Our Civil Rights Movement
OUR BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT was an over 15-year long, nationwide struggle by Original African Americans to end racial segregation and discrimination, and achieve empowerment, equal rights and opportunities for our people in the United States.
THIS MOVEMENT INCLUDED nationwide organized strategies and crucial events that primarily took place from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, although its origins and legacy extend before and beyond those years.
OPPOSITION:
It was met with fierce resistance from racist white supremacists and segregationists, including violence, intimidation, and legal challenges to civil rights legislation.
IMPACT:
The Civil Rights Movement achieved significant legal and social changes, including the dismantling of Jim Crow laws, increased access to voting rights, and landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
CRUCIAL ORGANIZED EVENTS:
Brown v. Board of Education (Protest & Overturn of Public School Segregation - 1954)
Montgomery Bus Boycott (Mass protest against racial segregation of public transit in Montgomery, AL - 1955–1956)
Little Rock, AR school segregation Protest (After the Brown v. Board, Supreme Court decision - 1957)
Desegregation Sit-ins (such as Greensboro, NC & Nashville, TN sit-ins - 1960)
Freedom Rides (For Integration of Interstate Bus Terminals - 1961)
Birmingham Alabama Campaign (Peaceful Protest Against Segregation met with Violence - 1963)
March on Washington ("I have a Dream" speech of Martin L. King - 1963)
Selma to Montgomery Marches (To overturn suppression of Black Voters leading to Voting Right Act - 1965)
LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
Our Civil Rights Movement outlawed legal racial segregation, and resulted in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned discrimination against our people, and also resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected our people's right to vote in America.
LEGACY:
Our civil rights movement's legacy continues to shape American society by dismantling discriminatory U.S. laws against our people, and inspiring ongoing conversations about racial injustice, equality, and the fight against systemic discrimination, which has also benefitted more recent black immigrants, and other immigrants of color to the United States.
