I never fully realized the monumental role that massive numbers of children played in civil rights protests. Law enforcement arrested and jailed children by the thousands for days, and sometimes months, and their involvement helped to enable one of the greatest legal and social assaults on racism in the 20th century—the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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The U.S. Has Been Silencing Black Girls’ Voices for Decades | Teen Vogue
In this op-ed, Juvenile Law Center’s Jessica Feierman and Girls for Gender Equity’s Ashley Sawyer talk about the systemic punishment and arrest of Black girls who speak out about discrimination.
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The Ghosts of Elaine, Arkansas, 1919 | NY Books
In America’s bloody history of racial violence, the little-known Elaine Massacre in Phillips County, Arkansas, which took place in October 1919, a century ago this week, may rank as the deadliest. The reasons why the event has remained shrouded and obscure, despite a shocking toll of bloodshed inflicted on the African-American inhabitants of Phillips County, […]
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Tuskegee Airman Leslie Edwards dies at Cincinnati VA Hospital | WCPO
WCPO staff, WCPO Leslie Edwards, 93, of Springfield Township, is a Tuskegee Airman who served as a mechanic during World War II. (Photo: The Enquirer/Liz Dufour). Featured Image [dropcap]L[/dropcap]eslie Edwards didn’t talk about his military career during his daughter’s childhood — or her adulthood, for that matter. Imogene Bowers was 50 years old when she […]
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Ga. Woman Pardoned 60 Years After Her Execution | NPR
By Kathy Lohr, All Things Considered, NPR A black maid executed in Georgia in 1945 is being granted a pardon by the state for killing a white man she said enslaved her. Lena Baker said she acted in self-defense, but a jury of white men convicted her after a one-day trial. Baker is the only […]
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Black broadcast pioneer WGPR honored in history exhibit | Detroit Free Press
By Tim Kiska, Detroit Free Press The timing of a new Detroit Historical Museum exhibit devoted to WGPR-TV (Channel 62), the country’s first African-American-owned television station, could not be better. At a time when Hollywood is debating the lack of diversity among this year’s crop of Academy Award nominations, the exhibit tells the story of […]
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The Cowgirls of Color: The First and Only All-Black Female Rodeo Team | Makers
By Makers Team, Makers Like most equestrian sports, white men dominate rodeo, but black cowboys have been able to compete in rodeos since the 1940s, although not without facing a lot of discrimination like corrupt scoring. Over the years, seeing an all-black rodeo team was rare, but to see an all-black female rodeo team was unheard […]
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Florida Lynched More Black People Per Capita Than Any Other State, According to Report | Broward Palm Beach New Times
Reuben Stacy, a 37-year-old black man, hangs from a tree on Old Davie Road in Fort Lauderdale, blood trickling down his body and dripping off his toes. Behind him, a white girl, about 7 years old, looks on, a strange smile on her face as she takes in the sight of the “strange fruit” her […]
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It took 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. It took 70 years after his execution to exonerate him. | The Washington Post
By Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post In March 1944, deep in the Jim Crow South, police came for 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. His parents weren’t at home. His little sister was hiding in the family’s chicken coop behind the house in Alcolu, a segregated mill town in South Carolina, while officers handcuffed George and his […]
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Documentary to tell story of all-black Army unit that protected Hawaii in WWII | Hawaii News Now
By Jim Mendoza, Hawaii News Now HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – During World War II, the 369th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment made up entirely of African-American soldiers was stationed in Hawaii. The troops hailed from New York and were known as the Harlem Rattlers. “I think it is a human interest story,” Monmouth University professor Nancy Mezey said. […]
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