Fifty years ago this month, Martin Luther King Jr. drafted a letter from a cramped cell in Birmingham, Alabama. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Jonathan Rieder says in his new book, “Gospel of Freedom,” reveals a more complex King, tough and tender, in equal measure. Rieder’s narrative reflects a major shift in the way many [...]
After 50 Years, ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’ Reveals King’s Message Not Far From Malcolm’s
April 22, 2013 | Posted by
Meet Little-Known Civil Rights Pioneer, Claudette Colvin
March 30, 2013 | Posted by
Everyone knows Rosa Parks — we hope. She was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 when black people were routinely treated as second-class citizens and had no rights. When she put her foot down, 40,000 blacks wouldn’t ride city buses for 381 days during a [...]
Wrongfully Imprisoned Ohio Man Awarded $13.2 Million Settlement
March 10, 2013 | Posted by
An Ohio man who spent more than a decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit has been awarded a $13.2 million dollar settlement for his pain and suffering. David Ayers, 56, was imprisoned for the beating death of 76-year-old Dorothy Brown in 2000, but earned a reversal of his conviction based on DNA [...]
NRA To African-Americans: You’ll Need Guns To Protect Yourselves
March 8, 2013 | Posted by
The National Rifle Association has apparently begun its previously mentioned initiative to reach minority audiences, announcing that Youtube celebrity and self-described “urban gun enthusiast” Colion Noir will join NRA News. Noir appeared in a short clip posted to the NRA News Youtube channel, expressing the necessity for guns in African-American communities. He tied the battle [...]
Joe Biden Joins ‘Bloody Sunday’ Demonstrators In Selma
March 4, 2013 | Posted by
Vice president Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders and lawmakers on a demonstration over the weekend commemorating the “Blood Sunday” voting rights march that turned violent in Selma, Ala. almost 50 years ago. Biden and several southern congressmen along with Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who was present for the original march, returned to Selma for [...]
Birmingham Marks 50th Anniversary of Turbulent Civil Rights Summer of ’63
January 21, 2013 | Posted by
Birmingham made history in 1963, and in 2013 the Alabama city will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the events that led to the 1964 Civil Rights Bill and the beginning of the end of racial segregation in the South. In the summer of 1963, black residents held sit-ins at whites-only lunch counters to challenge Jim [...]
‘Stories From The Road to Freedom’: History Channel Special for Black History Month
January 15, 2013 | Posted by
The iconic images and sounds associated with America’s civil rights movement are well-known. By now, several generations of school children are familiar with the “Colored” signs on water fountains, the March on Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream. But what happened before the heroes and protests, court orders and riots? We’ve come a long [...]
Myrlie Evers-Williams, Civil Rights Leader, to Speak at Inauguration
January 8, 2013 | Posted by
Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, is set to speak at President Barack Obama’s inauguration Jan. 21. Evers-Williams will deliver the invocation, while Atlanta’s Rev. Louie Giglio of Passion City Church will deliver the benediction, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said Tuesday. “Their voices have inspired many people across this [...]
Jesse Hill, Jr., Atlanta Business, Civic, Civil Rights Icon, Dead at 86
December 18, 2012 | Posted by
When Jesse Hill, Jr. the retired CEO of the Atlanta Life Insurance Co. and a legendary civil rights activist, passed away yesterday the city of Atlanta mourned him. Leaders in civil rights, business and local as well as state government all had their lives impacted by the late business executive and community leader. “Today, the [...]
Congressman, Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Gets Out the Vote Gangnam Style
October 23, 2012 | Posted by
Georgia Congressman John Lewis takes Malcolm X’s advice of “by any means necessary” and joins in the Gangnam Style dance craze made famous by the Korean entertainer Psy in a You Tube video aimed at getting young people to vote in the November elections. The video was produced by the organization Kollaboration Atlanta and also [...]
