CORE
Founded by James Farmer and George Houser in 1942, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) began using sit-ins as a form of protest to desegregate restaurants. The CORE was a successful organization which helped many African Americans.
Nation Of Islam
The Nation Of Islam, also known as the Black Muslims, was lead by Elijah Muhammad. Their beliefs differed from the beliefs of mainstream Muslims and preached Black Nationalism. The Nation Of Islam wanted to separate themselves from whites and form their own governments. They advocated for self-defense instead of violence and at one time Malcom X was a member.
EEOC
The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) was created along with the Civil Rights ACt of 1964. It was a permanent agency in the federal government. This organization monitors the ban on job discrimination by race, religion, gender and/or national origin.
SCLC
The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. and other African American ministers. It was created in 1957 and set out to eliminate segregation from American society. They encouraged African Americans to vote and the organization challenged segregation at voting booths, public transportation, public housing and public accommodations.
CEEO
The CEEO (Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity) was created by John Kennedy to stop the federal bureaucracy from discriminating against African Americans when promoting and hiring people.
SNCC
The SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) consisted of African American students from all over the south. The leaders were Marion Barry who later served as the Mayor of Washington D.C and John Lewis who was later a member of congress. The SNCC played a key role in desegregating public facilities in Southern communities and went into the deep South to help African Americans register to vote.
NAACP
The NAACP (National Association of the Advancement of Colored People) has been helping the African Americans of the South since 1909. This organization supported court cases intended to overrun segregation. They were successful and still exist today.
The Watts Riot
Just five days after President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, in Watts, Los Angeles, a race riot broke out. Police brutality was the cause of the uprising that lasted for six days and required over 14,000 members of the National Guard and 1,500 law enforcement officers. There was $45,000,000 in property damages, 34 people killed and 900 injured.
Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
On February 12, 1968, about 1,000 workers refused to report to work demanding higher wages, safer working condition and recognition of their union. Martin Luther King Jr. lead a nonviolent demonstration in support of the workers. When the city agreed to raise African American wages and recognize the union on April 16th, the strike ended.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, a young African American woman took a seat on the bus and refused to get up for a white man. She was then arrested for her actions. Jo Ann Robinson, the leader of a local group called the Womans Political Council ordered a bus boycott on the day of Rosa's court appearance. The boycott ended up continuing for over a year. It was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. who helped organize car pools and other ways of getting people where they needed to be. Then in December 1956 the Supreme Court decided that the Alabama Laws were unconstitutional.