• “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”

• Refused to give up her seat to a white person on a city bus and was arrested.

• Resulted in a 381 day bus boycott.

• Sang with the Freedom Singers.

• Later formed the group Sweet Honey in the Rock which sings about equality, the environment and peace.

• Works at the Smithsonian to preserve Black culture.

• Subject of the film Mississippi Burning.

• Worked in Mississippi to teach local Blacks how to register to vote and pass the voter registration exam.

• Organized Freedom Schools in Mississippi as part of the Freedom Summer Program

• “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired”

• Tired of racism and poverty, Hamer risked her life by registering to vote.

• Traveled to the Democratic National Convention in 1964 as a representative of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

• Left New York City to travel to South to take part in the Civil Rights Movement.

• Organized activists to teach Southerners to how to read and write and learn about their rights.

• Started the “Algebra Project” to teach all students the basic math skills required for college.

• Inspired and guided the emerging leaders of the Civil Right Movement.

• Ran a voter registration campaign called Crusade for Citizenship.

• Helped form the SNCC to organize student activists and worked to encourage new, young activists.

• “Grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement”

• Founded the “Citizenship Schools” and pioneered teaching adult literacy.

• Worked with Martin Luther King Jr. as director of education for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

• Attempted to purchase a bus ticket at the “White’s Only” counter.

• After being arrested, expulsed from school, and exiled from Mississippi, she led a march on City Hall. Over 100 students an SNCC workers were arrested.

• Volunteered for the Freedom Riders in 1961 to challenge segregation at bus terminals.

• Spent time as chairman of SNCC and led marchers across Pettus Bridge, resulting in “Bloody Sunday”.

• Currently serving his seventh term in Congress.

• Featured in the film The Time of Harvey Milk.

• One of the first openly gay elected officials in the USA.

• Dreamed of a society where everyone shared equal rights, regardless of gender, race, sexual preference, disability, and age.

• Fought for farmworker rights in the USA and the leader of the United Farmworkers of America.

• Fought for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers, especially on keeping toxic pesticides off crops.

• Organized the first Woolworth’s sit-in in Mississippi.

• Became well known for his singing, or “Freedom Songs”, which he used to rise spirits in the darkest times.

• Orchestrated the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech.

• Taught Martin Luther King Jr. the non-violent ways of Gandhi.

• Created the Highlander Folk School in 1032 which ignored segregation lines and taught leadership skills to blacks and whites.

• Also worked with labor unions, antipoverty organizations, and civil rights leaders, seeking to end social injustice.

• Attempted to enroll his children in school and was denied due to his Mexican heritage.

• Sued the school and won a landmark case desegregating all schools in the city.

• Used his stand-up comedy acts to satire racial prejudice in the US.

• Gave a comedic voice to the Civil Rights Movement.

• Worked with the SNCC in Mississippi.

• A major financer of the Civil Rights Movement, supporting the Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King Jr., and SNCC.

• Organized the We Are the World project, which raised millions of dollars for famine victims in Africa.

• Honored by UNICEF for his social and humanitarian activism.