Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started on December 1, 1955. This was when the blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, came together and decided that they would boycott the buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being forced to give up their seats in the front for the whites.
Greensboro Sit-Ins 1960
On February 1, 1960, a new protest was founded for people pro the Civil Rights Movement.Four African American college students walked up to a whites-only lunch counter at the local Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked for coffee. When service was refused, the students just remained seated where they were. Even though they were threatened, the students sat without moving or talking and waited to be served.
The Freedom Rides 1961
Public transportation was segregated until 1961 when CORE started to organize freedom rides. The first freedom ride took place on May 4, 1961. Protesters would board a train or bus in the North and ride into the Deep South. These protests were met with violent attackers that did not approve of the desegregated public transportation. Violence was so bad that pressure was put onto President Kennedy to end it.
Freedom Summer 1964
Freedom Summer was the summer of 1964 during which the campaign in the Deep South to register blacks to vote climaxed. The campaign focused on Mississippi because of the extremely low African American voting statistics. Many organizations including Mississippi Freedom Party, and Mississippi Council of Federated Organizations were created during Freedom Summer.
Watts Riots 1965
The Watts Riots were in response to the arrest of a young African American motorcyclist. During this arrest, which happened on August 11, 1965, tensions rose and violence started between the police and the crowd that gathered. After this violence, more violence was spread on a wide scale.
Newark Riot of 1967
The Newark Riot of 1967 began with the arrest of a cab driver named John Smith, who apparently had driven around a double-parked police car at the corner of 7th St. and 15th Avenue. He was arrested and taken to a jail. There, Civil Rights leaders begged the crowd outside to stay calm, but they were shouted down.
Detroit Race Riot 1967
The Detroit Race Riot in 1967 was a response to police brutality but also segregated housing and schools and the ever-so increasing black unemployment rate. For all these causes, there was a massive riot at a Detroit bar when police raided an after hours party for two black men returning from Vietnam.
Memphis Workers Strike of 1968
On February 1,1968, two Memphis garbage collectors, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck. The city failed to do anything about this. Twelve days later, 1,300 black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike.
March on Washington
Led by notable representatives from various Civil Rights groups, 250,000 Americans participated in a peaceful demonstration in Washington D.C. Taking place 100 years after tthe Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the march mainly took place at the Lincoln Memorial. Here, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most famous speeches in American history, the "I Have a Dream" speech. This moving speech was the final part of a day whos purpose was to peacefully call attention to the changes that needed to be made in America regarding segregation and racism. Other speeches given throughout the day were made by A. Phillip Randolph from the Negro American Labor Council, Whitney Young from the NUL, Roy Wilkins from the NAACP, James Farmer from CORE, and Bayard Rustin. These five men, along with Dr. King (founder of the SCLC), made up "the big six".