Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?

The Voting Rights Act, which President Johnson signed in 1965, aimed to remove legal and state barriers to Black Americans’ voting rights. The act resulted from civil rights activism, such as voting registration drives and marches, in the South. These demonstrations culminated in the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. During the protest, police troopers severely beat protesters, and the event was nationally televised. Following the incident, President Johnson called for a voting rights bill. King was present at the ceremony of its signing. The act banned literacy tests and authorized federal investigation in voting registrations. Implementation of the act faced significant delays in the South, where local officials largely ignored it and continued to impede the Black vote. However, the act gave Black people the legal means to challenge voting barriers and improved voting numbers over time.

The Jim Crow laws were a series of state laws in the American South that legalized racial segregation and the disenfranchisement of Black Americans. Premised on the ideology of white supremacy, the Jim Crow system guaranteed Black people’s oppression and status as second-class citizens. The Southern states established the laws at the end of the Reconstruction Era in the late 19th century. After the Civil War ended and enslavement was abolished, emancipated Black people enjoyed a degree of freedom and autonomy. However, the Constitution did not clarify their citizen status. Since the former Confederate states were allowed to rebuild their own government, the dominant planter class sought to maintain its social and economic privileges, enforcing a system to guarantee Black people’s status as laborers and their disenfranchisement. During this period, the emergence of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan gave rise to racist violence and terrorism, including cases of lynchings and riots. By the early 20th century, the Jim Crow system reinforced a racially segregated society in education, public spaces, healthcare, and transport. The 1964 Civil Rights Act abolished Jim Crow laws after collective efforts by civil rights activists.

The SCLC is a civil rights organization that was established in 1957 to coordinate local activist groups throughout the South. Following the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King invited Black ministers and leaders to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, to found an organization to support nonviolent direct action in fighting segregation. King served as the organization’s first president. The SCLC worked to galvanize the Black community, organizing leadership-training programs, education projects, and voter registration drives. The organization played a significant role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington and the Birmingham campaign. Its activities made the freedom struggle in the South visible and paved the way for the landmark civil rights and voting rights acts. After King’s assassination, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy succeeded him in the presidency. The organization remained committed to nonviolent protest for social change. Today, the SCLC is a nationwide organization that continues to advocate for social and economic justice.