After World War II, African American soldiers returned to a racist society in the United States and joined the campaign for civil rights alongside existing civil rights organizations like the NAACP. An early civil rights victory was the 1954 decision by the Supreme Court, Brown v. Board, which ruled that separate educational facilities for Black and White students cannot be considered equal.

Inspired by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, from 1955 to 1956, Black residents of Montgomery, Alabama, fought for equal treatment by boycotting the bus system. Martin Luther King was active in this protest, and following its conclusion, became a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King focused on direct action — marches, boycotts, and demonstrations, but emphasized the importance of nonviolent resistance.

The fight for educational equality continued in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, where nine Black high school students bravely enrolled in an all-white high school. The Alabama Governor, Orval Faubus, refused to provide protection for the Black students, who had been attacked and spat upon by white protesters. President Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and the Black students were finally allowed to attend school. The next year, however, Little Rock closed all its public schools to prevent their integration.

In Virginia, a similar plan called Massive Resistance was initiated to prevent integration of public schools. Activism to integrate public transportation continued with the Freedom Riders, groups of African American and White activists who boarded buses and traveled through the South in 1961, challenging segregated facilities. In the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, activists led by Martin Luther King challenged brutal segregationists of Birmingham, Alabama, sending Black children to march against police led by Bull Connor, who used dogs and firehoses to attack them.

In July 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, but violence in the South continued as Freedom Summer activists tried to get African Americans registered to vote in Mississippi. Appalled by the bombings and murders of activists, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Martin Luther King continued to press for civil rights and social justice, but was assassinated in 1968. Not all African Americans agreed that non-violent protest was the best way to approach the inequalities and brutality to which African Americans were subjected.

Malcolm X was a member the Nation of Islam, a black Muslim separatist organization; he preached violent resistance to violence on the part of White racists. However, he broke with the Nation of Islam in 1964 and adopted a less confrontational message. He was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam in 1965. In 1966, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton formed the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland; branches of the Black Panthers spread quickly throughout the country.

The Black Panthers wore black jackets and berets, and used the ‘Black Power’ salute. The Black Panthers often carried weapons in public to show that they were willing to defend themselves against racist white attacks. However, they also organized food programs to support children and the poor. The Black Panthers clashed with the police in 1967 and 1968 and leaders Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver were jailed. The Black Panther Party had mostly disintegrated by the mid-1970s.

Civil rights movements for indigenous people and Hispanic Americans also spread in the 1960s and 1970s. Native American groups occupied Alcatraz island for over a year, starting in 1969 drawing attention to their messages. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was formed in 1968, and engaged in protests aimed at demonstrating the injustice and inequality of the treatment of indigenous people in America, including the occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1971 and the Washington Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972. In 1973, AIM was involved in a standoff at Wounded Knee.

In Canada, First Nations protesters were inspired by AIM to occupy a park in Kenora, Ontario. And, in 1982, the Canadian Constitution was amended, providing a guarantee of rights for First Nations people. Hispanic Americans also faced discrimination and unequal treatment in the United States. Civil rights activists Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta formed the National Farm Workers Association to fight for better working conditions and pay for agricultural workers. In the 1960s, the Brown Berets, a Chicano social justice organization, was formed to advocate against police brutality and to organize for better educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

Finally, the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s focused on access to birth control, abortion, education, and equal opportunities in employment. Betty Friedan’s 1963 best-seller, the Feminine Mystique, helped women understand that not wanting to make being a wife and mother their central focus in life was acceptable. Friedan formed NOW, the National Organization for Women. Journalist Gloria Steinem founded Ms. Magazine along with Dorothy Pitman Hughes as a forum for feminist discussions.

However, conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly pushed back against the feminist message, and particularly against the passage of the ERA (the Equal Rights Amendment). In 1982, in Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed gender equality. There was overlap during many of these protest movements with the youth movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Anti-Vietnam protesters might also be activists for feminism, African American civil rights, or justice for indigenous or Hispanic Americans.