Women in civil rights movement

Emmett Till case:

Mamie Till – decided to leave Emmett Till’s casket open at the funeral to show the world how he had been murdered

Montgomery Bus Boycott:

Rosa Parks – refused to give up her seat on the bus “I don’t think I should have to stand up”

White women would help transport black women (especially their maids) to aid with the bus boycott.

Education:

Autherine Lucy – Admitted to a university in Alabama in February of 1956 (following Brown v Board). The night she arrived there were protests which continued to the point where Autherine was suspended for her own safety. The university then expelled her to stop the riots.

Elizabeth Eckford – Famous photo of her walking into little rock with Hazel Bryan behind her screaming “Go home, n*gger! Go back to Africa”. She had missed the call to join the others which led to her walking in alone.

Ruby Bridges – First black child to go and all white primary school in Louisiana.

Sit ins: lead by Diane Nash and Angela Butler

Key figures

- Angela Davis: “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society” (more on the radicalisation of the civil rights movement)

- Kathleen Cleaver: started the “Black is Beautiful” campaign

- Nina Simone: made many songs about the civil rights movement (e.g. “to be young, gifted, and black”)

- Fannie Lou Hamer: Helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and delivered a well-reported speech at a convention demanding that the MFDP be admitted as the official delegation from Mississippi.

- Amelia Boynton: co-led the Dallas County Voters League which worked with the SNCC to pass a voter registration campaign in Selma which culminated in the Selma Marches