EOTO - People of the Civil Rights Era

There are many important people of the Civil Rights Era. One of the most iconic women of the era was Rosa Parks. She was born in Alabama, where she worked as a seamstress and married Raymond Parks, a fellow activist. On December 1, 1955 she refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus to a white citizen. This started the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for 381 days.

Bayard Rustin was an advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. He taught MLK Ghandi's principles of nonviolence. He was arrested many times for civil disobedience and homosexuality. Malcom X, or Malcom Little, was originally a believer in using violence to fight for equality. This changed however when he converted to Islam, took a pilgrimage to Mecca, and when he returned his message was less violent and he no longer fought for equality for African Americans. He fought for equality for all races.

Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy who was brutally murdered on August 28, 1955. he was murdered for flirting with a white woman four days prior. His mother insisted on an open-casket funeral for her son to show just what was happening in the Deep South. The couple who brutally murdered him were found "not guilty" and this sparked a great deal of controversy. The final important person of the Civil Rights Era discussed was Medgar Evers. He worked to desegregate the University of Mississippi and work towards equal voting rights for all. He was murdered by a Klansman. One of his most famous quotes was, "you can kill a man but you can't kill an idea." This was proven when his ideas lasted even after his death.