The Brown vs. Boardof Education was when a father filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This happened after his daughter was denied entrance to an all white elementary school. Brown claimed that schools for black children were not equal to white school which was in violation the "eqaul protecction cluase" of the 14th amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutinal.

The Little rock nine were a group of nine teens who enrolled in the formerly all white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. On the first day of school the governor sent the Arkansas National Guard to block the students' entry into the school. A month later President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the Litttle Rock Nine into the school.

The Greensboro sit in was a civil rights protest where young black people wpuld sit on the white only section of deli counters and ask to be served. Over time sit in campaigns were a much used peaceful protest that both black and white people, mostly students, would do. Most people who participated in sit ins were arrested.

The March on Washington was a massive protest that ocurred in August 1963. 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The march drew attention to the challenges and inequalities black people were still facing a century after the emancipation. It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke his "I have a dream" speech.

The Selma to Moontgomery march was a series of civil rights protests. In march, 1965 protestorrs marchedd 54 miles from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. The protestors finally acheived their goal after marching round the clock for three days. This act raised awareness of the need for a national Voting Rights Act.