In 1937, Malcolm was taken from his family by welfare caseworkers. By the time he reached high school age, he had dropped out of school and moved to Boston, where he became increasingly involved in criminal activities. In 1946, at the age of 21, Malcolm was sent to prison on a burglary conviction. It was there he encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, whose members are popularly known as Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam advocated black nationalism and racial separatism and condemned Americans of European descent as immoral "devils."
In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home. Despite losing the first legal battle, Brown’s father did not give up. He found help from the NAACP, a prominent civil rights organisation which appealed on his behalf to the Supreme Court of USA. Following the appeal, in May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared the US Constitution to be ‘colour-blind’ and therefore ordered the Topeka Board of education to end segregation in its schools. This was one of the first major steps in the civil rights movement.
Rosa Parks, a former NAACP secretary, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This was the start of the Bus Boycotts. These were a string of non-violent protests throughout Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans made up approximately 70% of the city’s bus passengers and almost all of them stopped using the buses. A young pastor – Martin Luther King Jr, organized the campaign.
He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was just 39 years old. His birthday is now observed as a national holiday on the third Monday in January. Martin Luther King Jr., pastor and civil rights leader, was put into jail after being part of the Birmingham campaign. King was serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was asked by an Alabama group to come to Birmingham and participate in a "nonviolent direct-action program". He and members of his organization joined The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and organized non-violent protests against racial segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.
Martin Luther King is a African American civil rights activist that uses numerous techniques of peaceful protest to imrove the human rights of African americans. In 1954, he became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where Rosa Parks was famously arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. After Parks' arrest, King came to national prominence in the US. He was a leading figure in organising the boycott by African Americans of buses in Montgomery. Tutelage from Bayard Rustin, a prominent civil rights campaigner, helped King to commit to a principle of non-violent action heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's success in opposing the British in India.
“Knowledge is Power” Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little and also known as El-hakk Malik El-Shabazz, was a street hustler convicted of robbery in 1946. He spent six years in prison and used this time to enhance his education level simply by reading. After his release from prison, he became an influential leader, and member of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X became a heroic advocate for the rights of blacks and has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. After hitting rock bottom in 1946, at age 20, Malcolm x was sentenced to six years in prison for larceny and breaking and entering.
Segregation After the civil war in the USA, the African Americans gain “equal” rights. But the 14th amendment in 1868 (Absolute equality of the two races before the law) didn’t include “social rights” which meant that they didn’t get much choices in society, like choosing where you wanted to sit on a bus. This still made the African Americans feel inferior, knowing that within their home town the “whites” had the choices, and actual freedom. Blacks responded to their situation in 4 ways as their situation began to worsen from 1877. They would co-operate with any willing whites, migrate to the North or West, protest politically and would follow accommodationism.
After the Rosa Parks incident, she and King organised the black boycott of Montgomery bus system in 1955. Once King realised he was achieving more rights for black people he led non-violent protests throughout America. Eight years after the boycott, King led a protest in Birmingham, Alabama. However the white people in Alabama didn’t approve of this and it turned into a violent protest, and King was arrested for his participation in the protest. Along with King, police arrested 1000 other protesters and many were beat with whips and clubs.
She refused to give up her seat at the front road of the colored section to a white person. Then, the police came to force her to get out of the bus and arrested her. Her movements created a bigger movement include all the blacks in Alabama. All the blacks started boycott on bus, it affects lots of Bus Company shut down their business. This event was a major affair that leaded
One must understand what happened before Bloody Sunday in order to understand why it took place to begin with. Before Bloody Sunday, another “non violent” night march was arranged to protest the arrest of James Orange in 1965. During this “peaceful” march, civil rights advocate, Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot and killed by an Alabama state trooper. This tragic event inspired people to stand up against inequality, and a march