| 1964 (continued) |
- Exclusion
of Blacks from regular Democratic Party gives birth to alternative party, Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party.
|
| 1965 |
- Voter
registration drive, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., opens in Selma, Alabama and
throughout the state.
|
- 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
contributes to the passing of the Voting Rights Act.
|
- President
Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Right Act into law.
|
- Civil
Rights workers, Jimmy Lee Jackson, Viola Liuzzo and the Reverend James Reeb are murdered
for their efforts to ensure equal voting rights.
|
- Summer Community Organization and Political Education
Program founded by SCLC attempts to register Black voters in 50 counties within the South.
|
| 1970 |
- Voting
Rights Act of 1965 is renewed.
|
| 1971 |
- Voting age
is lowered to 18 after the passing of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.
|
| 1982 |
- Reverend
Joseph Lowery of SCLC organizes a campaign retracing the march from Selma to Montgomery to
prevent the Reagon Administration from making sweeping changes to major strides in the
Voting Rights Act.
|
