Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s activism and message reverberated across the United States and the world in the 20th century and continues to do so decades later as the fight for civil rights rages on. While many schools and workplaces close during MLK Day, the national holiday is often referred…
Tag: Civil Rights Movement
Rededicated Emmett Till Memorial Is Now Bulletproof
A memorial has been rededicated to Emmett Till just outside of Glendora, Miss. The new marker was dedicated to the slain 14-year-old Black teen from Chicago this past Saturday. His tragic and brutal murder jumpstarted the civil rights movement more than six decades ago. In 1955, Till was visiting family…
John Lewis, Barack Obama Share MLK's Legacy with Young Leaders
“Fifty years ago today, I was with Robert Kennedy in Indianapolis when we heard that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed,” Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) wrote in a message released Wednesday morning. “The leader of our movement for civil rights was gone, assassinated on April 4,…
Rev. Jesse Jackson Announces His Battle with Parkinson's Disease
Civil rights leader, Baptist minister and politician Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. announced on Twitter Friday afternoon his personal struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Jackson, 76, said in a statement that he and his family started noticing changes about three years ago when he found it difficult to do routine tasks….
Why NBA Legend Bill Russell Decided to Take a Knee on Twitter
Bill Russell, a trailblazing pioneer for Black men in the NBA, had a career of historic proportions. Russell led the Boston Celtics to win 11 championships in just 13 seasons (1956 to 1969) and he was the NBA’s MVP five times. But during the time of Jim Crow laws in…
Dick Gregory, Social Satirist and Activist, Dies at 84
Dick Gregory’s lifetime of accomplishments such as marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., being the first Black comedian to sit on the “Tonight Show” couch and even attempting a mayoral run represents a unique and groundbreaking intersection of comedy and politics. The Black satirist, who used…
Black Women Leaders Demand Representation in the DNC
More than 20 Black female elected officials, activists and community leaders came together in solidarity to voice their concern that Black women are being overlooked in regard to leadership within the Democratic Party. The women, including State Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Calif.); Tamika Mallory, Women’s March co-chair; and Star Jones, attorney,…
House Dems’ Gun Common Sense Sit-In Incorporates Social Media Strategies of Millennials
UPDATE: June 23, 2016 at 2:51 p.m. ET House Democrats ended an almost 26-hour sit-in on the House floor a little after 1 p.m. Thursday. The protest was a response to lawmakers failing to pass any kind of gun-control measure, or a vote in the House. “By sitting in, we’re…
Rosa Parks: Spiritual Godmother to BLM
It has been 60 years since activist Rosa Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala. She resisted bus segregation by refusing to give up her seat to a white man when the whites-only section was full. Parks was determined to help propel the civil rights movement through…
Civil Rights Activist Julian Bond Dies at 75, Leaders Call Him ‘Hero’
By Sheryl Estrada Julian Bond during the dedication the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Photo credit: Kadesh DuBose/KMBD Studios) The Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement on Sunday morning its co-founder, civil rights activist Julian Bond,…