The Sixties – A Long Road to Freedom
From 39 minutes (Chapter 6 of the DVD) to the end
Approx. 45 minutes long
1. What did MLK urge Congress to do with his march on Washington D.C. ?
2. What did MLK promise about the demonstration?
3. What was the name of the Senator that believed JFK’s plan for increased Civil Rights was
unconstitutional?
4. Why did government agencies like the White House and Defense Department draw up all
kind of contingency plans for the March?
5. What was the month and year for the March on Washington ?
(just after the news report by Walter Cronkite)
6. Who was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington ?
7. What did the youngest person say he was tired of seeing?
8. What is the name of the speech Martin Luther King Jr. gives on that day?
9. What are the last 3 words of the speech?
10. a. What happened in Birmingham , Alabama about 2 weeks after the March?
b. How many girls died?
11. What did actor James Baldwin say about the media’s coverage of the event?
12. What occurred on November 22 nd , 1963?
13. According to Lyndon Johnson, what would best honor JFK’s legacy?
14. What state was the target of Freedom Summer?
15. Shortly after it began, how many Freedom Summer activists were arrested, released, and
later found dead by the FBI?
16. What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 say would happen to people that violated the law?
17. What did MLK say he hoped would happen to the people responsible for the Freedom
Summer activist murders?
18. What did Dave Dennis (speaking at one of the funerals) say he wanted “now”?
(This was the beginning of a shift from MLK for some… being sick of waiting patiently and
watching others die)
19. How many were arrested for the killing of the Freedom Summer activists ?
20. How many were found guilty for the killing of the Freedom Summer activists ?
21. Who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964?
22. What was the one major challenge remaining in the South that was not dealt with by the
Civil Rights Act of 1964?
23. How many black people were registered to vote in 5 Mississippi counties where close to 60%
of the population was black?
24. What Alabama city became the start of voting rights marches in January of 1965?
25. Why was it chosen?
26. What did black people go to the courthouse to try to do but were denied entrance?
27. What discouraged law enforcement from using a lot of force against these people?
28. What month and year did the Selma voting rights marches start?
29. Who stopped the marchers from continuing at first?
30. Identify one thing that was done by these people to stop the marchers from continuing.
31. How many marchers were hospitalized?
32. What was the nickname given to this event by ABC, which had news cameras there and
broadcast the entire thing to the American public?
3 3 . What 3 words did Lyndon Johnson use during his speech that are the “theme song of the
Civil Rights Movement” and made MLK Jr. cry when seeing and hearing it on TV?
34. How long did MLK Jr. say it would take for African – Americans to finally get treated
equally in this country? (HE SAYS IT SEVERAL TIMES)
35. What piece of legislation did Lyndon Johnson get pushed through Congress because of the
media attention associated with the march?
36. Identify 1 impact that this legislation had.
37. Who conducted a one person march in Mississippi to bring attention to black voter
registration there? (HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST HATED MEN ALIVE)
38. What happened to him on his march?
39. What did Civil Rights leaders decide to do about it?
40. Who began to express the belief that black people needed to begin to exercise power?
41. Who wanted to focus on having things remain nonviolent?
42. What was on signs held up by many white people in Cicero, Illinois when MLK Jr. went
there to promote more integrated cities with marches there?
43. What famous athlete said it seemed to be impossible for MLK Jr. to do what he wanted to do
by this point in the Civil Rights Movement?
44. What became the slogan for the militant portion of the Civil Rights movement that
encouraged more violence?
45. What began happening in many major cities around the U.S. (including Detroit)?
46. What did MLK Jr. confess that much of his “dream” turned into?
47. What does MLK Jr. say now about how close the Civil Rights Movement is to being
successful?
48. What state was MLK Jr. assassinated in?
49. Who did Civil Rights leaders really want to help out besides their own generation?
50. At the very end, what job does the speaker say might finally be available to a 5 year old
black boy in the audience by the time he is 50?