Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement

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Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights
Movement

• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he
  stands in moments of comfort convenience, but
  where he stands at times of challenge
  controversy.
• - Martin Luther King Jr.

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Civil Rights
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Civil Rights

• Describe the belief that Dr. King would use
  throughout the Civil Rights Movement.
• What is an example of civil disobedience or
  non-violent protest?
• What event in the Civil Rights Movement gave
  Martin Luther King Jr. his chance to lead?

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955 to 1956

• Kings Role?

• Outcome?

• MLK led the Montgomery Improvement Association
  which constructed the boycott.
• On 12.5.1955?
• 90 of Black Americans did not ride the buses
• I want it to be known that were going to gain
  justice on the buses in this city. And we are not
  wrong. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of
  this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the
  Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we
  are wrong, God Almighty is wrong

• Supreme Court rules segregation on buses illegal
  in 1956. King earns international attention for
  nonviolence.

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Civil Rights Timeline of Events

• 1955 to 1956
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• 1957
• SCLC founded, Crisis in Little Rock
• 1960
• Greensboro sit-ins, SNCC founded
• 1961
• Freedom Rides take place

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Freedom Rides
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Review

• What was Birmingham, Alabama known as?
• What important event took place in Birmingham,
  Alabama that we have previously learned about?

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The Birmingham Campaign

• Desegregating the Most Segregated City in the
  South

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Letter From A Birmingham Jail
1963

• Background?

• Outcome?

• The Birmingham Campaign had seen MLK arrested for
  violating Alabama law on mass public
  demonstration.

• The movement gained even more support.

The Selma March in 1965 would gain many more
participants.
Wait.
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Civil Rights Timeline

• What is Martin Luther King Jr. most known for
  during his time as leader of the Civil Rights
  Movement?
• What was the purpose of his March on Washington?

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The March on Washington
1963
"Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!"
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Civil Rights Timeline of Events

• 1964
• 24th Amendment passed
• (banned poll taxes and literacy tests)
• Freedom Summer
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed
• (outlawed discrimination)
• 1965
• Malcolm X assassinated, Selma Marches begin,
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed
• (Prohibits discrimination in voting)
• 1966
• Black Power, race riots in northern cities
• 1968

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Assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis,
Tennessee

• Walter Cronkite Reports