The Mississippi Freedom Movement 1963

In 1961, approximately 45 percent of Mississippi’s population was African American, and less than 7 percent of them were registered to vote. African Americans were kept from the polls through a combination of violence, intimidation, and complicated voting requirements. A band of organizers risked their lives confronting these tactics. In their efforts to register African Americans to vote, known as the Mississippi Freedom Movement, they were verbally and physically attacked, and jailed, and some were murdered. But when films and photographs of the savagery they faced were seen around the world, public outcry mounted. In 1964, legislators responded to the pressure, passing the Civil Rights and the Voting Rights Acts.