April 1949
Jefferson records the final days of his life in his diary. Paul tells Grant about Jefferson's death and presents him with the diary. [29-31]
Jackie Robinson receives the National League's Most Valuable Player award.
Joe Louis retires as World Heavyweight boxing champion,after holding the title for a record 11 years and 8 months.
1954
May 17 The Supreme Court outlaws school segregation in Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, overturning the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling that established "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites.
1955
Dec 5 The Montgomery Bus Boycott in response to Rosa Parks' arrest on Dec. 1 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus launches the Civil Rights movement.
The movement has since made impressive gains with the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which addressed the most egregious discriminatory practices. However, issues such as the lack of good legal counsel for impoverished African Americans charged with crimes (resulting in a disproportionate number of African-American men in prisons and on death row) and inadequate representation of African Americans among the professional classes indicate the continuing need for attention to equal opportunity and civil rights.
