Matthews by John Matthews

Important People (#1) - Martin Luther King

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-08 11:22:19 UTC

Martin Luther King was born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He became the head off SCLC (the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) in early 1957, and he was the national face of the civil rights movement, leading many historical events such as Focusing on peaceful protesting in Birmingham Alabama, a notoriously racist city with a brutal police head, Bull Connor, and his famous "I have a dream" speech, delivered on August 23rd at the Lincoln monument. Sadly, MLK was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Though he will forever live on as a monument against segregation and racism.

Key Laws and Cases in the Civil Rights movement (#2) - Jim Crow Laws

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-08 11:22:27 UTC

The Jim Crow Laws where a collection of different laws and rules that enforced and promoted racial segregation, and were a main issue against the Civil Rights movements. These laws were mostly enforced in places like the South US, and they made it so things like housing, education, jobs, and public facilities were often separate from and worse quality than that of the white peoples.

Important Events (#1) - Truman Integration

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-08 11:22:39 UTC

In 1948, President Truman was the first to go at the issue of segregation, issuing executive orders for military integration, and outlawing segregation when hiring government employees, and these were some early successes in the African-American Civil Rights movement, and while they may not seem to altering, they were huge steps to see, especially directly from the President of the United States of America.

Important People (#2) - Rosa Parks

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:31:16 UTC

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to make room for two white passengers, Giving the Civil Rights movement so much momentum with the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. Some consider Rosa "The mother of the civil rights movement". She was born on February 4th, 1913 in Tuskegee Alabama, and as part of this Boycott, buses traveled empty for 381 days, and this was led largely by MLK. An important piece of American history, Rosa Parks passed away on October 24th, 2005, but she and her importance in Civil Rights will never be forgotten.

Important People (#3) - Thurgood Marshall

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:31:25 UTC

Thurgood Marshall was the 1st ever African American in court history, and he was born July 2nd, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a very successful NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) lawyer, winning 29 of his 32 Supreme Court cases, and was appointed to the supreme court in 1967 by LBJ. Unfortunately, he retired in 1991, and died in 1993. This was such a huge accomplishment in the African American Civil Rights movement, and fortunately, was not the last.

Important People (#4) - Jackie Robinson

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:31:41 UTC

Jackie Robinson was the first Major League Baseball Player of color, being added to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He faced much horrible racism from players and audience members alike, but he was an important step in African-American Civil Rights, and the steps that got him to where ended up were steps long overdue. He was born January 31st, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, and he died on October 24th, 1972, and his inclusion in Major League Baseball ended 80 years of segregation in sports.

Important People (#5) - The Little Rock Nine

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:31:54 UTC

The Little Rock Nine were nine African-American teenagers who enrolled at an all white school in Little Rock Arkansas (Little Rock Central High School), and these teenagers were Elizabeth Eckford (born October 4th, 1941), Ernest Green (September 22nd, 1941), Jefferson Thomas (born September 19th, 1942 - died September 5th, 2010), Terrence Roberts (December 3rd, 1941), Carlotta Walls LaNier (December 18th, 1942), Minnijean Brown (born September 11th, 1941), Gloria Ray Karlmark (September 26th, 1942), Thelma Mothershed-Wair (November 29th, 1940 - Died October 19th, 2024), and finally, Melba Pattillo Beals (December 9th, 1941). The Little Rock Nine are an important piece of the African American Civil Rights Movement because they were the a major step in education integration, even having army members escort them to try and prevent any forms of violence and harassment when going in and out of school.

Important Events (#2) - Brown VS the Board of Education

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:33:13 UTC

The Brown VS the Board of Education event is historical production in the African-American Civil Rights movement because it tackled the issue of segregation in american schools. Some of the issues addressed were harassment, schools spending more money on white students, and straight up declining black students from enrolling in schools that they live close to. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that "Separate facilities are inherently unequal", with Chief Justice Earl Warren even ruling that segregation was in violation of the "equal protection clause" of the 14th amendment. In Baltimore, Washington DC, and St Louis, schools integrated, but southern schools refused, and the KKK returned to ensure this. Eventually, in 1957, president Eisenhower was forced to assist the integration efforts, and this was done through the integration of Little Rock Nine.

Important Events (#3) - The Montgomery Bus Boycott

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 21:33:58 UTC

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 381 day Boycott triggered by Rosa Parks not giving up her seat for two white men on a bus, which led to her being arrested. The Boycott was led by MLK, and the 381 day protest was protesting segregation on things like public transportation, such as buses, and this eventually led to integration on city buses, as well as MLK becoming the head of the black civil rights movements.

Important Events (#4) - The 1963 March on Birmingham

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 22:45:56 UTC

The 1963 March on Birmingham was led by MLK, and this was possibly one of the scarier peaceful protests, as Birmingham was considered the most segregated city in America, with a particularly brutal police force, led by police Commissioner Bull Connor, who infamously used violence against protestors. The segregation was ended largely in part to the violent actions of the police being televised across America, though during the march, MLK was arrested, and he wrote a poem while being held in jail.

Important Events (#5) - MLK's Assassination

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 22:46:06 UTC

Martin Luther King Jr.'s tragic assassination occurred at 6:01 p.m on April 4th, 1968 at Lorraine Motel, in Memphis Tennessee. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m at the age of 39, and when he was having his Autopsy done, they said he "had the heart of a 60 year old man.". Over 300,000 people attended his funeral, and he is one of the most renowned and respected figures of the African-American civil rights movements.

Important Events (#6) - MLK's Washington March/"I Have a Dream" speech

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-09 22:46:15 UTC

MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on August 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of 200,000+ people, and was the largest protest to that point in history. One of the most iconic lines in this speech was "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, that all men are created equal".

Key Laws and Cases in the Civil Rights movement (#4) - Loving VS Virginia

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-13 20:21:56 UTC

The Loving VS Virginia case depicts an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, being arrested for their marriage due to it supposedly being in violation of laws that promote segregation and racial discrimination. When the Supreme Court went over this case however, they thought these laws were in violation of the 14th amendment, as it is their right to marry. This case was decided on June 12th 1967.

Key Laws and Cases in the Civil Rights movement (#3) - Civil Rights Act of 1964

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-13 20:28:09 UTC

This is probably the most important of these, as it shows the progress achieved through the efforts of the Civil Rights movements, as this is an act that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and while its not exactly an end to racism and discrimination, it's definitely a step. The act was passed by the 90th United States Congress, and signed into law by President LBJ on July 2nd, 1964.

Key Laws and Cases in the Civil Rights movement (#1) - Voting rights Act of 1965

jmatthews90 — 2025-05-13 20:36:43 UTC

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed on August 6th by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and was passed to make sure that voters were not being restricted because of things like skin color, and to reduce things like literary tests at the polls, and poll taxes to prevent the poorer and more discriminated people from being able to vote. And in areas with a history of discrimination, authorization of federal monitoring of voter registration was granted.