(1965) President Johnson’s civil rights speechThe struggles of civil rights activists, and the recent violence they encountered in Alabama, inspire LBJ’s speech to the US Congress. He quotes the activists’ hallmark phrase, “we shall overcome,” and calls for voting rights for all. The speech will help galvanize support for the Voting Rights Act.The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act secured voting rights for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965 wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_19654.8.d17