"The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country."
Analyzing the intersection of African American literature and the Civil Rights Movement, including the works of authors such as James Baldwin and Audre Lorde.
Jim Crow laws: Laws that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans in the Southern United States.
Brown v. Board of Education: A landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Montgomery Bus Boycott: A protest sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, which lasted for more than a year and was instrumental in the success of the Civil Rights Movement.
Martin Luther King Jr.: An African American Baptist minister and civil rights activist who played a key role in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Malcolm X: An African American Muslim minister and civil rights activist known for his advocacy of black nationalism and radical political positions.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in many aspects of American public life.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Legislation that eliminated discriminatory barriers to voting by African Americans and other minorities.
Black Power movement: An offshoot of the Civil Rights Movement that emphasized racial pride, self-determination, and community control.
Freedom Riders: Activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in order to challenge local laws and customs.
March on Washington: A massive civil rights demonstration held in Washington, D.C. in 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: A civil rights organization of student activists that played a key role in the desegregation of the South and the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.
Civil rights protests: Various methods of peaceful protests used in the Civil Rights Movement such as sit-ins, boycotts, protests, marches and picketing.
Segregation: The institutionalized separation of people based on race or ethnicity.
Racism: The belief that one race is superior to another.
Pre-Civil Rights Movements: Other similar movements in history like the abolitionists, the Underground Railroad and its impact on African American literature.
The impact of Civil Rights Movements on the cultural and social lives of African Americans.: The impact of Civil Rights Movements on the cultural and social lives of African Americans: Unleashing artistic expression, breaking social barriers, and fostering a sense of identity and empowerment among African Americans in literature.
Reparations for African Americans: Debates on whether African Americans should receive compensations from the government for past injustices.
Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Contributions of women in the Civil Rights Movement and their unique experiences.
Transnational Connections of Civil Rights Movements: The global influence and exchanges of the Civil Rights Movement beyond United States borders.
The aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement: The lasting impact of the movement on American society and the continued fight for civil rights.
Slave Narratives: These are accounts of slavery by enslaved African Americans that provide firsthand experience of their life in bondage, inhuman treatment, and struggle for freedom.
Protest Literature: These are works that use fiction and non-fiction storytelling to criticize the social, economic and political conditions that African Americans faced during the Civil Rights era.
Autobiography and Memoir: These works are personal narratives of African American leaders, writers, and activists, who fought for social justice and civil rights during the movement.
Poetry and Lyrics: This type of literature carries words of protest, oppression, and resistance, written to raise awareness of racial inequality, and speak to larger societal issues.
Plays and Performances: These works use the theater as a means to voice the struggles of Black people, and address issues such as segregation, racism and discrimination through the medium of performance and art.
Fiction and Historical Fiction: These works blend imagination with historical realities, highlighting the experiences of Black people throughout history, helping to increase empathy, and inspire hope in readers.
Children’s Literature: This genre addresses the Civil Rights struggle, and is designed to engage and educate young people on the events, triumphs and setbacks of the movement.
"The movement had its origins in the Reconstruction era during the late 19th century and had its modern roots in the 1940s."
"The movement made its largest legislative gains in the 1960s after years of direct actions and grassroots protests."
"African Americans were subjected to discrimination and sustained violence by white supremacists in the South."
"At the culmination of a legal strategy pursued by African Americans, in 1954 the Supreme Court struck down many of the laws that had allowed racial segregation and discrimination to be legal in the United States as unconstitutional."
"The Warren Court made a series of landmark rulings against racist discrimination, including the separate but equal doctrine, such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964), and Loving v. Virginia (1967) which banned segregation in public schools and public accommodations."
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964 explicitly banned all discrimination based on race, including racial segregation in schools, businesses, and in public accommodations."
"The Voting Rights Act of 1965 restored and protected voting rights by authorizing federal oversight of registration and elections in areas with historic under-representation of minority voters."
"The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing."
"The emergence of the Black Power movement, which lasted from 1965 to 1975, challenged Black leaders of the movement for its cooperative attitude and its adherence to legalism and nonviolence."
"Its leaders demanded not only legal equality, but also economic self-sufficiency for the community."
"Martin Luther King Jr. was the most visible leader of the movement."
"From 1964 through 1970, a wave of riots and protests in black communities dampened support from the white middle class, but increased support from private foundations."
"African Americans who had seen little material improvement since the civil rights movement's peak in the mid-1960s, and still faced discrimination in jobs, housing, education and politics."
"The movement was characterized by nonviolent mass protests and civil disobedience following highly publicized events such as the lynching of Emmett Till. These included boycotts such as the Montgomery bus boycott, 'sit-ins' in Greensboro and Nashville, a series of protests during the Birmingham campaign, and a march from Selma to Montgomery."
"After the American Civil War and the subsequent abolition of slavery in the 1860s, the Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution granted emancipation and constitutional rights of citizenship to all African Americans, most of whom had recently been enslaved."
"Various efforts were made by African Americans to secure their legal and civil rights, such as the civil rights movement (1865–1896) and the civil rights movement (1896–1954)."
"These included boycotts such as the Montgomery bus boycott..."
"Loving v. Virginia (1967) which banned segregation in public schools and public accommodations, and struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage."
"However, some scholars note that the movement was too diverse to be credited to any particular person, organization, or strategy."