introduction

The Civil Rights movement developed in the United States to campaign for equal rights for American citizens, regardless of the colour of their skin.

​It had existed in the USA for decades in the long fight for justice. However, it began to develop into a highly effective mass movement in the 1950's and 60's, inspired by some of the greatest Americans in History.  We are going to look at who they were; who led them; what were their tactics and finally we are going to work out how effective they were. 

Rosa Parks is one of the most inspirational Americans. Her quiet dignity and determination helped to change America and her actions resonated around the world. 

• Rosa was born in 1913 and lived in Montgomery, Alabama (one of the Southern states of the USA) 
• Rosa experienced the Jim Crow Laws in the southern states. She experienced discrimination, prejudice and segregation. 
• Rosa worked in a department store and had to use the bus to get to work. The bus was always segregated with the African Americans confined to the back of the bus. They had to give up their seats to White people if the bus was full
• On December 1st 1955 Rosa refused to give up her seat for a white person. The bus driver tried to force her to give up her seat. The police were called and still she refused to move. 
• The act of defiance caused huge publicity. It would lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott - a movement which would help change America. 

civil rights journey by manny mann

 warning: very strong language

We are going to look at TWO Civil rights activists from the 1960’s—Martin Luther King Junior and Malcolm X. Both had different views and tactics of how to achieve equality in the USA. 

In many ways the world has moved on immensely since the 1950's and 60's. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. Since then African Americans have made a great deal of progress economically socially and politically. 

However, this has not been an easy route or one that is complete. There have been race riots at various stages over continuing injustice.  Police brutality in parts of the United States has been exposed with the beating of Rodney King in the 1990's and the unlawful killings of numerous African Americans. This has led to the Black Lives Matter movement. This has demonstrated clearly that the issue of race is far from solved in the United States.

The pinnacle of progress was perhaps Barack Obama becoming the first African American President of the United States in 2008. Progress is painful but it is still progress.