civil rights movement
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The Life and Triumphs of Civil-Rights Pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree Will Be Immortalized in Upcoming Film
According to the Seymour Tribune, a memoir by the late civil-rights pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree will not only be reissued but adapted into an upcoming film. On Monday, Algonquin Books announced plans for a 10th-anniversary edition of Roundtree’s Mighty Justice, due out next November. Originally titled Justice Older Than the Law, it will be co-written…
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Wounds That Never Heal: Emmett Till Sign Hit With Bullets Just a Month After Being Replaced
If you drive along Mississippi’s Tallahatchie river, you might encounter a purple sign at Graball Landing. The marker was erected in 2013 to commemorate the spot where 15-year-old Emmett Till’s body was recovered. For the third time in its short history, the sign has been vandalized—riddled with bullet holes once again. As the Clarion Ledger…
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Congressman John Lewis Hospitalized, Expected To Be Released Today
Civil rights icon and U.S. Congressman John Lewis was hospitalized Saturday after falling ill on a flight to Atlanta, CNN reports. Lewis’ spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, said that the congressman is under routine observation and is expected to be released today. She did not provide details about his illness or where he is being hospitalized. Since…
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Lowndes County, Ala.: The Place God Forgot
"It seems like everybody forgot about Lowndes County ... even God.”
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John Lewis Is a Living Legend, and We’d Better Cherish Him While We Can
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) is a living legend of the civil rights movement and we get to take selfies with him. We can touch him. Wrap our arms around his shoulders. Most importantly, we get to listen to his speeches and live-tweet them. And after he is finished, we can say that, just for a…
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Episode 7: Police Officers Terrorize Black Memphis During MLK’s Final March
After speaking to a rapt crowd on March 18, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. returned to Memphis, Tenn., as promised, to march in solidarity with Memphis sanitation strikers. The date was March 28, 1968—50 years ago today—King’s first and only march in Memphis and the last march of his all-too-brief life. He would…
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The Rev. Wyatt T. Walker, MLK’s Right Hand, Dead at 88
The Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, a fierce civil rights advocate and strategist over many generations, died Tuesday at his home in Chester, Va. He was 88 years old. His death was announced by the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network on Twitter; Walker was the 27-year-old organization’s first board chairman. As with…
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Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart Is a Loving Look at the Legacy of Lorraine Hansberry
I wanted to be able to come here and speak with you on this occasion because you are young, gifted and black. … I, for one, can think of no more dynamic combination that a person might be. … And that is why I say to you that, though it be a thrilling and marvelous…
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Dressing Coretta: We Honor the Woman Who Helped Mold a Movement as Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Revisits Selma
In the 50th year since his assassination in 1968, much has and will be said about Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader and icon whose legacy of nonviolent resistance inspired the world—while compelling some to distort and dilute his message of activism. But Coretta Scott King, the great woman consistently behind and beside…