The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement was a post-war error that marked a period of unprecedented energy against the second class citizenshipaccordingto many African Americans indifferent parts of the nation. There were different strategies to helpwiththe resistance to racial segregation and discrimination. Some of these were civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, and things like that. Some major things were the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and sit-ins.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott started in December of 1955, when Rosa Parks would not give up her seat to a white person. She got onto a city bus after a long day of work. She was a seamtres;she sat with three other blacks in the fifth row. It was the first row they could occupy. A couple of stops later, a white man was left standing. Well since both blacks and whites could not sit together they were told to move. All but Parks moved and for this she was arrested. E. D. Nixon heard that she wasarrested and went to the jail and posted bond for Parks. He asked herif he could break down segregation on the bus with her case. They agreed and that night Jo Ann put the one-day boycott into action. They distributed flyers and waited for the ministers and civil rights leaders to discuss the boycott. It didn't go well because Reverand L. Roy Bennett took control of the meeting. Many left and others were going to leave. They agreed to meet again on Monday night if the boycott went well. The boycott did go well and they decided to call themselves the Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA) at the next meeting. King was elected president. The boycott went on for a long time. IT ended on November 13,1956 when the Supreme Court declared segregation on buses uncontitutional. The March on Washington was learned about through local civil rights and church groups. People came from all over on "freedom buses" and "freedom trains". Over 20 trains and 1,000 chartered buses were used. Their were about 250,000 people who came and 60,000 of them were white. The March was not only speakers and marching, but there were some entertainment. The March was opened with A. Phillip Randolph in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There was also a group of U.S. Senators and Representatives. There were 9 demands made at the March of Washington. The crowd grew as the March continued. Then Martin Luther King Jr. spoke. He was the most popular of all the civil rights leaders. He delievered his "I Have A Dream" speech that was heard on television stations