when did the civil rights movement start

The modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States is generally considered to have started in the mid-1950s. A key catalyst was the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down racial segregation in public schools. This was followed by a mass movement of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience, notably beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-1956 sparked by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat. Although the movement had earlier roots dating back to the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and various actions through the 1940s, the mid-1950s mark the beginning of the nationally prominent phase of the Civil Rights Movement aimed at abolishing legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement primarily affecting African Americans. This movement continued actively through the 1960s achieving major legislative victories like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.