Martin Luther King Jr. – King was a national icon during the Civil Rights Movement is still is to this day. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott and further more helped create the SCLC. In 1963, he organized the March on Washington in which he delivered his “I have dream” speech. This event led him to become one of the greatest civil rights leaders in American history. In 1964 King received the Noble Piece Prize. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis.
Rosa Parks – Congress referred to her as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement. Her birthday and the day of her arrest both have the title of Rosa Parks Day in California and Ohio. Those dates are February 4 and December 1. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sparked a huge uprising for the civil rights movements. This small incident on a bus changed America forever.
W.E.B Du Bois – He was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He grew up in an integrated community. Du Bois graduated from Harvard. In 1909 he became a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Malcolm X – Before he left the Nation of Islam in 1964, he taught his final beliefs. Malcolm X believed that black people were the
original people and white people were devils created by an evil scientist named Yakub. The Nation of Islam believed blacks were
superior to whites. When questioned by people about his comments concerning the devil he said, “History proves the white man is a devil.” Malcolm X claimed that Islam is “the religion of black mankind” and Christianity was “the white man’s religion.”
James Farmer – He was born January 12, 1920 in Marshall, Texas. James worked closely with Martin Luther King, and had been a prominent civil rights activists and he cofounded the Congress of Racial Equality. In the early 1960s he was a chief organizer of the “Freedom Riders” in which white volunteers traveled on interstate buses with blacks. The black Freedom Riders used restaurants, restrooms, and waiting areas reserved for whites, while the whites used colored faculties. President Clinton awarded Farmer the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 1998. James Farmer died July 9, 1999.
Fannie Lou Hamer – Hamer was born on October 6, 1917 is Montgomery County, Mississippi. Hamer was born into a life of poverty. She received little form of education even though she became one of the most dynamic speakers of the civil rights movement. She is known for the phrase “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” She became active in the movement when members of the SNCC and the SCLC came to Mississippi. She worked on the voter registration drives in the South. She and other workers were jailed and beaten because of this. She died March 15, 1977.
Rosa Parks – Congress referred to her as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement. Her birthday and the day of her arrest both have the title of Rosa Parks Day in California and Ohio. Those dates are February 4 and December 1. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sparked a huge uprising for the civil rights movements. This small incident on a bus changed America forever.
W.E.B Du Bois – He was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He grew up in an integrated community. Du Bois graduated from Harvard. In 1909 he became a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Malcolm X – Before he left the Nation of Islam in 1964, he taught his final beliefs. Malcolm X believed that black people were the
original people and white people were devils created by an evil scientist named Yakub. The Nation of Islam believed blacks were
superior to whites. When questioned by people about his comments concerning the devil he said, “History proves the white man is a devil.” Malcolm X claimed that Islam is “the religion of black mankind” and Christianity was “the white man’s religion.”
James Farmer – He was born January 12, 1920 in Marshall, Texas. James worked closely with Martin Luther King, and had been a prominent civil rights activists and he cofounded the Congress of Racial Equality. In the early 1960s he was a chief organizer of the “Freedom Riders” in which white volunteers traveled on interstate buses with blacks. The black Freedom Riders used restaurants, restrooms, and waiting areas reserved for whites, while the whites used colored faculties. President Clinton awarded Farmer the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 1998. James Farmer died July 9, 1999.
Fannie Lou Hamer – Hamer was born on October 6, 1917 is Montgomery County, Mississippi. Hamer was born into a life of poverty. She received little form of education even though she became one of the most dynamic speakers of the civil rights movement. She is known for the phrase “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” She became active in the movement when members of the SNCC and the SCLC came to Mississippi. She worked on the voter registration drives in the South. She and other workers were jailed and beaten because of this. She died March 15, 1977.