civil rights
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The Lady and Her Music: Lena Horne's Legacy Endures in the First Major Entertainment Award Named for a Woman of Color
In the history of Hollywood, there are few talents as multifaceted as actress, singer, dancer and legendary beauty Lena Horne. In her decadeslong career, the four-time Grammy-winner was known for her iconic renditions of songs like “Stormy Weather”—and her starring role in the 1943 film of the same name. Also honored with a Kennedy Center…
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Rep. Joyce Beatty Presses Mark Zuckerberg Like a Panini Over Facebook's Dismal Civil Rights Record
To hear Congresswoman Joyce Beatty tell it, this wasn’t the first time she took the founder and CEO of Facebook to task for his dismal record on civil rights—but after her tense, blistering exchange with Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill Wednesday, he’d better hope it’s the last time. The Ohio Democrat called Zuckerberg out on…
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Emmett Till Memorial, Marred by Vandalism for More Than 10 Years, Is Now Bullet-Proof
For more than 50 years, there was no marker at all to commemorate the lynching of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Chicago boy brutally murdered by two white men while visiting his family in Mississippi. That changed in 2008 when the first memorial was erected on the banks of the Tallahatchie River, where local authorities first…
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Parents Sue Minnesota School District Saying It Did Nothing to Protect Their Kids From Rampant Racism
A group of parents have hit their almost lily-white school district with a civil rights lawsuit, charging it turned a blind eye to rampant instances of egregious racist abuse and bullying of their children. According to the Daily Beast, the abusive behavior alleged includes: a 6-year-old black child being punched in the face by a…
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Robert E. Lee’s Horse’s Ass Made Me Black
For Heather Heyer and her fellow anti-racist protestors, two years after Charlottesville. There’s a vacation photo of me, all grainy and saturated like the best ’80s snapshots. My messy red ’fro is damp, my smiling face is half in shadow, my feet are dangling in glistening water that spreads to the edges of the frame,…
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Hell or High Water: How Racism Kept Black America From Swimming
Now, we’ve all heard the stereotype that black folks can’t swim. But, unfortunately, that cliché is based in haunting truths. The numbers speak for themselves: 64 percent of black kids have no or low swimming ability, versus 45 percent of Latinx children and 40 percent of white kids. A 2014 study also found that black…
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Death of Civil Rights Activist Sadie Roberts-Joseph Ruled a Homicide
Authorities have revealed the cause of death of Sadie Roberts-Joseph, a beloved activist and pillar of her Baton Rouge, La., community. According to Buzzfeed News, a preliminary autopsy conducted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office determined that the 75-year-old died of “traumatic asphyxia, including suffocation.” Her death has been ruled a homicide. Coroner…
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North Carolina Man Sues Hardees for Civil Rights Violations for Shorting Him on Hash Rounds
If you look at the menu for Hardees’ breakfast platter—as you might be wont to do if you were craving a quick, affordable morning meal—you’ll notice that along with two slices of bacon, two scrambled eggs, and two biscuits sopped in sausage gravy, you’ll also get roughly a half dozen hash rounds. Beloved reader, that…
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The Supreme Court's Latest Ruling Makes It Easier for Cops to Arrest Black Lives Matter Protesters
It was a ruling that failed to register widely in terms of national news, but could have potentially devastating effects for protesters around the country—and anyone tasked with keeping police officers accountable. On May 28, the Supreme Court made it more difficult for people who say they were arrested for exercising their free speech rights…
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Leah Chase, Iconic Executive Chef and Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 96
Leah Chase, iconic executive chef, civil rights activist, and co-owner of the legendary Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans, died Saturday. She was 96 years old. “Her daily joy was not simply cooking, but preparing meals to bring people together,” Chase’s family said in a written statement. “One of her most prized contributions was advocating…