Rosa Parks, the "Mother of The Civil Rights Movement", is one of the most important citizens of the 20th century. In December, 1955, she was tired from a long day of work. Under other circumstances, she would have probably given up her seat with no complaints. But this time Parks was upset and tired of the treatment the African-Americans were receiving every day from racism, segregation, and the Jim Crow laws in effect at that time. The bus driver had her arrested, and she was tried and convicted of violating a local ordinance. Parks' act started a citywide boycott of the bus system by African-Americans that lasted for more than a year. As a result of the Montgomery bus boycott in November of 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on transportation is unconstitutional.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born J

Perhaps one of the best examples of past history would be Malcolm Little born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm was a smart, focused student and graduated from junior high at the top of his class. By 1942 Malcolm was coordinating various narcotic, prostitution, and gambling rings. In 1946 he was arrested and convicted on burglary charges. During his seven-year prison sentence Malcolm studied the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and was converted to the Black Muslim faith. Muhammad taught that white society actively worked to keep African-Americans from empowering themselves and achieving political, economic, and social success. After being released from prison in 1952, he changed his last name to "X," which was a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders. By this time Malcolms' success had aroused jealousy within the Black Muslim hierarchy. In March of 1964 he terminated his relationship with the Nation of Islam and founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. FBI agents still working in the Nation of Islam warned that Malcolm had been marked for assassination. Because he advocated the use of violence (for self-protection) and appeared to many to be a fanatic, most civil-rights leaders, who emphasized nonviolent resistance to racial injustice, rejected his leadership. At a speaking engagement in the Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, three gunmen rushed M

Some topics in this essay:
Hartsdale York, Nation Islam, Improvement Association, Underground Railroad, Black History, Maryland Harriet, Black Muslim, Nebraska Malcolm, Jim Crow, Rights Movement, nation islam, luther king jr, luther king, king jr, civil rights, martin luther, 1968 king, rosa parks, black muslim, martin luther king,