Parks, Rosa Louise McCauley (1913- ) - Civil Right Movement
African American civil rights activist, who is often called the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Her arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus triggered the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and 1956 and set in motion the test case for the desegregation of public transportation.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968) - Civil Right Movement
African American clergyman and Nobel Prize winner, one of the principal leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. King's challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States. After his assassination in 1968, King became a symbol of protest in the struggle for racial justice.

Malcolm X - Civil Right Movement
(Malcolm Little; later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)(1925-1965), a leading figure in the 20th-century movement for black liberation in the United States, and arguably its most enduring symbol.Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist (see Pan-Africanism), father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist (see Socialism), and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life—his politics and ideology—is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative ...

Ali, Muhammad or Clay Cassius (1942- ) - Civil Right Movement
African American heavyweight prizefighter, antiwar protester, and international ambassador of goodwill. As the dominant heavyweight boxer of the 1960s and 1970s, Muhammad Ali won an Olympic gold medal, captured the professional world heavyweight championship on three separate occasions, and successfully defended his title 19 times. Ali's extroverted, colorful style, both in and out of the ring, heralded a new mode of media-conscious athletic celebrity. Through his bold assertions of black pride, his conversion to the Muslim faith, and his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War (1959-1975), Ali became a highly controversial figure during the turbulent 1960s. At the height of his fame, Ali was described as "the most recognizable human being on earth."

Ruby Bridges - Civil Right Movement
was born in Mississippi She grew up in a very poor family. When she was at the age of 4 Ruby and her family moved to New Orleans.When Ruby was old enough to attend school the judge ordered Ruby to go to the Frantz Elementary School for whites only. Ruby was the first black child to walk into Frantz Elementary School to attend the first grade. One day When Ruby was walking into school she stopped and said a prayer.This turned into a daily routine for Ruby.

Sidney Poitier - Civil Right Movement was raised in the Bahamas and returned to the United States as a teenager. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and moved to New York, New York, in 1945 to study acting. At his first audition for the American Negro Theater (ANT), Poitier was rejected because of his strong Caribbean accent. After only six months, he had perfected a mainstream American accent by imitating radio announcers and...