Emancipation

Slavery began in 1619 with the arrival of the first Africans to the colony of Virginia. Although the leaders of the colonies and ultimately the United States struggled with the morality of slavery, they allowed the system to continue for centuries before finally recognizing the extent of the unethical and brutal treatment of blacks in America. Emancipation, however, was not a gift given freely nor bestowed by the ruling powers. Instead, it was a battle hard fought, it was a song proudly sung, it was a railroad hewn by the sweat and blood of the very people who were enslaved.

Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s addressed the racial segregation, discrimination, and acts of violence committed against blacks in the United States. Although not a singular movement and better described as a multiplicity of movements, it ultimately sought to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the rights of citizenship for African Americans as guaranteed by the Constitution. Characterized by non-violence, civil resistance, and civil disobedience, the movement was met with hope and celebration, hate and derision, militancy and protest.

Politics

African American politicians and leaders have been on the front lines of many political movements in the United States since 1836 when Alexander Twilight became the first African American elected to public office when he won a seat in the Vermont legislature. In everything from emancipation to the Voting Rights Act, from healthcare to educational reform, segregation to women's rights, black politicians have fought to have their voices heard and their experiences recognized.

Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. King, a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. 

Among his many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Through his activism and inspirational speeches he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the United States, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. He was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational African-American leaders in history.

'I Have a Dream'

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Entire families attended. City police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. Martin Luther King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, but the event drew nationwide attention. However, King was personally criticized by black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. From the jail in Birmingham, King eloquently spelled out his theory of non-violence: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue."

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters were making plans for a massive demonstration on the nation's capital composed of multiple organizations, all asking for peaceful change. On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington drew more than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that King made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, emphasizing his belief that someday all men could be brothers.

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  — Martin Luther King, Jr. / "I Have A Dream" speech, August 28, 1963.

The rising tide of civil rights agitation produced a strong effect on public opinion. Many people in cities not experiencing racial tension began to question the nation's Jim Crow laws and the near century second class treatment of African-American citizens. This resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 authorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities. This also led to Martin Luther King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.