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The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in 1942. It was CORE which organized the Freedom Rides of 1961. Over 1000 Freedom Riders, both black and white volunteers, traveled throughout the South attempting to peacefully confront and protest via sit-ins and other non-violent actions the segregation and unequal accommodations in the South, primarily at restaurants, lunch counters, restrooms, and motels.

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) was one of the early Twentieth Century's leading civil rights activists and writers. One of his most famous works was The Souls of Black Folk published in 1903. DuBois was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and is also identified as "The Father of Pan-Africanism." A contemporary of Booker T. Washington the two often debated over segregation and education. Du Bois was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first black Greek fraternity, and which at that time also had a civil rights focus. The W.E.B. DuBois Clubs was formed in 1964. The Clubs opposed the war in Vietnam, believed in black liberation, and became very active in civil rights. The DuBois Clubs became the focus of several F.B.I. investigations because of the Clubs’ Communist associations. In 1970 its members, along with other groups went on to form a new Communist organization.

The NAACP's Youth and College Division was established in 1936 and remains an active organization in over 400 colleges and high schools. Its purpose is to work toward justice and equality for blacks and other minorities.

The black and white handshake was a Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) button from the early 1960s.