Martin Luther King - Civil Rights Movement

1963 - JFK Civil Rights Address

Martin Luther King Civil Rights Movement - Activity

1961 - Freedom Rides

Student activists from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) launched the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals. Traveling on buses from Washington, D.C., to Jackson, Mississippi, the riders met violent opposition in the Deep South, garnering extensive media attention and eventually forcing federal intervention from John F. Kennedy’s administration.

Freedom Rides also took place in Australia.

1948 - Armed Service Equality

1960 - Sit-in

1929 - MLK Born

1968 - MLK is shot dead

In 1960 he encouraged students to begin a sit-in as a form of non-violent protest against white only areas.

On July 26th, President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." - n.b. During World War II, approximately 909,000 African-Americans enlisted in the military, and about 500,000 of them were stationed overseas. It was also an election year...

On the 15th of January, Michael King, later known as Martin Luther King, Jr., is born at 501 Auburn Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia.

On April 4th, 1968, Dr. King had been standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when without warning, he was shot.

The FBI investigated the crime, but many believed them partially or fully responsible for the assassination. An escaped convict by the name of James Earl Ray was arrested, but many people, including some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s own family, believe he was innocent.

1968

1929

1999 Civic Trial Conjecture

1957 - SCLC

1946 - As a Student

1963 - Birmingham And March on Washington

On the 6th August 1946, Martin Luther King as a student, has an article published in The Atlanta Constitution. The article states that black people "are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens."

MLK joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which began a campaign of direct action.

Important to note is, that Martin Luther King utilised non-violent methods of protest.

After a civic trial in 1999, MLK's wife stated that “There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil court's unanimous verdict has validated our belief."

The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.

In 1963, he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as the “most segregated city in America.” The publicised brutality garnered a greater movement.

The March on Washington drew over a quarter-million people to the national mall. It was at this march that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the 28th August, which cemented his status as a social change leader and helped inspire the nation to act on civil rights.

'I have a dream!'