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John Lewis, congressman and civil rights icon, dies at 80
Lewis passed seven months after a routine medical visit revealed that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Black Caucus confirmed the news of his death. Known as the "conscience of the U.S. Congress," Lewis continually represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta, since taking office in 1987. His cancer diagnosis in December 2019 did not interrupt that streak. "So I have decided to do what I kno
Atlanta civil rights leader C.T. Vivian dead at 95
Civil rights icon Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T,” Vivian has died at age 95 of natural causes at his home in Atlanta, according to a report from CNN. Vivian worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and participated in the Freedom Rides to register Black voters. The Boonville, MO native, and his late wife, Octavia, had six children. He was a co-founder of the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which helped organi
Bulletproof memorial to Mississippi civil rights icon Emmett Till replaces vandalized sign
A new bulletproof memorial to slain civil rights icon Emmett Till was unveiled Saturday in Mississippi after previous historical markers were repeatedly vandalized. The new 500-pound reinforced steel sign, placed at the spot where the 14-year-old's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, has a bulletproof-glass front, according to Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. The sign will be open to the public but also protected by a gate and
Girls Imprisoned For Civil Rights Work To Get Historical Marker
The Leesburg Stockade is a squat, block brick building where about 15 girls were imprisoned in the 1960s for their role in integrating a movie theater in Americus. Surrounded by buses overflowing from the Lee County Schools bus barn, it's easy to miss. That will change in September when the stockade gets its own state historical marker, making it a part of the Georgia Historical Society’s Civil Rights Trail. Some of the girls were already veterans of the mass meetings and org
Civil Rights organization rescinds human rights award for Angela Davis after outcry
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has decided not to honor civil rights icon Angela Davis with its human rights awards after complaints poured in asking the organization to reconsider its decision. Davis’ was a crowning symbol of black, bold womanhood in the 1960s and 70s, and a legendary activist, author and scholar. She was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party USA. The award was set to be bestowed upon the legendary activist during the Annual Shut
‘White Civil Rights Rally’ Planned Near White House by Charlottesville Organizer
Jason Kessler, who helped organize the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., last year, wants to hold a march in August next to the White House.CreditJustin Ide/Reuters An organizer of a white supremacist rally last year in Charlottesville, Va., where one woman died plans to hold a march across the street from the White House on the rally’s anniversary in August, federal officials said on Thursday. The National Park Service has approved an application for a permit
