Civil Rights Activists
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Transcript of Civil Rights Activists
• “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”
• Refused to give up her seat to a white person on a city bus and was arrested.
• Resulted in a 381 day bus boycott.
• Sang with the Freedom Singers.
• Later formed the group Sweet Honey in the Rock which sings about equality, the environment and peace.
• Works at the Smithsonian to preserve Black culture.
• Subject of the film Mississippi Burning.
• Worked in Mississippi to teach local Blacks how to register to vote and pass the voter registration exam.
• Organized Freedom Schools in Mississippi as part of the Freedom Summer Program
• “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired”
• Tired of racism and poverty, Hamer risked her life by registering to vote.
• Traveled to the Democratic National Convention in 1964 as a representative of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
• Left New York City to travel to South to take part in the Civil Rights Movement.
• Organized activists to teach Southerners to how to read and write and learn about their rights.
• Started the “Algebra Project” to teach all students the basic math skills required for college.
• Inspired and guided the emerging leaders of the Civil Right Movement.
• Ran a voter registration campaign called Crusade for Citizenship.
• Helped form the SNCC to organize student activists and worked to encourage new, young activists.
• “Grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement”
• Founded the “Citizenship Schools” and pioneered teaching adult literacy.
• Worked with Martin Luther King Jr. as director of education for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
• Attempted to purchase a bus ticket at the “White’s Only” counter.
• After being arrested, expulsed from school, and exiled from Mississippi, she led a march on City Hall. Over 100 students an SNCC workers were arrested.
• Volunteered for the Freedom Riders in 1961 to challenge segregation at bus terminals.
• Spent time as chairman of SNCC and led marchers across Pettus Bridge, resulting in “Bloody Sunday”.
• Currently serving his seventh term in Congress.
• Featured in the film The Time of Harvey Milk.
• One of the first openly gay elected officials in the USA.
• Dreamed of a society where everyone shared equal rights, regardless of gender, race, sexual preference, disability, and age.
• Fought for farmworker rights in the USA and the leader of the United Farmworkers of America.
• Fought for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers, especially on keeping toxic pesticides off crops.
• Organized the first Woolworth’s sit-in in Mississippi.
• Became well known for his singing, or “Freedom Songs”, which he used to rise spirits in the darkest times.
• Orchestrated the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech.
• Taught Martin Luther King Jr. the non-violent ways of Gandhi.
• Created the Highlander Folk School in 1032 which ignored segregation lines and taught leadership skills to blacks and whites.
• Also worked with labor unions, antipoverty organizations, and civil rights leaders, seeking to end social injustice.
• Attempted to enroll his children in school and was denied due to his Mexican heritage.
• Sued the school and won a landmark case desegregating all schools in the city.
• Used his stand-up comedy acts to satire racial prejudice in the US.
• Gave a comedic voice to the Civil Rights Movement.
• Worked with the SNCC in Mississippi.
• A major financer of the Civil Rights Movement, supporting the Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King Jr., and SNCC.
• Organized the We Are the World project, which raised millions of dollars for famine victims in Africa.
• Honored by UNICEF for his social and humanitarian activism.