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MLK Would Never Shut Down a Freeway, and 6 Other Myths About the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter
On Saturday, as protests mounted across the country following the police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed explained the large police presence at downtown protests to reporters: “Dr. King would never take a freeway.” Reed’s claim was historically absurd. Martin Luther King Jr. took many a highway—most famously, perhaps, in…
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Rosa Parks' Stamp on American History
(The Root) — Today, to honor the Feb. 4 centennial of the birth of Rosa Parks, the United States Postal Service has issued a Rosa Parks stamp. Last year, a stone carving of Parks was added to the National Cathedral. In 2005, she became the first woman and second African American to lie in honor…
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Don't Underestimate Rosa Parks
In the past few days, news of Rosa Parks’ “near-rape” has rippled through the media — in part because of a “newly found” six-page document in her own hand from the late 1950s, revealed by Guernsey’s Auctioneers. There are two problems with how the story is playing out, however: the casting of Parks as victim…
