Thurgood Marshall
the first African-American Supreme Court justice
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
a 1954 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" education for black and white students was unconstitutional
Rosa Parks
a civil rights activist known for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white patron
Martin Luther King, Jr.
the leader of the civil rights movement
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
an organization formed in 1957 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders to work for civil rights through nonviolent means
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
an organization formed in 1960 to coordinate sit-ins and other protests and to give young blacks a larger role in the civil rights movement
sit-in
a form of demonstration used by African Americans to protest discrimination, in which the protesters sit down in a segregated business and refuse to leave until they are served
freedom riders
one of the civil rights activists who rode buses through the South in the early 1960s to challenge segregation
James Meredith
an Air Force veteran who won a federal court case to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi (Ole Miss); he had to be escorted to class by federal officials for several months
Civil Rights Act of 1964
a law that banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or religion in public places and most workplaces
Freedom Summer
a 1964 project to register African-American voters in Mississippi
Fannie Lou Hamer
a civil rights activist who spoke for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) at the 1964 Democratic National Convention to help gain an African American seat in Mississippi's all-white Democratic Party
Voting Rights Act of 1965
act that eliminated the so-called literacy tests that had disqualified many voters
de facto segregation
racial separation established by practice and custom, not by law
de jure segregation
racial separation established by law
Malcolm X
a leader in the black community who fought for African-American equality; in his twenties, he became an Islamic minister and gained a following�he often made news because of his controversial statements
Nation of Islam
a religious group, popularly known as the Black Muslims, founded by Elijah Muhammad to promote black separatism and the Islamic religion
Stokely Carmichael
the leader of the SNCC who wanted to focus on developing African-American pride
Black Power
a slogan used by Stokely Carmichael in the 1960s that encouraged African-American pride and political and social leadership
Black Panthers
a militant African-American political organization formed in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to fight police brutality and to provide services in the ghetto
Kerner Commission
a group that was appointed by President Johnson to study the causes of urban violence and that recommended the elimination of de facto segregation in American society
Civil rights Act of 1968
a law that banned discrimination in housing
affirmative action
a policy that seeks to correct the effects of past discrimination by favoring the groups who were previously disadvantaged