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On April 4, 1968, civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn., while standing on a balcony outside his motel room. King, who was in the city supporting striking sanitation workers, was 39 at the time.  The assassination left an indelible mark on the nation and on the civil…

James Dixon pleaded guilty to the beating death of a transgender woman in Harlem nearly three years ago, prosecutors confirmed Monday, DNAinfo New York reports.  The 25-year-old admitted to punching Islan Nettles, 21, to the ground after he and a group of friends walked by her just after midnight on Aug. 17, 2013. Dixon hit…

Former NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are among 10 notables who were elected Monday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016, the Washington Post reports.  Iverson spent his 14-year career playing with the Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies. A nine-time All-Star, Iverson famously clashed with…

Princeton University has decided to keep Woodrow Wilson’s name and image on campus, despite student complaints about the 28th U.S. president’s support of racial segregation, Reuters reports.  The prominent school’s board of trustees announced Monday that it would not be removing Wilson’s name or image from its public spaces or from its Woodrow Wilson School of…

An interracial couple was evicted from an RV park solely because of skin color, leaving the pair—who say they had never faced discrimination before—in shock, the Clarion-Ledger reports.  “Me and my husband, not ever in 10 years have we experienced any problem,” Erica Flores Dunahoo, who is Hispanic and Native American, told the new site.…

Nine Duke University students have occupied an administrative building on campus, demanding that three senior university officials resign after an incident in which a parking attendant was reportedly called a “stupid n—ger,” Gawker reports. The alleged incident unfolded Aug. 30, 2014, before a football game against Elon. The executive vice president of the school hit…

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article quoted Tony Hollis and identified him as president of the Mississippi County chapter of the NAACP. Since the story was first reported, WREG has posted an update indicating that “Tony Hollis told WREG he was the president of the Mississippi County Chapter of the NAACP. The chapter…

A man is facing 20 years to life in prison after being accused of stealing $31 worth of candy bars from a New Orleans Dollar General store in December, the New Orleans Advocate reports. On Thursday, 34-year-old Jacobia Grimes appeared in court for an arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges.  According to the…

A mom is accusing police in her town of Idaho Falls, Idaho, of assaulting her 12-year-old son after she called them to inform them that the child—who had been reported missing—had been found, KIDK reports.  Amy Olzak’s attorney sent a tort claim to the Idaho Falls Police Department last week, claiming that an officer used…

Two employees at a Lake Villa, Ill., residential treatment center for troubled youths are facing charges in the death of a 16-year-old resident after an altercation Wednesday night, CBS Chicago reports.  The resident, Shaquan Allen, was having behavioral issues at the Allendale Association residential treatment center as employees James Davis and Justin Serak were trying…