March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom

• A Philip Randolph gathers the “Big 5“ for the March on Washington: NAACP, SNCC (John Lewis), SCLC (MLK), CORE, and National Urban League (NUL).

  They planned the march for jobs and freedom.

  The Catholic League and other smaller groups were involved too.

  They got way more people to attend than what was panned which could result in a riot.
• Numerous speeches at the March on Washington, including MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech, musical performances like SNCC’s Freedom Singers, Bob Dylan’s music was played which is important because it had strong messages that were not heard on the radio before.
• 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed by the KKK, killing 4 girls inside it (Selma). Arrested a few Klansmen for the bombing and only 2 actually got jail time, even then it was not a lot of jail time.
• Kennedy’s Assassination - Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy was having problems with the Democratic party because he “supports” the civil rights movement, angering southern Democrats.

  • Kennedy visits Texas Gov. John Connolly in November, Lyndon B. Johnson also goes
  • Kennedy is part of a convoy downtown to have people wave at him
  • Close to the overpass, Kennedy gets shot in the shoulder, Jackie gets close to him, then he gets shot in the head
  • Hunt begins for the killer
• Secret Service believes the shot came from a warehouse nearby, found shell casings in there

  Lee Harvey Oswald - shot and killed a police officer, hid in a movie theater, Dallas police get him alive and interrogate him at the station, according to him they never asked i’m about the president, just the officer.

  A man walks out of the crowd and shoots Oswald as he’s getting into the police car.
• Jack Ruby - A man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused killer of JFK, on live TV

  Now we can’t ask Oswald if he killed the president b/c he’s dead.

  Johnson becomes President on Nov. 22, 1963, passes the Civil Rights Bill because thats the last thing Kennedy was working on.

  John Connolly got shot with the same bullet that hit Kennedy in the shoulder.
• Filibuster: A tactic used by a senator to delay or block a bill by speaking for a long time, or holding the floor for a long time.

  Had a filibuster during the passing of the Civil Rights Bill.

  Strom Thurmond filibusters for about 80 hours because he doesn’t want this bill to pass, but he wasted his time cuz it will pass.
• Photo of a racist man throwing acid into a pool while the SCLC was swimming in it was on the front page the day before the Civil RIghts Act was passed.

  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - if you feel you are being discriminated against work, file a complaint with the EEOC and they’ll fix it.

  Civil Rights Act (1964) -
• Johnson is going to make a commission to figure out who killed the president.

  The Warren Commission- led by chief justice Earl Warren, made up of judges, members of congress, executive officials, etc. who spend more than a year examining every detail. Come to the conclusion that Oswald shot Kennedy alone, Johnson believes it, no one else believes it.
• Most people back then used t trust and believe the government, about 60%.

  Now it’s at around 20% that even trust the government.

  • People who worked at the hospital where Kennedy was taken said the body sent to DC was not the same as Kennedy’s
  • FBI lost all the footage except for one video which is the only shot we have today.
  • FBI lost a lot of evidence of this case.
  • People thought Lyndon Johnson did it because he wanted to be president.
• • People think Oswald was part of the Soviet Union, the mob had something to do with it
  • Kennedy’s family had some connections with the mob and there is evidence that the mob helped Kennedy win the election.

  1970s - Kennedy’s brother was assassinated, MLK was assassinated, Medgar Evers was assassinated, Malcom X was assassinated.

  • House Committee on Assassinations - investigated all the deaths in the 70s. Jack Ruby calls them with information, says he’s not safe in prison and wants to be televised.