Untitled Flashcards Set

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 Supreme Court case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

24th Amendment

Ratified in 1964; prohibited poll taxes in federal elections, helping to eliminate barriers to Black voting rights.

Civil Rights Act, 1964

Landmark legislation that outlawed segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act, 1965

Banned discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests and authorized federal oversight in areas with a history of voter suppression.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP attorney who argued Brown v. Board; later became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights activist who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Leader of the Civil Rights Movement known for nonviolent protest and his 'I Have a Dream' speech.

Malcolm X

Civil rights leader and spokesperson for the Nation of Islam who advocated for Black empowerment and self-defense.

Stokely Carmichael

SNCC leader who popularized the phrase 'Black Power' and pushed for more militant strategies.

Angela Davis

Scholar, activist, and member of the Black Panther Party known for her advocacy for prisoners’ rights and racial justice.

James Meredith

First African American student to integrate the University of Mississippi in 1962, protected by federal forces.

George Wallace

Segregationist Alabama governor who famously declared 'segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.'

Medgar Evers

NAACP field secretary in Mississippi assassinated in 1963 for his civil rights work.

Bull Connor

Birmingham police commissioner known for violently suppressing civil rights protests with fire hoses and police dogs.

Barry Goldwater

Conservative senator and 1964 presidential candidate who opposed the Civil Rights Act on constitutional grounds.

Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society

A set of domestic programs launched in the 1960s aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice.

Southern Manifesto

1956 document signed by Southern congressmen opposing racial integration of public places following Brown v. Board.

Little Rock Central High School/Little Rock 9

A group of Black students who integrated the school in 1957 amid a federal showdown with Arkansas’ governor.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Year-long protest (1955–56) against segregated buses, sparked by Rosa Parks and led by Dr. King.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Organization founded by Dr. King and others to coordinate nonviolent protests.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

Youth-led civil rights group that organized sit-ins, freedom rides, and voter registration drives.

Lunch counter sit-ins

Nonviolent protests by Black students to desegregate lunch counters in the South, starting in Greensboro, NC, in 1960.

Project C (Confrontation)

1963 campaign in Birmingham by SCLC using nonviolent protests to provoke mass arrests and public attention.

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Dr. King’s defense of nonviolent resistance to racism, written in response to criticism from white clergy.

March on Washington, 1963

Massive civil rights rally where Dr. King delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech advocating for racial justice.

I Have a Dream Speech

Dr. King’s iconic speech during the March on Washington envisioning a racially integrated and just America.

Freedom Summer

1964 campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi, led by SNCC, CORE, and other groups, met with violent resistance.

March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

1965 protest marches for voting rights; 'Bloody Sunday' saw peaceful marchers attacked by police.

Black Power Movement

Emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and self-determination for African Americans.

Black Muslims

Refers mainly to the Nation of Islam, a religious group advocating for Black separation and empowerment.

Black Panthers/Bobby Seale & Huey P. Newton

Founded the Black Panther Party in 1966 to combat police brutality and promote Black self-defense and social programs.

War on Poverty

Part of Johnson’s Great Society; included programs aimed at eliminating poverty.