Important Dates in History
1954
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka supreme court case deems segregation illegal
This case took on segregation within school systems or the separation of white and black students within public schools. Up until this case, many states had laws establishing separate schools for white students and another for black students. This landmark case made those laws unconstitutional.
The decision was handed down on May 17, 1954. It overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which had allowed states legalize segregation within schools. The chief justice in the case was Justice Earl Warren. His court’s decision was a unanimous 9-0 decision that said, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The ruling essentially led the way for the civil rights movement and essentially integration across the United States.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka supreme court case deems segregation illegal
This case took on segregation within school systems or the separation of white and black students within public schools. Up until this case, many states had laws establishing separate schools for white students and another for black students. This landmark case made those laws unconstitutional.
The decision was handed down on May 17, 1954. It overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which had allowed states legalize segregation within schools. The chief justice in the case was Justice Earl Warren. His court’s decision was a unanimous 9-0 decision that said, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The ruling essentially led the way for the civil rights movement and essentially integration across the United States.
1957
Federal troops are sent to Little Rock, Arkansas by Dwight Eisenhower to enforce the desegregation of Central High School. The troops are also instructed to protect nine African-American students who are enrolled in the school and remain for the entire academic year.
Federal troops are sent to Little Rock, Arkansas by Dwight Eisenhower to enforce the desegregation of Central High School. The troops are also instructed to protect nine African-American students who are enrolled in the school and remain for the entire academic year.
1965
- Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Months later, writer Alex Haley publishes The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
- During the month of March, several civil protests occurred throughout Alabama. On March 7, an estimated 600 civil rights activists held a march from Selma to Montgomery protesting the denial of African-American voting rights in the state. On March 21, Martin Luther King, Jr. spearheads a five-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery. The protest retraced the original marches and began with 3300 participants and grew to 25,000 marchers by the time it reached the Alabama capital four days later. Following this actions, President Lyndon Johnson proposes the Voting Rights Act to Congress, which would guarantee African-American voting throughout southern states. In August, the Act is signed into law.
The Black Arts Movement (1965-1975)
The Black Arts Movement was formally established in 1965 when Baraka opened the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem. The movement spread to Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, and San Francisco, California.
Although the creative works of the movement were often profound and innovative, they also often alienated both black and white mainstream culture with their raw shock value which often embraced violence. Some of the most prominent works were also seen as racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and sexist. Many works put forth a black hyper masculinity in response to historical humiliation and degradation of African American men but usually at the expense of some black female voices.
The movement began to fade when Baraka and other leading members shifted from Black Nationalism Marxism in the mid-1970s, a shift that alienated many who had previously identified with the movement. Additionally Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Gil Scott-Heron, Maya Angelou, and James Baldwin achieved cultural recognition and economic success as their works began to be celebrated by the white mainstream. ( Hannah Foster, BlackPast.org)
Although the creative works of the movement were often profound and innovative, they also often alienated both black and white mainstream culture with their raw shock value which often embraced violence. Some of the most prominent works were also seen as racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and sexist. Many works put forth a black hyper masculinity in response to historical humiliation and degradation of African American men but usually at the expense of some black female voices.
The movement began to fade when Baraka and other leading members shifted from Black Nationalism Marxism in the mid-1970s, a shift that alienated many who had previously identified with the movement. Additionally Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Gil Scott-Heron, Maya Angelou, and James Baldwin achieved cultural recognition and economic success as their works began to be celebrated by the white mainstream. ( Hannah Foster, BlackPast.org)
Sources for further research
"1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and 3 civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. It was the year when Berkeley students rose up in protest, African Americans fought back against injustice in Harlem, and Barry Goldwater’s conservative revolution took over the Republican Party. In myriad ways, 1964 was the year when Americans faced choices."
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Roscoe Jones of Mississippi recounts his life during segregation and why we need to teach this history to our children.
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Eyes on the Prize film tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today.