Through nonviolent protests and other forms of civil disobedience, the Civil Rights Movement was a decade’s long effort to make racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and inequality illegal across the country.
But the efforts of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King and John Lewis didn’t just work to help African Americans. They served as inspiration to women, the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities and others. And their actions provided a blueprint to help them move their causes forward as well.
Here are some examples of how African American’s fight for civil rights influenced a host of other movements.