Early in a life of service, LaFayette did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama
Bernard LaFayette, the advance man who did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died.
Bernard LaFayette III said his father died Thursday morning of a heart attack. He was 85.
Continue reading...Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Al Sharpton, Donald Trump and more react to death of the civil rights leader at the age of 84
Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a “titan” of the civil rights movement and “one of America’s greatest patriots” who has died at the age of 84.
Joe Biden said history would remember Jackson as “a man of God and of the people”, calling him in a social media post : “Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.”
Continue reading...Mississippi museum announces display on anniversary of boy’s murder, a pivotal moment in civil rights movement
The gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference on Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder.
Continue reading...Clayborn Temple, base for sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968, suffers extensive damage
A fire has severely damaged the historic Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis, which is closely associated with the US civil rights movement and Dr Martin Luther King.
The temple was headquarters for the sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968. The campaign’s “I Am a Man” signs were made in the church’s basement, according to the temple’s website.
Continue reading...President of the NAACP New York state chapter fought tirelessly for voting rights, fair housing and education
Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York state chapter of the NAACP and lifelong civil rights advocate, died Saturday at the age of 92.
Dukes peacefully passed away in her New York City home surrounded by family, her son, Ronald Dukes, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Activist who was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s influenced Malcolm X and other leader leaders
President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. Also receiving pardons were a top Virginia lawmaker and advocates for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention.
Congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon Garvey, with supporters arguing that Garvey’s conviction was politically motivated and an effort to silence the increasingly popular leader who spoke of racial pride. After Garvey was convicted, he was deported to Jamaica, where he was born. He died in 1940.
Continue reading...Statue of congressman, who died in 2020 of cancer, replaces obelisk erected in 1908 celebrating the Confederacy
A 12ft-tall statue of John Lewis was unveiled in Georgia on Saturday morning, honoring the legacy of the civil rights leader and congressman who died in 2020.
The statue stands in Decatur Square outside the historic Decatur courthouse in outer Atlanta, in a district Lewis represented in Congress from 1987 to his death. Lewis was 80 when he died due to complications related to pancreatic cancer.
Continue reading...Ricky Alderete sentenced for three offenses before Kansas unveiling of new statue of baseball and civil rights pioneer
A man who stole a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was cut off at the ankles and found days later on fire in a trash can in a Kansas park will spend about 15 years in prison, though most of that sentence is related to a burglary a few days after the January statue heist.
A judge sentenced Ricky Alderete on Friday in three different cases he said in court stemmed from his addiction to fentanyl.
Continue reading...Reverend, pastor and professor, who was a close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr, dies in Los Angeles after short illness
The Rev James Lawson Jr, an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the civil rights movement gained traction, has died, his family said on Monday. He was 95.
His family said Lawson died on Sunday after a short illness in Los Angeles, where he spent decades working as a pastor, labor movement organizer and university professor.
Continue reading...US activist, 69, speaks to NBC amid growing effort to prevent I Am Ruby Bridges and other works being available to school students
Increasingly, the US civil rights icon Ruby Bridges – the first Black child to integrate a school in Louisiana – has seen some adults seek to prevent grade-school students from accessing the books and films that chronicle her story, saying the tale makes white children feel bad about themselves.
But that justification is “ridiculous” because “my biggest fans are kids all around the world”, Bridges told NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker in an interview airing on Sunday morning’s episode of the show.
Continue reading...The relatives of slain civil rights leader will visit Tennessee city to bring attention to erosion of civil rights in US
Relatives of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr are making a rare trip to Memphis on Thursday on the anniversary of his assassination, to speak on the rising threat of political violence, especially in an election year.
Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the late King, will pay tribute to his father’s legacy, 56 years after the assassination in the Tennessee city.
Continue reading...With In Search of the Beloved Community, Raymond Arsenault delivers a fitting tribute to the late Democrat from Georgia
John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community chronicles one man’s quest for a more perfect union. An adventure of recent times, it is made exceptional by the way the narrative intersects with current events. It is the perfect book, at the right time.
Raymond Arsenault also offers the first full-length biography of the Georgia congressman and stalwart freedom-fighter. The book illuminates Lewis’s time as a planner and participant of protests, his service in Congress and his time as an American elder statesman.
Continue reading...Tom and brother Dick’s groundbreaking CBS show was pulled when they took a stance against Vietnam war and for civil rights
Tom Smothers, half of the comedy group the Smothers Brothers, has died at the age of 86.
Smothers was described as “not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life”, but as “a one-of-a-kind creative partner”, according to a statement by his brother Dick Smothers on Wednesday shared by the National Comedy Center.
Continue reading...Leaked documents spark furious backlash from groups who fear freedom of expression could be suppressed
Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
Continue reading...Martin Luther King’s family decried the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, the overturning of Roe and gun violence in the US
On the eve of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s legendary I Have a Dream speech, his son and granddaughter have decried continuing racial violence and hatred in the US, lamenting that the civil rights leader’s call for equality and justice has yet to be fulfilled.
Speaking a day after a vast crowd gathered in the nation’s capital in an echo of the 28 August 1963 march on Washington at which King made his famous remarks, his eldest son, Martin Luther King III, warned of a resurgence of hate crimes. Violence against minorities was “unconscionable” and “unacceptable”, he said.
Continue reading...Retirement from Rainbow PUSH Coalition follows several health problems in recent years
The US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is to step down down as head of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition he founded.
The organisation announced on Friday that the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate would be celebrated this weekend at the coalition’s annual convention.
Continue reading...Chart-topping calypso singer who supported US civil rights movement and African initiatives dies of congestive heart failure
Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who broke down racial barriers, has died aged 96.
As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled numerous 1960s initiatives to bring civil rights to Black Americans; campaigned against poverty, apartheid and Aids in Africa; and supported leftwing political figures such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
Continue reading...The president spoke in Selma at the site of ‘Bloody Sunday’ that led to passage of historic voting rights legislation nearly 60 years ago
Joe Biden paid tribute to the heroes of the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights march nearly 60 years ago and used its annual commemoration to warn of an ongoing threat to US democracy from election deniers and the erosion of voting rights.
The US president joined thousands of people in Selma, Alabama to mark the movement that led to the passage of landmark voting rights legislation shortly after peaceful marchers were brutally attacked by law enforcement on a bridge though town.
Continue reading...One of Malcolm X’s daughters says new details show federal and state agencies covered up crucial evidence
The family of Malcolm X has filed notice that they plan to sue the FBI, New York police and other agencies over his death.
The civil rights leader was 39 when he was assassinated on 21 February 1965, at an auditorium in the Washington Heights neighbourhood.
Continue reading...Cousin of murdered Black teenager tries to compel sheriff to enforce 1955 warrant against Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 89
A relative of Emmett Till has filed a lawsuit seeking the arrest of the white woman whose allegations resulted in the 14-year-old Black boy’s kidnapping, torture and murder nearly 70 years ago.
Earlier this week, Till’s cousin, Patricia Sterling, filed a federal lawsuit against Ricky Banks, the sheriff in Leflore county, Mississippi, seeking to compel the elected official to serve a 1955 arrest warrant against Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was then identified as “Mrs Roy Bryant” on the document.
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