i know its only wikipedia but...

hiya just thought i'd send you all some links on the black civil rights movement for some of your background knowledge on 1960's america

it's said the civil rights movement REALLY kick started with brown Vs board of eduaction case. (though there had been growing tensions amd demonstrations fcor sometime) basically Oliver Brown claimed that segragated schooling did not give black children the same educational rights as white children. the case was rejected several times so was eventually taken ot the supream court. segragation was declaied illegal within schools 1954. THis then lead to several cases of violence towards black children moving to white schools (see the little rock school case)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education#Supreme_Court_review

the montgomery bus boycott. this began from Rosa Parks refusing to move when a white person told her to give up her seat for them. she was arrested and as a result all black people in montgommery alabama refused to use busses untill the law was changed. in 1956 bus segragation in alabama was made illegal. this was also the point where martin luther king became a key player in the civil rights movement as he was one of the leaders in the bus boycott.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Bus_Boycott

Malcolm X. He was the man that sammy was compared to on stage when he put on glasses. Malcolm was a muslim with firm beliefs that islam could irradicate all racial problems.
he was a much more aggressive civil rights leader than martin luther king. Malcolm X's view was that the black person had the right to defend themselves against attacks of racisim. in 1964 he was quoted as saying "The time for you and me to allow ourselves to be brutalized nonviolently has passed. Be nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent to you. And when you can bring me a nonviolent racist, bring me a nonviolent segragationist, then I'll get nonviolent. But don't teach me to be nonviolent until you teach some of those crackers to be nonviolent."
in feb 1965 he was shot 16 times while making a speech in manhatten.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

Whitney Young. The head of the National Urban League (NUL) he helped to break segragation barriers in poorer urban environments."Black Power simply means: Look at me, I'm here. I have dignity. I have pride. I have roots. I insist, I demand that I participate in those decisions that affect my life and the lives of my children. It means that I am somebody."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Young

this is the link to the NAACP (i am not writing all of their very long history out!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955-1968%29
this documents the civil rights movement 1955-1968 it has a small section on the Kennedy's speeches about the civil rights movement (they compare themselves ot the african americans as they were irish and the Irish weren't particulaly welcome at one point either!)
i talks about sit ins and passive resistance then progressing to the more hostile black power movement. it also has links ot osme of the major activists of the era!

phew... who knew all that on wikipedia. HAPPY READING!!