African Americans have resisted oppression from the moment they were first enslaved and transported to the New World of America in the 1600s. During the 1950s and 1960s, this resistance led to a widespread movement for civil rights in the United States. Readers will find out how the movement began, what obstacles activists faced, what impact the movement had on the country, and much more.

The roots of the civil rights movement -- Jim Crow: separate and unequal: -- Desegregating the armed forces -- Jackie Robinson integrates baseball -- The civil rights movement begins -- The Little Rock Nine -- Resistance in the South -- Claudette Colvin: a teenager ready to fight -- Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- The Greensboro Four -- Ruby Bridges: a first grader makes history -- The freedom riders -- Focus on Birmingham -- Artists of the civil rights movement -- "I have a dream": the March on Washington -- The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing -- 1964: the Mississippi Summer Project -- Legislating civil rights -- The Selma to Montgomery marches -- Music of the civil rights movement -- The Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- The Black Power Movement -- Pan-Africanism -- Malcolm X -- Disinformation and destruction -- Literary figures of the civil rights movement -- Young, gifted, and black: entertainers in the civil rights movement -- Not just black and white -- How far have we come? civil rights today -- Key players -- Civil rights timeline.