Black Lives Matter

1960-2020 timeline of events related to race relations in the United States.

"Black ministers kneel in prayer during the 1963 Alabama Freedom March while a police officer waits to arrest them. They get into the police wagons willingly, in an example of Martin Luther King's policy of nonviolent resistance. In the background we can hear gospel singing."

"In this clip civil rights activists protest against police brutality in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. During the 1960s, Birmingham was one of the most racially violent and segregated cities in the southern states of America. Its police chief, "Bull" Connor, was particularly ruthless, authorising the use of both fire hoses and dogs on peaceful protestors. The protestors sing and hold placards that read "shame on Birmingham.""

"This clip shows scenes of the 1967 Newark race riots in New Jersey, including smashed store fronts, which were common occurrences during urban riots. The police presence is backed up by the National Guard as they try and bring the disorder under control."

"This silent clip dates from 1925, and was shot in Washington, DC at a Ku Klux Klan march. In the clip, male and female marchers wear the organizationüs uniform of white hood and robe, which are intended to symbolize racial purity. At the time of the march the organization had a membership of five million. The march was a symbol of the KKK's revival after the "Jim Crow" laws of the 1890s had rendered it superfluous by securing the subordinate position of African Americans in society. During its resurgence the KKK began to target Jewish and Catholic immigrants as well as blacks."

"This newsreel footage shows the 1963 March on Washington for equal rights and equal employment for black Americans. The film opens with shots of Washington, including the Abraham Lincoln memorial; the Civil Rights Movement anthem, "We Shall Overcome," is the backing track. We see demonstrators arriving from all over the country on buses and trains. The voiceover estimates that 100,000 people, including 30,000 white people, attended the march. The marchers sing and hold placards calling for equality under the law. Leading the march are US labor organizer and civil rights activist Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, trade unionist Walter Reuther, and Martin Luther King, Jr."

"This 1967 newsreel reports on the race riots of the late 1960s in Detroit and Harlem. With the Black Power movement blacks became more militant in their search for freedom under the leadership of Malcolm X, who stated "We are not nonviolent with any one who is violent with us." The news reader reports that anarchy, terror and lawlessness swept through the streets of Detroit and then Harlem. The reel closes with a strong message from the federal government as President Johnson affirmed 'We will not tolerate lawlessness.'"

"British news footage illustrates international interest in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film, entitled "Marchers demand civil rights," opens with shots of crowds in the streets of Selma. Martin Luther King is speaking and the voice-over announces that Selma is certain to have a place in the history of freedom."

"Scenes of destruction and burning buildings are filmed during the Los Angeles Watts race riots of 1965. Fires from the riots covered 100 blocks, and the fire damage alone was estimated at 200 million dollars. The Watts riots lasted for six days and resulted in 34 deaths, thousands of injuries and 4,000 arrests. The riots began in the predominantly black Watts area of the city, when a black man was stopped and accused of drunk driving. The riots broke out after he and his passengers were arrested following an argument with the police officers."

"...here is the live breaking news from April 29, 1992 as KABC Los Angeles covered the response to the controversial verdict that acquitted four white police officers charged with the beating of Rodney King. Reporter Linda Breakstone is live on the scene at LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters as the agitated crowd grows in numbers."

"Protesters angered over the police shooting of Michael Brown squared off with law enforcement in the streets of Ferguson, Mo. again, looting some stores."

"The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative."

"The summer of 1967 again brought racial disorders to American cities, and with them shock, fear and bewilderment to the nation. The worst came during a two-week period in July, first in Newark and then in Detroit. Each set off a chain reaction in neighboring communities. On July 28, 1967, the President of the United States established this Commission and directed us to answer three basic questions:
What happened?
Why did it happen?
What can be done to prevent it from happening again?"