EOTO 2

Matthew Amend
Nov 17, 2017
2 min read

On Wednesday, November 15th, two litigation teams gave Each One Teach One presentations. The first presentation was on events of the civil rights era.

The First Litigation Team Giving Their Presentation

The first event they shared was the marches from Selma to Montgomery. The most defining moment of the marches was "Bloody Sunday". On March 7th, 1965, a crowd of nearly 600 marchers were violently overpowered by deputies on horseback with tear gas and night sticks. Despite the abrupt ending to the march, it contributed to the passing of the Voting Rights Act within the same year.

The second event they discussed was the Montgomery bus boycott. African American citizen of Montgomery refused to ride city buses due to their segregated seating. The boycott took place in 1955 and lasted from December 5th until December 20th. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat four days before the boycott is what sparked the protest. The US Supreme Court eventually ordered Montgomery to integrate the bus system.

Their third event was the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. The first sit in took place at Woolworths in Greensboro NC on February 1st, 1960. Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond sat at the white-only lunch counter in Woolworths and refused to leave. Many future protesters were arrested. By the summer of 1960, Diners across the US were being integrated.

The final event they shared was the freedom riders. It started in DC on May 4th, 1961 and was another form of protesting segregated buses. Activists traveled all around the South until they were met by a violent mob in Alabama which left them with no willing bus drivers. By the fall of 1961 Segregated buses and bus terminals were outlawed.

The second litigation team's presentation was on people of the civil rights era. I have listed them below and provided a link to a description of each person.