Rosa Parks was an incredible human being. One typical day after work, Rosa got on the bus as she always did, and then made a bold decision. She knew the circumstances but disregarded them as she sat in the front on the bus. This time period was a very discriminant society and blacks could not do everything whites could do, for instance, sitting in the front of the bus. When Parks was told to give up her seat to a white person, she took a stand and refused. She was later arrested for her actions. However, Rosa is remembered now as a bold individual who stood up for what she believed in no matter what the consequences were.
Martin Luther King Jr. is a famous man who is known to be the leader of the civil rights movement. King took a different approach to trying to make a difference. He wanted to create equal rights for blacks and give them more opportunities but do in all in a non-violent way. When he organized these “peaceful” protests he was faced with what he was trying to avoid in the first place, violence. Martin had a great level of tolerance and maturity and refused to stoop to there level. That is what ultimately led him to success in the end.
Martin Luther King Jr. is a famous man who is known to be the leader of the civil rights movement. King took a different approach to trying to make a difference. He wanted to create equal rights for blacks and give them more opportunities but do in all in a non-violent way. When he organized these “peaceful” protests he was faced with what he was trying to avoid in the first place, violence. Martin had a great level of tolerance and maturity and refused to stoop to there level. That is what ultimately led him to success in the end.
Thurgood Marshall made a huge impact on this time period. Marshall was an attorney who believed the way to defeat segregation was through the law. Within a span of about 20 years Thurgood presented about 30 civil rights cases to the Supreme Court and every case but one passed. He was so good at his job that his most famous case, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka ended segregation in public schooling. He later became the first African American Supreme Court justice in American History.
Jesse Jackson was a man who worked a lot with Martin Luther King Jr. He received a pretty good education off of a football scholarship but believed in helping blacks get better jobs. He first met Martin at a gathering to establish voting rights for blacks and that is when he was chosen to lead operation breadbasket, which was a civil rights group that worked to get more job opportunities for blacks. He became very close with king and was with him when Martin was assassinated. He later went on to run for president.
Malcolm X was an inspiring man who wanted to make a difference. His father was president of the U.N.I.A. (Universal Negros Improvement Association). After he was murdered Malcolm’s whole life had changed. He began school and did well. He was even the president of his class. He had a rough life though struggling with starvation. But eventually things started to look up and he became a minister. He preached mainly about equality. February 21, 1965 he was shot giving a speech in New York City.
James Farmer was much like Martin Luther King Jr. He co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942. He believed in taking a non-violent approach on all of this. He was inspired by the approach Gandhi used in India’s fight for independence. Farmer also initiated the ‘”Freedom Riders” which challenged the segregation on buses in the Deep South. This however got the attention of supporters of segregation and it didn’t go over well. James Farmer served on many boards and even had time to write an auto biography with everything else he was involved in, in his life.