Buttons - African American

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.

The Poor People's Campaign was organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC). Its primary goal was to address issues of economic justice for the nation's poor. The Campaign originated in Mississippi and was to culminate in a major march in Washington, DC. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, but the campaign continued under the leadership of the Reverend Ralph David Abernathy who also assumed the presidency of the SCLC.

These buttons are also from the late 1960s and very early 1970s. Individuals included on these buttons include Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, and Huey Newton.

These Black Panther buttons are from the late 1960s and very early 1970s. Individuals identified on these particular buttons include Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. The Black Panther Party (for Self Defense) was founded in Oakland, California in 1966. It was seen as an alternative to the non-violent civil rights movement. The Black Panthers believed that blacks should arm themselves in a liberation struggle and would early on experience several violent confrontations with the police.

The August 28, 1963 March on Washington was estimated at 250,000 people. This march put the struggle for civil rights at the top of the American agenda and helped create the demand for passage of the civil rights bill which had already been introduced.