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A Guide for Parents and Teachers

Recent eventshave led many parents and teachers to seek out resources to address issues of race and inequality with young children. We share with you here an excerpt from the book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. The book offers practical guidance to early childhood educators (including parents) for confronting barriers of prejudice, misinformation, and bias about specific aspects of personal and social identity; most importantly, it includes tips for adults and children to respect each other, themselves, and all people. Read more about anti-bias education. Also, see the Movement for Black Lives platform and Teaching Black Lives Matter.
By Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards
Adults sometimes ask: Aren't prejudice, discrimination, and anti-bias adult issues? Why bring children into it? In one sense, these are adult issues. Adults have the power to create, to teach, to maintain bias-and to eliminate it. In another sense, because the realities of prejudice and discrimination begin to affect children's development early, it is developmentally appropriate to address them in our work with young children.

Young children need caring adults to help them construct a positive sense of self and a respectful understanding of others. They need adults to help them begin to navigate and resist the harmful impact of prejudice and discrimination. A person's early childhood years lay the foundation for a developmental and experiential journey that continues into adulthood. With appropriate adult guidance, this foundation will be a strong one, providing the base for the next stages of healthy development and the skills a person needs to thrive and succeed in a complex, diverse world.

Anti-bias education is an integral part of the "bricks and mortar" of emotional well-being and social competence, as well as an emotional foundation upon which children fully develop their cognitive capacities. A healthy sense of self requires that children know and like who they are without feeling superior to others. Understanding and liking one's own personal and social identities open up the possibilities of building caring connections with others. Thinking critically about stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination takes away barriers to comfortable and respectful interactions with a wide range of people and gives children a tool to resist negative messages about their identities. Strong cognitive development is also enhanced when children develop curiosity, openness to multiple perspectives, and critical-thinking skills.

[Below are some topics to explore with your children. Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves has strategies, activities and ideas to spark discussion on each of these topics.]

Strategies for learning about physical differences and similarities

Creating a rich anti-bias learning environment sets the stage for discussion and activities about racial and other physical differences and similarities. The richer the environment, the more likely children will ask questions, even in classrooms where the staff and children come from similar racial backgrounds.

In all activities, highlight that physical diversity among people is desirable, and that all colors, shades, and shapes of people are beautiful. Talk about differences in a tone of delight and interest. Create a vocabulary that encourages children to look at themselves and others and admire their sameness and their uniqueness. Just as we do not wait until a child asks questions about how to read before planning how to provide a range of literacy learning opportunities, anti-bias education is the teacher's responsibility, not the child's, to initiate.

Caution-Never single out one specific child when you do activities about the physical characteristics linked to racial identity. Every activity should be about all of the children, as everyone has a racial identity. Moreover, doing activities about all children reinforces that differences and similarities can be found within each racial identity group as well as across groups.

Exploring skin color, hair, and eyes
Children are active observers of physical characteristics. As they become familiar with some of their own features and those of their classmates, help them to have vocabulary and ideas to understand sameness and difference. There are many ways to involve children in discovering similarities and differences among themselves, their teachers, and their families.

Focus on children's confusion about their own skin color
If, when you invite the children to make self-portraits, a child chooses colors that do not correspond to his actual skin, eye, or hair coloring, consider gently encouraging the child to choose the color closest to his skin color.

Expanding awareness of racial similarities and differences
After helping children become aware that the people within their family are alike and different, it is important to expand their knowledge and awareness to groups of people beyond those in the classroom and neighborhood. As children grow, they move into ever wider and more diverse settings, and we want them to be open to and respectful of all kinds of people they may encounter.

Fostering critical thinking and respectful relationships

Positive and accurate learning experiences about human differences and similarities help to give children a foundation for resisting incorrect and harmful messages about themselves and others. Preschoolers are ready to begin thinking critically about the accuracy and fairness of the information and images they encounter. They also have the capacity to use their developing empathy to understand that unfair behavior hurts people and can learn respectful ways of interacting with others. Teachers can use the following strategies to promote young children's development of these understandings and competencies.

Cultivate children's empathy and ways to deal with the hurt of stereotyping. Read books that depict children experiencing unfair treatment based on their racial identity.

Tell persona doll stories about a discriminatory incident between dolls, engaging children's empathy and problem-solving skills.

Intentionally plan activities to counter potential overgeneralizations or existing stereotypes in the children's general environment.

Support children as they demonstrate awareness of stereotyping.

Engage children in group action. It is empowering when we help children take something that is "unfair" into something "fair." Sometimes this involves addressing personal conflict, helping a child speak up for another child. But it is particularly powerful when children act together.

If we want children to thrive in a diverse world and choose to stand up for themselves and others, then we must choose to help young children make sense out of the confusing and often emotionally charged messages they receive about themselves and others. The commitment to support each child to develop pride and self-confidence and deep connections with others calls on us to foster all children's healthy racial identity. When we give children language to discuss their identities in an atmosphere of interest and delight, and the tools for addressing the unfairness they will inevitably encounter, then we know we have helped children construct a strong foundation for the next phases of their lives.

Early Childhood Books for Teaching about Racial Identity
More titles for young children about racial identity.

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Teaching Young Children about Race - Teaching for Change

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A Guide for Parents and Teachers Recent events have led many parents and teachers to seek out resources to address issues of race and inequality with young children. We share with you here an excerpt from the book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Civil Rights Teaching: Books for the Classroom

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Early Elem. | Upper Elem. Fiction | Upper Elem. Nonfiction | Middle Nonfiction | Middle Fiction | High School Nonfiction | High School Fiction | Teachers Here are some of the titles we recommend for teaching about the Civil Rights Movement.

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For Trinity Thompson, the decision of whether or not to address high-profile killings of black people with her second-graders was a no-brainer. She was teaching in Harlem soon after Eric Garner was killed by a police officer in a nearby New York City borough.

"How do I respond to this?" Thompson recalls asking herself. "And then from there, it was like, How do I respond to this- again?" Each time news reports covered another black person dying at the hands of police, her students-most of whom were black-asked more and more difficult questions. A career-long social justice educator, Thompson was committed to a response that focused not only on the problem, but also on how people were resisting it and seeking solutions.

And that meant teaching second-graders about Black Lives Matter (BLM).

She knew it was risky. When the Black Lives Matter movement comes up in conversation, it is often characterized in one of two ways: as the work of strategic activists drawing attention to and combating issues that harm black people, black communities and humanity at large, or as a movement marked by violent outbursts and driven by an exclusionary, racist, anti-police agenda.

This split gives some educators pause when it comes to teaching about BLM. Others embrace the topic, recognizing it as an opportunity to teach about collective action and to link past racial justice movements to the present. But all educators, by virtue of the fact that their students have either direct or mediated exposure to Black Lives Matter, should know the basic facts about the movement's central beliefs and practices.

Not all of us are like Thompson; the students who sit in front of us daily are not always directly affected by the killing of unarmed black people or any of the other injustices that plague our nation. But as teachers who function as caretakers, truth-seekers and advocates of justice, we can acknowledge how the threat of justice in one community is, to borrow from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a threat to justice in every community. We have a civic responsibility to be educated about Black Lives Matter and, as we learn, we must teach.

The Beginning and the Hashtag

The Black Lives Matter movement began with a commitment to ending police brutality and state-sanctioned violence and injustice against black people. It is also dedicated to affirming black people's "contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression," according to its founders. The movement was started by three black women-Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi-following the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Florida man who had shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, the preceding year. Garza took to social media the night of that acquittal, stating in part, "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter." A year later, Michael Brown, another unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri; the officer was not indicted. Shortly thereafter, the internet was filled with messages of outcry and support that included #BlackLivesMatter.

Since the Ferguson action in 2014, BLM has taken shape as a multichapter national organization; 37 chapters currently operate in the United States, one in Canada. Many BLM chapters and other organizations that embrace the movement mobilize people to demonstrate in communities where police shootings have occurred and to convene at large gatherings-such as political rallies-to bring awareness to police brutality. The website of the original group, blacklivesmatter.com, also lists other types of local and national events, such as teach-ins, panels and Twitter chats, and encourages organizers to submit their own events.

In an October 2016 interview with TEDWomen, Cullors explained what the movement means to her.

"Black Lives Matter is our call to action. It is a tool to a reimagined world where black people are free to exist, free to live. It is a tool for our allies to show up differently for us," she said. "I grew up in a neighborhood that was heavily policed. I witnessed my brothers and my siblings continuously stopped and frisked by law enforcement. I remember my home being raided. And one of the questions, as a child, I had was why? Why us? Black Lives Matter offers answers to the why."

Myths and Criticisms

People who don't follow Black Lives Matter usually become aware of the movement when news sites report on BLM actions or protests. What many people don't realize is that the leadership also embraces policy change and legislation as necessary elements to end oppression of black people-and that the work and the leadership are not limited to the Black Lives Matter network.

One common misconception about the BLM movement is that it is leaderless. But there isn't one leader; there are many. "BLM is composed of many local leaders and many local organizations including Black Youth Project 100, the Dream Defenders, the Organization for Black Struggle, Hands Up United, Millennial Activists United, and the Black Lives Matter national network," organizers explain on the website. "We demonstrate through this model that the movement is bigger than any one person."

Another misconception is that the movement is solely a mechanism for protest. In fact, the many people and organizations with agendas and goals that overlap and align with BLM have produced detailed policy demands and proposals for institutional reforms. Campaign Zero, for example, outlines a list of policy proposals largely focused on ending police brutality. It is a strategy for addressing one of the most visible, damaging and deadly symptoms of systemic racism. The Movement for Black Lives, a collective of more than 50 organizations, advances a platform covering six areas of domestic-policy reform, including economic justice and investment in equitable education and health care instead of criminalization and incarceration.

Many people, however, view the BLM movement as violent, seeking to "sow a racial divide" and intent on interrupting the work of police officers commissioned to protect and serve the public. For example, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, said in a television interview that the movement is "inherently racist" and "divides us." He further stated, "They don't mean 'black lives matter'; they mean 'let's agitate against the police matters.'"

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Why Teaching Black Lives Matter Matters | Part I

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For Trinity Thompson, the decision of whether or not to address high-profile killings of black people with her second-graders was a no-brainer. She was teaching in Harlem soon after Eric Garner was killed by a police officer in a nearby New York City borough. "How do I respond to this?"

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This toolkit shows how Teaching Tolerance's Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education can help foster safe and effective instruction about the sensitive and serious topic of slavery.

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Tuba Fats Jackson Square New Orleans May 2002 - Milenberg Joys

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We've all seen the beautiful costumes, heard the chants and beats of the drums, but the Mardi Gras Indians represent so much more than carnival season; they represent your neighborhood.

In the old days, the Indians would meet on Mardi Gras to settle grievances, usually with violence. Now, it's a much happier celebration.

To honor their heritage, different tribes of the Mardi Gras Indians play war games, in which they display the beautiful costumes they work on all year.

Each tribe's style and dress is on display in a friendly, but competitive manner. They compare one another's art and craftsmanship.

The Big Chiefs of two different tribes start with a song and chant, ceremonial dance, and threatening challenge to "Humba". The big chiefs demand that the other chief bows and pays respect. The retort is a whoop and equally impressive song and war dance with the reply, "Me no Humba, YOU Humba!"

The Mardi Gras Indians are comprised, in large part, of the African-American communities of New Orleans's inner city. They named themselves after native Indians to pay them respect for their assistance in escaping the tyranny of slavery.

It was often local Indians who accepted newly-freed slaves into their society when they made a break for freedom.
Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WDSU app here. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news right in your inbox. Click here to sign up!

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We've all seen the beautiful costumes, heard the chants and beats of the drums, but the Mardi Gras Indians represent so much more than carnival season; they represent your neighborhood. In the old days, the Indians would meet on Mardi Gras to settle grievances, usually with violence. Now, it's a much happier celebration.

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Trombone Shorty Age 13 (watch from 1:10-3:30)

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Trombone Shorty Age 13 (watch from 1:10-3:30)

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Trombone Shorty-Play & Sing When the Saints Go Marching In

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Trombone Shorty-Play & Sing When the Saints Go Marching In

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Trombone Shorty & Wynton Marsalis -  "When The Saints Go Marching In"

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I Want You (Marvin Gaye album) - Wikipedia

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I Want You is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released March 16, 1976, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place throughout 1975 and 1976 at Motown Recording Studios, also known as Hitsville West, and Gaye's personal studio Marvin's Room in Los Angeles, California.

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Bryan Collier's comments on his Illustrations for this book

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Bryan Collier's comments on his Illustrations for this book

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TeachingBooks.net is delighted to welcome award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier as our featured guest blogger.

Each month, we ask one distinguished author or illustrator to write an original post that reveals insights about their process and craft. Enjoy!

Dream Spaces

by Bryan Collier

Laban Carrick Hill's Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave (Little, Brown and Co. 2010) is based on the true story of a man born into slavery in 1800, who created 40,000 ceramic pots in his lifetime.

I'm awestruck when I reflect on the flourishing of this man's genius under the harsh conditions of his life. In my art I celebrate Dave; in spite of all the obstacles he faced, he proved that the human spirit cannot be bound. His art became his protest cry. I like to imagine it was also his dream space, where every time he kicked his potter's wheel he felt a little bit of freedom.

In the image above, Dave is at his potter's wheel. I created a golden aura around him to illustrate the speed at which he is making the pots. This aura also speaks to Dave's spirit; there is something special going on at the wheel.

I added shackles in the upper left-hand corner to remind readers that though Dave was engaged in creating art, he was enslaved. In the same scene, written on the wall behind the pottery are some words. Part of the inscription notes a "Friends meeting." This alludes to the Underground Railroad and foreshadows that Dave can read and write. Remember, during Dave's life it was illegal to educate slaves.

Before the clay pots hardened, Dave often stopped his potter's wheel to write poetry and sign his pots. The image below includes one of Dave's inscriptions. It reads, "I wonder where is all my relation/friendship to all-and, every nation."

We know that Dave made tens of thousands of pots during his life; he was really cranking them out. What amazes me is that he wrote his poetry-profound messages in split seconds-then, was on to the next pot.

I marvel at his ability to move beyond his own circumstances to think about "friendship to all-and, every nation."
This material may not be used without the express written consent of Bryan Collier. Hear Bryan Collier pronounce his name.
Access all of TeachingBooks.net's online resources about Bryan Collier and his books.

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TeachingBooks.net is delighted to welcome award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier as our featured guest blogger. Each month, we ask one distinguished author or illustrator to write an original post that reveals insights about their process and craft. Enjoy! by Bryan Collier Laban Carrick Hill's Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave (Little, Brown and Co.

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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This diorama, located at the Ferrell Museum in Edgefield, depicts an Edgefield District pottery yard. The device at the lower right of the image was used to "churn" the clay and prepare it for throwing. Clay was then taken into the production facility where it was used to create jugs, vases, and pitchers. Once these pieces had air-dried, they were glazed and taken to the kiln, shown at left. Several pieces might have broken in each firing. These were tossed into a shard pile, as seen in the top left portion of the image.

The most famous pottery yard was called Pottersville. Owned by Abner Landrum, the village had as many as 150 residents - almost all of whom were slaves.

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pottersville diorama photos pictures photographs south carolina sc

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Pottersville Diorama Photos, South Carolina SC

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This diorama, located at the Ferrell Museum in Edgefield, depicts an Edgefield District pottery yard. The device at the lower right of the image was used to "churn" the clay and prepare it for throwing. Clay was then taken into the production facility where it was used to create jugs, vases, and pitchers.

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You Won't Believe What this Jug Just Sold For! Edgefield Pottery "Dave" Jug

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Making a clay pottery storage jar with lid on a potters wheel demo ingleton pottery how to

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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(watch starting 02:15)

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Dave "the Slave" Drake (Edgefield, SC) 1857 Signed Stoneware Jar

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(first 3 1⁄2 minutes are most
relevant to a student audience)

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DAVE, Enslaved African-American Potter of South Carolina, 1862 Jar

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Dave produced over 100 alkaline-glazed stoneware jugs between the 1820s and the 1860s. An enslaved African American, he often signed his works "Dave". He is recognized as the first enslaved potter to inscribe his work, during a time when most slaves were illiterate, often forbidden from literacy, and anonymous.

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Maya Angelou's "Hey Black Child," recited by 3-yr old Pe’Tehn Raighn Kem

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Book Chat with the Illustrator: Bryan Collier on Hey Black Child

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Award winning illustrator Bryan Collier discusses the thinking behind his latest work for HEY BLACK CHILD, the classic poem written by Useni Perkins.

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Watch only from 1:00 to 1:40 for
some historical footage of Pullman trains:

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Pullman rail cars: A detour back through time

Jenahlee Chamberlain on September 24 2018

While most journeys merely take you from Point A to Point B, one special form of train travel involves a detour back through time. Dean Reynolds takes a closer look at the famous sleeper cars in which generations past rode on trips across the country. All aboard!

Launched as a beta version in 2009, SafeShare.tv has gained popularity as the safest way to Watch and Share YouTube and Vimeo videos, and is widely used all around the globe by educators so their students can watch educational material without the fear of inappropriate videos showing up.

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Pullman rail cars: A detour back through t... - SafeShare.tv

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While most journeys merely take you from Point A to Point B, one special form of train travel involves a detour back through time. Dean Reynolds takes a closer look at the famous sleeper cars in which generations past rode on trips across the country. All aboard!

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Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the first black writer in America to earn his living from writing. Born in Joplin, Missouri, he had a migratory childhood following his parents' separation, spending time in the American Mid-West and Mexico. He attended Columbia University from 1921-1922 but left, disillusioned by the coolness of his white peers.

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PBS KIDS Lab: a mobile guide to the best in math and literacy games from Ready to Learn. Available in English and Spanish.

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Knock Knock - by Daniel Beaty

Jenahlee Chamberlain on September 24 2018

A powerful poem with a fantastic message. Well delivered. Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty "As a boy, I shared a game with my father- Played it every morning till I was three. He would knock knock on my door, And I'd pretend to be asleep till he got right next to the bed. Then I would get up and jump into his arms. "Good morning, Papa." And my Papa, he would tell me that he loved me. We shared a game, Knock knock, Until that day when the knock never came, And my Mama takes me on a ride past cornfields on this never-ending highway Till we reach a place of high rusty gates. A confused little boy, I enter the building carried in my Mama's arms. Knock knock. We reach a room of windows and brown faces. Behind one of the windows sits my father. I jump out of my Mama's arms and run joyously towards my Papa's, Only to be confronted by this window. I knock knock trying to break through the glass, Trying to get to my father. I knock knock as my Mama pulls me away Before my Papa even says a word. A

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Knock Knock - by Daniel Beaty... - SafeShare.tv

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A powerful poem with a fantastic message. Well delivered. Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty "As a boy, I shared a game with my father- Played it every morning till I was three. He would knock knock on my door, And I'd pretend to be asleep till he got right next to the bed.

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major event in the Civil Rights Movement. It occurred in Montgomery, Alabama where the city buses were segregated. Black passengers were required by law to ride in the back of the bus. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give her bus seat to a white person. She was arrested and sent to jail. In protest about 40,000 black people boycotted the Montgomery city buses, refusing to ride. The boycott lasted 381 days. On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision to desegregate the buses. In response the city of Montgomery passed a law allowing black passengers to sit anywhere on the buses. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956. Many important people in the civil rights movement took part in the boycott. This included Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy.

Under the system of segregation used on Montgomery buses, the ten front seats were reserved for white people at all times. The ten back seats were supposed to be reserved for black people at all times. The middle section of the bus consisted of sixteen unreserved seats for white and black people on a segregated basis. White people filled the middle seats from the front to back, and black people filled seats from the back to front until the bus was full. If other black people boarded the bus, they were required to stand. If another white person boarded the bus, then everyone in the black row nearest the front had to get up and stand so that a new row for white people could be created; it was illegal for white and black people to sit next to each other. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person, she was sitting in the first row of the middle section.

Often when boarding the buses, black people were required to pay at the front, get off, and reenter the bus through a separate door at the back. Occasionally, bus drivers would drive away before black passengers were able to reboard. National City Lines owned the Montgomery Bus Line at the time of the Montgomery bus boycott. Under the leadership of Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers donated almost $5,000 (equivalent to $51,000 in 2022) to the boycott's organizing committee.

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 - October 24, 2005) was a seamstress by profession; she was also the secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. Twelve years before her history-making arrest, Parks was stopped from boarding a city bus by driver James F. Blake, who ordered her to board at the rear door and then drove off without her. Parks vowed never again to ride a bus driven by Blake.

In 1955, Parks completed a course in "Race Relations" at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, where nonviolent civil disobedience had been discussed as a tactic. On December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting in the foremost row in which black people could sit (in the middle section). When a white man boarded the bus, the bus driver told everyone in her row to move back. At that moment, Parks realized that she was again on a bus driven by Blake. While all of the other black people in her row complied, Parks refused, and she was arrested for failing to obey the driver's seat assignments, as city ordinances did not explicitly mandate segregation but did give the bus driver authority to assign seats. Found guilty on December 5, Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4 (combined total equivalent to $142 in 2022), and she appealed.

Some action against segregation had been in the works for some time before Parks' arrest, under the leadership of E. D. Nixon, president of the local NAACP chapter and a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Nixon intended that her arrest be a test case to allow Montgomery's black citizens to challenge segregation on the city's public buses. With this goal, community leaders had been waiting for the right person to be arrested, a person who would anger the black community into action, who would agree to test the segregation laws in court, and who, most importantly, was "above reproach". When Colvin was arrested in March 1955, Nixon thought he had found the perfect person, but the teenager turned out to be pregnant. Nixon later explained, "I had to be sure that I had somebody I could win with." Parks was a good candidate because of her employment and marital status, along with her good standing in the community.

Between Parks' arrest and trial, Nixon organized a meeting of local ministers at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church. Though Nixon could not attend the meeting because of his work schedule, he arranged that no election of a leader for the proposed boycott would take place until his return. When he returned, he caucused with Ralph Abernathy and Rev. E.N. French to name the association to lead the boycott to the city (they selected the " Montgomery Improvement Association", "MIA"), and they selected King (Nixon's choice) to lead the boycott. Nixon wanted King to lead the boycott because the young minister was new to Montgomery and the city fathers had not had time to intimidate him. At a subsequent, larger meeting of ministers, Nixon's agenda was threatened by the clergymen's reluctance to support the campaign. Nixon was indignant, pointing out that their poor congregations worked to put money into the collection plates so these ministers could live well, and when those congregations needed the clergy to stand up for them, those comfortable ministers refused to do so. Nixon threatened to reveal the ministers' cowardice to the black community, and King spoke up, denying he was afraid to support the boycott. King agreed to lead the MIA, and Nixon was elected its treasurer.

On the night of Rosa Parks' arrest, the Women's Political Council, led by Jo Ann Robinson, printed and circulated a flyer throughout Montgomery's black community that read as follows:

Another woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down. It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped. Negroes have rights too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negro, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother. This woman's case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don't ride the buses to work, to town, to school, or anywhere on Monday. You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus. You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off all buses Monday.

The next morning there was a meeting led by the new Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) head, King, where a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time Rosa Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; she asked someone if she should say something, but they replied, "Why, you've said enough." A citywide boycott of public transit was proposed, with three demands: 1) courteous treatment by bus operators, 2) passengers seated on a first-come, first-served basis, with black people seated in the back half and white people seated in the front half, and 3) black people would be employed as bus operators on routes predominately taken by black people.

This demand was a compromise for the leaders of the boycott, who believed that the city of Montgomery would be more likely to accept it rather than a demand for full integration of the buses. In this respect, the MIA leaders followed the pattern of 1950s boycott campaigns in the Deep South, including the successful boycott a few years earlier of service stations in Mississippi for refusing to provide restrooms for Black people.

The MIA's demand for a fixed dividing line was to be supplemented by a requirement that all bus passengers receive courteous treatment by bus operators, be seated on a first-come, first-served basis, and that Black people be employed as bus drivers. The proposal was passed, and the boycott was to commence the following Monday. To publicize the impending boycott it was advertised at black churches throughout Montgomery the following Sunday.

On Saturday, December 3, it was evident that the black community would support the boycott, and very few Black people rode the buses that day. On December 5, a mass meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church to determine if the protest would continue. Given twenty minutes notice, King gave a speech asking for a bus boycott and attendees enthusiastically agreed. Starting December 7, J Edgar Hoover's FBI noted the "agitation among negroes" and tried to find "derogatory information" about King.

The boycott proved extremely effective, with enough riders lost to the city transit system to cause serious economic distress. Martin Luther King later wrote, "[a] miracle had taken place." Instead of riding buses, boycotters organized a system of carpools, with car owners volunteering their vehicles or themselves driving people to various destinations. Some white housewives also drove their black domestic servants to work. When the city pressured local insurance companies to stop insuring cars used in the carpools, the boycott leaders arranged policies at Lloyd's of London.

Black taxi drivers charged ten cents per ride, a fare equal to the cost to ride the bus, in support of the boycott. When word of this reached city officials on December 8, the order went out to fine any cab driver who charged a rider less than 45 cents. In addition to using private motor vehicles, some people used non-motorized means to get around, such as cycling, walking, or even riding mules or driving horse-drawn buggies. Some people also hitchhiked. During rush hours, sidewalks were often crowded. As the buses received few, if any, passengers, their officials asked the City Commission to allow stopping service to black communities. Across the nation, black churches raised money to support the boycott and collected new and slightly used shoes to replace the tattered footwear of Montgomery's black citizens, many of whom walked everywhere rather than ride the buses and submit to Jim Crow laws.

In response, opposing whites swelled the ranks of the White Citizens' Council, the membership of which doubled during the course of the boycott. The councils sometimes resorted to violence: King's and Abernathy's houses were firebombed, as were four black Baptist churches. Boycotters were often physically attacked. After the attack at King's house, he gave a speech to the 300 angry African Americans who had gathered outside. He said:

If you have weapons, take them home; if you do not have them, please do not seek to get them. We cannot solve this problem through retaliatory violence. We must meet violence with nonviolence. Remember the words of Jesus: "He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword". We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them. Jesus still cries out in words that echo across the centuries: "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you". This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love. Remember, if I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement. Go home with this glowing faith and this radiant assurance.

King and 88 other boycott leaders and carpool drivers were indicted for conspiring to interfere with a business under a 1921 ordinance. Rather than wait to be arrested, they turned themselves in as an act of defiance.

King was ordered to pay a $500 fine or serve 386 days in jail. He ended up spending two weeks in jail. The move backfired by bringing national attention to the protest. King commented on the arrest by saying: "I was proud of my crime. It was the crime of joining my people in a nonviolent protest against injustice."

Also important during the bus boycott were grassroots activist groups that helped to catalyze both fund-raising and morale. Groups such as the Club from Nowhere helped to sustain the boycott by finding new ways of raising money and offering support to boycott participants. Many members of these organizations were women and their contributions to the effort have been described by some as essential to the success of the bus boycott.

Pressure increased across the country. The related civil suit was heard in federal district court and, on June 5, 1956, the court ruled in Browder v. Gayle (1956) that Alabama's racial segregation laws for buses were unconstitutional. As the state appealed the decision, the boycott continued. The case moved on to the United States Supreme Court. On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court upheld the district court's ruling.

The bus boycott officially ended on December 20, 1956, after 382 days, with Day 1 being December 5, 1955. The Montgomery bus boycott resounded far beyond the desegregation of public buses. It stimulated activism and participation from the South in the national Civil Rights Movement and gave King national attention as a rising leader.

In Spanish: Boicot de autobuses de Montgomery para niños

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Learn Montgomery Bus Boycott facts for kids

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Bryan Collier introduces and shares some of the backstory for creating Rosa.

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Bryan Collier introduces and shares some of the backstory for creating Rosa.

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In striving to enrich the lives of all readers, TeachingBooks.net supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. © 2001- TeachingBooks.net LLC | All Rights Reserved |Policies | Last Updated ,

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In striving to enrich the lives of all readers, TeachingBooks.net supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read. © 2001- TeachingBooks.net LLC | All Rights Reserved |Policies | Last Updated ,

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African-American Civil Rights Movement Facts for Kids.

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The African-American Civil Rights Movement was a group of social movements in the United States. Their goal was to gain equal civil rights for African-American people. The word "African-American" was not used at the time, so the movement was usually called The Civil Rights Movement. This article talks about the part of the movement that lasted from about 1954 to 1968.

However, the Civil Rights Movement was made up of many different people and groups. Not everyone believed the same things. For example, the Black Power movement believed black people should demand their civil rights and force white leaders to give them those rights by using violence.

The Civil Rights Movement was also made of people of different races and religions. The Movement's leaders and most of its activists were African-American. However, the Movement got political and financial support from labor unions, religious groups, and some white politicians, like Lyndon B. Johnson.

Before the Civil Rights Movement

After the Civil War, the United States government passed three Constitutional amendments:

In the South

Starting in 1890, Southern Democrats began to pass state laws that took away the rights African Americans had gained. These racist laws became known as Jim Crow laws. For example, they included:

Laws that made it impossible for black people to vote (this is called disenfranchisement). Since they could not vote, black people also could not be on juries.

Laws that required racial segregation - separation of black people and white people. For example, black people could not:

Go to the same schools, restaurants, or hospitals as white people.

Use the same bathrooms or drink from the same water fountains as white people.

Sit in front of white people on buses.

In 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a case called Plessy v. Ferguson that these laws were legal. They said that having things be " separate but equal" was fine. In the South, everything was separate. However, places like black schools and libraries got much less money and were not as good as places for white people. Things were separate, but not equal.

Violence against black people increased. Individuals, groups, and huge crowds of people could hurt or even kill African Americans, without the government trying to stop them or punishing them.

Across the United States

Problems were worst in the South. However, social discrimination affected African Americans in other areas as well.

Segregation in housing was a problem across the United States. Many African Americans could not get mortgages to buy houses. Some realtors would not sell black people houses in the suburbs, where white people lived. They also would not rent apartments in white areas. Until the 1950s, the federal government did nothing about this.

When he was elected in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson made government offices segregated. He believed that segregation was best for everyone.

Early activism

African Americans tried to fight back against discrimination in many ways. They formed new groups and tried to form labor unions. They tried to use the courts to get justice. For example, in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was created. It fought to end race discrimination through lawsuits, education, and lobbying.

However, eventually, many African Americans became frustrated and began to dislike the idea of using slow, legal strategies to achieve desegregation. Instead, African American activists decided to use a combination of protests, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. This is how the African-American Civil Rights Movement of 1954-1968 began.

Photo gallery

Important events

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Schools in the South, and some other parts of the country, had been segregated since 1896. In that year, the Supreme Court had ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was legal, as long as things were "separate but equal."

The lawsuit eventually went to the United States Supreme Court. After years of work, Thurgood Marshall and a team of other NAACP lawyers won the case. The Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were illegal. All nine Supreme Court judges agreed.

In their decision, the Court said:

We conclude that, in ... public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

This was the Civil Rights Movement's first major victory. However, Brown did not reverse Plessy v. Ferguson. Brown made segregation in schools illegal, but segregation in other places was still legal.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)

On December 1, 1955, local black leader Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to make room for a white passenger. Black people were not allowed to sit on the bus in front of white people, and if a white person got on the bus and there were no seats available, a black person was expected to give up their seat. Parks was a civil rights activist and NAACP member; she had just returned from training on nonviolent civil disobedience. She was arrested.

De-segregating Little Rock Central High School (1957)

In 1957, the NAACP had signed up nine African American students (called the " Little Rock Nine") to go to Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Before this, only white people were allowed at the school. However, the Little Rock School Board had agreed to follow the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education and de-segregate its schools.

Unfortunately, the Little Rock Nine were treated very badly by many of the white students at the school. At the end of the school year, Little Rock Central High School closed so it would not have to allow black students the next year. Other schools across the South did the same thing.

Sit-ins (1958-1960)

Between 1958 and 1960, activists used sit-ins to protest segregation at lunch counters (small restaurants inside stores). They would sit at the lunch counter and politely ask to buy some food. When they were told to leave, they would continue to sit quietly at the counter. Often they would stay until the lunch counter closed. Groups of activists would keep coming back to sit in at the same places until those places agreed to serve African Americans at their lunch counters.

The sit-ins even got the support of President Eisenhower. After the Greensboro sit-ins started, he said he was "deeply sympathetic with the efforts of any group to enjoy the rights of equality that they are guaranteed by the Constitution."

In April 1960, students who had led sit-ins were invited to a conference. At the conference, they decided to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC would become an important group in the civil rights movement.

Freedom Rides (1961)

In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled in Boynton v. Virginia that it was illegal to segregate people on public transportation that was going from one state to another. In 1961, student activists decided to test whether the Southern states would follow this ruling. Groups of black and white activists decided to ride buses through the South, sitting together instead of segregating themselves. They planned to ride buses from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, Louisiana. They called these rides the "Freedom Rides."

The Freedom Riders were met with danger and violence. For example:

One bus in Alabama was firebombed, and the Freedom Riders had to run for their lives.

In Birmingham, Alabama, Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor let Ku Klux Klan members attack the Freedom Riders for 15 minutes before the police "protected" them. The Riders were badly beaten, and one needed 50 stitches in his head.

In Montgomery, Alabama, the Freedom Riders were attacked by a mob (a large, angry group) of white people. This caused a huge riot that lasted two hours. Five Freedom Riders needed to go to the hospital, and 22 others were hurt.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) brought in more Freedom Riders to keep the movement going.

In Montgomery, another mob attacked a bus. They knocked one activist unconscious and knocked another's teeth out.

In Jackson, Mississippi, the Freedom Riders were arrested for using "white only" bathrooms and lunch counters.

New Freedom Riders joined the movement. When they arrived in Jackson, they were arrested also. By the end of the summer, more than 300 had been put in jail.

However, people around the country began to support the Freedom Riders, who had never used violence, even when being attacked. Eventually, Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General in his brother John F. Kennedy's government, insisted on a new law about de-segregation. It said that:

People could sit wherever they chose on buses.

There could be no "white" and "colored" signs in bus stations.

There could be no separate drinking fountains, toilets, or waiting rooms for white people and black people.

Lunch counters had to serve people of all races.

Voter registration (1961-1965)

Between 1961 and 1965, activist groups worked on trying to get black people registered (signed up) to vote. Since the end of Reconstruction, the Southern states had passed laws and used many strategies to keep black people from registering to vote. Often, these laws did not apply to white people.

Meanwhile, black people who tried to register to vote were fired from their jobs, thrown out of their homes, beaten, arrested, threatened, and sometimes murdered.

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. It made discrimination illegal and specifically said it was illegal to have different voter registration requirements for different races.

Integrating Mississippi universities (1956-1965)

Kennard was arrested twice for crimes he never committed. He died of colon cancer in prison. Later, in 2006, a court ruled that Kennard was innocent of the crimes for which he had been sent to jail.

In September 1962, James Meredith won a lawsuit that gave him the right to go to the University of Mississippi. He tried three times to get into the university to sign up for classes. Governor Ross Barnett blocked Meredith each time. He told Meredith: "[N]o school will be integrated in Mississippi while I am your Governor."

Meredith and other activists kept working on de-segregating public universities. In 1965, the first two African American students were able to go to the University of Southern Mississippi.

Birmingham Campaign (1963)

The activists used a few different non-violent ways of protesting, including sit-ins, "kneel-ins" at local churches, and marches. However, the city got a court order saying all protests like this were illegal. The activists knew this was illegal, and in an act of civil disobedience, they refused to follow the court order. The protesters, including Martin Luther King, were arrested.

While in jail, King was held in solitary confinement. While there, he wrote his famous " Letter from Birmingham Jail." He was let go after about a week.

The Children's Crusade

One of SCLC's leaders came up with the idea of training college, high school, and elementary school students to take part in the protests. He reasoned that students did not have full-time jobs to go to, they did not have families to take care of, and they could "afford" to be in jail more than their parents.

Newsweek magazine later named this plan the " Children's Crusade." On May 2, more than 600 students, including some as young as 8 years old, tried to march from a local church to City Hall. They were all arrested. The next day, another 1,000 students started to march. Bull Connor let police dogs loose to attack them and used fire hoses to knock down the students. Reporters were there, and videos and pictures showing the violence were shown on television and printed across the country.

People throughout the United States were so angry at seeing these videos that President Kennedy worked with the SCLC and the white businesses in Birmingham to work out an agreement. It said:

Lunch counters and other public places downtown would be de-segregated.

They would create a committee to figure out how to stop discrimination in hiring.

All jailed protesters would be let go (labor unions like the AFL-CIO had helped raise bail money).

Black and white leaders would communicate regularly.

On September 15, 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed a church in Birmingham, where civil rights activists often met before starting their marches. Since it was a Sunday, church services were going on. The bomb killed four young girls and hurt 22 other people.

"Rising tide of discontent" (1963)

During the spring and summer of 1963, there were protests in over a hundred United States cities, including Northern cities. There were riots in Chicago after a white police officer shot a 14-year-old black boy who was running away from the scene of a robbery. In Philadelphia and Harlem, black activists and white workers fought when the activists tried to integrate state-run construction projects. On June 6, over a thousand white people attacked a sit-in in North Carolina; black activists fought back, and a white man was killed.

In Cambridge, Maryland, white leaders declared martial law to stop fighting between black people and white people. Attorney General Robert Kennedy had to get involved to create an agreement to desegregate the city.

Meanwhile, the Kennedy government had become very worried. Black leaders had told Robert Kennedy that it was getting harder and harder for African Americans to be nonviolent when they were getting attacked, and when it was taking so long for the United States government to help them get their civil rights. On the evening of June 11, President Kennedy gave a speech about civil rights. He talked about "a rising tide of discontent (unhappiness) that threatens the public safety." He asked Congress to pass new civil rights laws. He also asked Americans to support civil rights as "a moral issue ... in our daily lives."

In the early morning of June 12, Medgar Evers, a leader of the Mississippi NAACP, was murdered by a Ku Klux Klan member. The next week, President Kennedy gave Congress his Civil Rights bill and asked them to make it into law.

The March on Washington (1963)

In 1963, civil rights leaders planned a protest march in Washington, D.C. The march's full name was "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." The goal of the march was to get the same rights for all people: black and white.

Many people thought it would be impossible for so many activists to come together without violence and rioting. The United States government got 19,000 soldiers ready nearby, in case of riots. Hospitals got ready to treat huge numbers of injured people. The government made selling alcohol in Washington, D.C. illegal for the day.

Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke last. His speech, called " I Have a Dream," became one of history's most famous civil rights speeches.

Historians have said that the March on Washington helped get President Kennedy's civil rights bill passed.

Malcolm X joins the movement (1964)

However, in March 1964, Malcolm X was kicked out of the Nation of Islam because he had disagreements with the group's leader, Elijah Muhammad. He offered to work with other civil rights groups if they accepted that black people had the right to defend themselves.

Malcolm met with Martin Luther King, Jr. on March 26, 1964. Malcolm had a plan to bring the United States before the United Nations on charges that the U.S. violated African Americans' human rights. Dr. King may have been planning to support this.

Between 1963 and 1964, civil rights activists got angrier and more likely to fight back. In April 1964, Malcolm gave a famous speech called "The Ballot or the Bullet." ("The ballot" means "voting.") In the speech, he said that if the U.S. government is "unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of Negroes," then African Americans should defend themselves. He warned politicians that many African Americans were not willing "to turn the other cheek any longer." Then he warned America about what would happen if black people were not allowed to vote:

Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)

In the summer of 1964, civil rights groups brought almost 1,000 activists to Mississippi. Most of them were white college students. Their goals were to work together with black activists to register voters, and to teach summer school to black children in "Freedom Schools." They also wanted to help create the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).

Many white Mississippians were angry that people from other states were coming in and trying to change their society. They tried to keep black people from registering to vote.

During Freedom Summer, activists set up at least 30 Freedom Schools and taught about 3,500 students. The students included children, adults, and the elderly. The schools taught about many things like black history, civil rights, politics, the freedom movement, and the basic reading and writing skills needed to vote.

Also during the summer, about 17,000 black Mississippians tried to register to vote. Only 1,600 were able to. However, more than 80,000 joined the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). This showed that they wanted to vote and take part in politics, not just let white people do it for them.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

John F. Kennedy's suggested civil rights bill had support from Northern members of Congress - both Democrats and Republicans. However, Southern Senators blocked the suggested law from passing. They filibustered for 54 days to block the bill from becoming a law. Finally, President Lyndon B. Johnson got a bill to pass.

On July 2, 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law said:

It was illegal to discriminate against people in public places or jobs because of their race, skin color, religion, sex, or home country.

If places broke the law, the Attorney General could file lawsuits against them to force them to follow the law.

Any state or local laws that made it legal to discriminate in public places or jobs were no longer legal.

King awarded Nobel Peace Prize (1964)

In December 1964, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. When giving him the award, the Chairman of the Nobel Committee said:

Today, now that mankind [has] the atom bomb, the time has come to lay our weapons and armaments aside and listen to the message Martin Luther King has given us: "The choice is either nonviolence or nonexistence"...[King] is the first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be [fought] without violence. He is the first to make the message of brotherly love a reality in the course of his struggle, and he has brought this message to all men, to all nations and races.

Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965)

In January 1965, Martin Luther King and the SCLC went to Selma, Alabama. Civil rights groups there had asked them to come help get black people registered to vote. At the time, 99% of the people registered to vote in Selma were white. Together, they started working on voting rights.

The SCLC was worried that people would be angry about the violence against black people, and they organized a 54- mile (87- kilometer) march. Activists hoped the march would show how badly African-Americans wanted to vote. They also wanted to show that they would not let racism or violence stop them from getting equal rights.

The marches took place between March 7 and 25. Sadly, many were injured or killed. The first day of the march came to be known as Bloody Sunday. Pictures and film of the marchers being beaten were shown in newspapers and on television around the world. Seeing these things made more people support the civil rights activists. People came from all over the United States to march with the activists.

After the march, Viola Liuzzo, a white woman from Detroit, drove some other marchers to the airport. While she was driving back, she was murdered by three members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

On August 6, 1965, the United States passed the Voting Rights Act. This law made it illegal to stop somebody from voting because of their race. This meant that all the state laws that kept black people from voting were now illegal. The Voting Rights Act also said that if a registrar discriminated against black people, the Attorney General could send federal workers to replace local registrars.

The law worked right away. Within a few months, 250,000 new black voters had signed up to vote. Politics in the South were completely changed by African Americans having the power to vote. White politicians could no longer make laws about African Americans without black people having a say. Also, black people who were registered to vote could be on juries. Before this, any time an African American was charged with a crime, the jury that decided whether they were guilty would be all-white.

Fair housing movements (1966-1968)

From 1966 to 1968, the civil rights movement focused a lot on fair housing. Even outside the South, fair housing was a problem.

Activists, including Martin Luther King, led a movement for fair housing in Chicago in 1966. The next year, young NAACP members did the same in Milwaukee. Activists in both cities got attacked physically by white homeowners and legally by politicians who supported segregation.

The Fair Housing Bill

Of all the civil rights laws passed during the Civil Rights Movement, the Fair Housing Act was the hardest to pass. The law would make discrimination in housing illegal. This meant black people would be allowed to move into white neighborhoods. As Senator Walter Mondale said: "This was civil rights getting personal."

Many in Congress thought the bill gave too much power to black people. They wanted to weaken the bill. However, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was murdered. This made many members of Congress feel like they needed to do something about civil rights quickly. The day after Dr. King's murder, Senator Mondale stood in front of the Senate and asked them to immediately pass the bill and move quickly to provide housing and job opportunities for black people.

On April 10, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. President Johnson signed the law the next day. Part of the law is called the "Fair Housing Act." It makes it illegal to discriminate in selling, renting, or lending money for housing based on a person's race, skin color, religion, or home country.

The King assassination and the Poor People's Campaign (1968)

In 1968, Martin Luther King and the SCLC were planning the Poor People's Campaign. People of all races took part in the movement. The movement's goal was to decrease poverty for people of all races.

Civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy continued the Poor People's Campaign after King's death. About 3,000 activists camped out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for about six weeks.

The day before Dr. King's funeral, his wife, Coretta Scott King, and three of their children led 20,000 marchers through Memphis. Soldiers protected the marchers. On April 9, Mrs. King led another 150,000 people through Atlanta during Dr. King's funeral. An old, wooden wagon, pulled by mules, pulled Dr. King's casket. The wagon was a symbol of Dr. King's Poor People's Campaign.

Mrs. King once said:

[Martin Luther King, Jr.] gave his life for the poor of the world, the garbage workers of Memphis, and the peasants of Vietnam. The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day want is abolished, on the day wars are no more, on that day I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace.

Many people were killed during the Civil Rights Movement. Some were killed because they supported civil rights. Others were killed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or other racist white people who wanted to terrorize black people. No one knows just how many people were killed during the Civil Rights Movement.

Key facts about the Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was begun because African American people did not have the same rights as those who had lighter skin. The goal of the movement was to let every person have the same (equal) rights.

The movement is famous for using non-violent protests and civil disobedience to get attention.

The Civil Rights Movement was made up of activists that were from different races and religions.

Before the Civil war, there were many black slaves in the United States.

In the South, Democrats did not support civil rights for black people. They started passing laws that took away the rights that African Americans had gained. These became known as Jim Crow laws.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1909 and used the law to try to regain rights for African Americans.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal for schools to be segregated. Until then, black children in the Democrat-run southern states were not allowed to go to the same schools as white children.

Activists in the 1950s and 1960s banded together to get the attention of lawmakers by organizing events like a bus boycott, sit-ins, freedom rides, the children's crusade, and the march on Washington.

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X joined the movement and became famous for the ways they helped the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a major victory for all African Americans. It stated that it was illegal to discriminate against people in public places or jobs because of their race, skin color, religion, sex, or home country.

The Civil Rights Movement was successful. It helped change both laws and the way many white people felt about the way black people were treated.

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Our Mission

The Trombone Shorty Foundation's mission is to inspire the next generation of talented opportunity youth through music education, instruction, mentorship, and performance. By honoring the New Orleans tradition of "playing it forward" from the earliest jazz legends onward, the foundation seeks to preserve and perpetuate the musical heritage of a city where music is everything. Experienced and professional teachers, tutors, and mentors support every student in the pursuit of a well-rounded understanding of New Orleans' musical traditions, experience in music performance, reading, writing, and now, even business, and the social and academic skills they need to make noise wherever they go - in music and in life.

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From the moment he picked up a trombone bigger than he was and joined the 2nd Line parades in his home neighborhood of the Tremé, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews knew music would be his life. Studying under local music legends, his horn became the vehicle that would transport him around the world. Troy has shared his signature NOLA sound from arenas to the Grammy Awards to the White House, collaborating with artists ranging from The Neville Brothers to Usher to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His heart remains in New Orleans, bringing up the next generation of musical talent through the Trombone Shorty Foundation.

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Article about Useni Eugene Perkins working with Bryan Collier

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Useni Eugene Perkins On Adapting His Iconic Poem into Picture Book Form

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The acclaimed poet, playwright, author, and activist discusses the origins of