the NAACP and she held a position in the Seventeenth Assembly District. Her main achievement in her position in the Seventeenth Assembly District was the passing of the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge program. This program provided education and counseling to African American and Hispanic college students. Later, Chisholm decided to run for a congressional seat. Many African Americans and Hispanics liked Chisholm because she was an African American and she spoke Spanish fluently and these two groups made up most of the congressional district that Chisholm was running for. Chisholm easily won the Democratic primary, but had more of a challenge in the general election. She was running against Republican, James Farmer. Chisholm and Farmer agreed on most issues except gender issues. Ultimately, the district's, overwhelming democratic population won Chisholm the election. With her victory, she became the first African American woman to be elected into Congress. Chisholm then went on, after a few terms in Congress, to announce that she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. She had very limited funding, so she did not win, but her main goal was to show other minorities that they could run for high- ranking positions in the government. By Chisholm announcing her candidacy, she became the first African American woman to run for a major party presidential nomination. Chisholm worked hard for racial equality through her work the House of Representatives. She believed the only way to overcome racism and prejudice was to work together with all races..
By: Alycia B.
By: Alycia B.
Freedom Riders
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Freedom Riders were African American and white protestors who rode around Mississippi and Alabama on a bus to challenge the segregation on buses down south. Many white segregationists in Mississippi and Alabama were angry that the Freedom Riders were doing this so they often were violent with the Freedom Riders. They were often assaulted and harassed as they went through cities. By doing these rides, the Freedom Riders were able to show how violent white segregationists are and what these African American people living in these places have to deal with. The Freedom Riders influenced big changes that would change the federal law forever. Within two years, federal rulings and lawsuits ended segregation in interstate travel. Then segregation was ended on trains, buses, and transportation terminals. Then the Justice Department, finally, outlawed segregation on planes. Then Congress passed legislation that prohibited segregation in public places for travel. Just by riding around cities on a bus, the Freedom Riders changed segregation laws forever.
By: Alycia B.
By: Alycia B.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was established in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Charles K. Steel, and Reverend Fred L. Shuttles. The SCLC was established "to carry on nonviolent crusades against the evil of second-class citizenship." The SCLC planned to have protest and demonstrations all throughout the south. The leaders of SCLC wanted to build their movement up in order to win the support of African Americans of all ages. Martin Luther King Jr. was the president of this group and he used his voice and ideas to gain momentum for this group. This group was the first civil rights group to begin in the South. This group, also, made black church prevalent in the civil rights movement and helped popularize the non-violence approach to the civil rights movement. The SCLC is best known for the demonstrations they put together in the south to protest segregation by focusing on the Jim Crow laws. Their demonstrations caused a lot of violent outbursts from white segregationists, but their efforts lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and their continued marches and demonstrations in Selma, Alabama lead to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The SCLC continues to fight for civil rights today.
By: Alycia B.
By: Alycia B.