Civil Rights Museum for Kids

MLK

Brown vs. Board of Education

Black Power Movement

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By: Gia Alexakis and Anna Anderson

Civil Rights Museum For Kids

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In 1953, there were 21 states with segregated schools. The NAACP led the fight against segregation. In Kansas, Oliver Brown sued the state for the right to send his daughter to a white neighborhood school rather than a faraway black school. Many more complaints started to roll in. After that, the people who were frustrated about this formed a case called "Brown vs. Board of Education". The Brown vs. Board of Education believed that segregated schools would never be equal. After a year of fighting, the Supreme Court wanted integration with all deliberate speed.

Brown vs. Board of Education

The NAACP

Little Rock Nine

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Seperate but Not Equal

Little Rock Nine

In the Little Rock Nine, 80 black students were interviewed and 9 were chosen to go to Central High in 1957. These students were used as a 🛠 to desegregate Central High. The school reacted to the group by closing the school for a whole year! 🤯 Later in 1971 the school was finally fully integrated, this goes to show that the Supreme Court's ruling didn't change anything.

This is a photograph of the little rock nine walking up to the school.

Troops were stationed at Central High just so the students could go to school!

The NAACP

The NAACP led the legal fights against segregation and brought a number of cases to court that challenged school segregation laws. 😊 They argued about segregation before the Supreme Court. 🏛 BTW the NAACP stands for the National Association for Advancement of Colored People.

This is a photograph of a NAACP meeting up to fight for equality.

Seperate but Not Equal

The phrase separate but equal basically means that facilities can be separated as long as they are ruffly equal. African American schools were often below the standard of being ruffly equal, they had few, textbooks, maps, or library materials. 📚 Two of the African-American schools in the county, on the other hand, had no desks at all! 🤯

This is a photograph of Dunbar High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

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Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful man who started peaceful protests and gave many speeches. He was a minister at a Baptist church in Mongomery. King believed in civil disobedience to bring change to unjust laws and sitiuations in southern states. He wrote the " I Have a Dream" speech and was one of the founders of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) this organization played a large role in creating the bus boycotts. King brought faith and courage to the black community from all of his contributions.

" I Have A Dream"Speech

Montgomery Bus Boycott

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Martin Luther King Jr. Assasination

Mongomery Bus Boycott

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a 🚌 in Montgomery this started the bus boycott. From there King and Parks guided the boycott which started on December 5, 1955, and lasted for over a year! This made the bus company lose thousands of 💵!

This is a photograph of boycott-goers walking to school and work.

About 99% of the African Americans in Montgomery refused to ride the busses.

"I Have A Dream" speech

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his " I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. There were over 250,000 attendees! 😃 His speech was extremely important in gaining support for Civil Rights laws and awareness of their justification. King's speech pumped up his crowd and gave them courage and pride to other peaceful protests and civil acts of disobedience in the South.👍

This is MLK giving his "I Have a Dream " speech at the Lincon Memorial.

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination

In Memphis, Tennessee on April 4th, 1968 Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on his hotel balcony.😭 His impact on the world was a message of peace and equality. But after he was assassinated the Civil Rights Movement lost their leader and improvement was put on pause.✋

Did you know today this hotel is a museum dedicated to the Civil Rights Movment?

This is where MLK was assassinated on his balcony outside of this hotel room.

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Black Power Movment

The Black Power Movement was started after Martin Luther King Jr. passed. Many African Americans had lost faith in his message. The movement was to gain pride in being African American. They also believed that they should respond to violence with violence, unlike Martin Luther King Jr. who always wanted peace. They also rejected all things white and wanted to become their own black nation. Above all Black Power was a new start for freedom and appreciation.

Strengthing Communities

Standing up with viloence

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Connecting with Heritage

Standing up with viloence

Many African Americans were sick of giving 😡 into violence and thought that King's nonviolence idea didn't bring change quickly enough. 👊 Black power groups embraced strategies and used violence to fight back.

This is a photograph of a black power group fighting back against police.

Did you know black power groups gained attention all the way from northern cities?

Strengthing Communities

Many African Americans were sick of a white-controlled society. They wanted to make their community stronger.💪 They started to build black-owned businesses and communities.🏪

This is an African American-owned store opening.

Connecting with Heritage

African-American pride was expressed in many ways. Young African Americans expressed their heritage by wearing Afro hairstyles and African-inspired clothing.👕 At colleges and universities black study programs were created. To sum up, black power meant a new appreciation of African-American culture and identity. 🥰

This is a photograph of African-inspired fashion!