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Originally written as a poem “Bitter Fruit” by Abel Meeropol became a song performed famously by Billie Holiday. Meeropol, a white, Jewish high school teacher from the Bronx and a member of the Communist Party wrote it as a protest against lynchings. His inspiration came from the photograph by Lawrence Beitler of the 1930 lynching …
US neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman who shot dead unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, is now a free man. Protesters have taken to the streets in the US as black community leaders demanded that the authorities pursue a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman. In Los Angeles, police fired non-lethal beanbag baton rounds after demonstrators …
Civil rights leader Rosa Parks was honoured with a commemorative statue in the US Capitol building in Washington DC, on Wednesday, 27 February 2013. Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus for a white passenger in 1955 sparked a boycott that galvanised the movement for equal rights for Black people …
Ida B Wells was born into slavery on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Her father, James, was a carpenter, and her mother, Elizabeth, was a famous cook. Both parents were literate and taught Ida how to read at a young age. She was surrounded by political activists and grew up with a sense …
Southern Horrors – Lynch Law in All Its Phases was written by activist Ida B Wells. Preface Hon. Fred. Douglass’s Letter The Offense The Black And White Of It The New Cry The Malicious And Untruthful White Press The South’s Position Self-Help PREFACE The greater part of what is contained in these pages was published …
On 16 October 1968, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos took a stand that would see them banished from the Olympic games. In 1968, the United States already had a lot on its plate. This was a country enmeshed in civil rights and anti-war protests. Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr had been …
Rodney Glen King, born on 2 April 1965 in Sacramento, California, became an unintentional symbol of racial tension and police brutality in the United States after his violent arrest in 1991. The brutal incident set off a chain of events culminating in the 1992 Los Angeles riots. On 3 March 1991, King was driving while …
Throughout history, African American women have played a significant role in the fight for universal suffrage. Despite facing numerous obstacles due to their race and gender, these trailblazers made significant contributions to the advancement of civil rights and women’s suffrage in the United States. This article delves into the lives and achievements of these courageous …
South Africa’s black lesbians and transgender men in disadvantaged areas regularly confront hostility and abuse from their families, communities and in their workplaces, according to a damning Human Rights Watch report released on Monday. In binary opposition to the rights enshrined in the Constitution, the culture of stigma and discrimination often leads to unchecked physical …
Through a secret program called the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), there was a concerted effort to subvert the will of the people to avoid the rise of a black Messiah that would mobilise the African-American community into a meaningful political force. The FBI’s War on Black America is a documentary exploration of the lives and …
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal event in the American Civil Rights Movement that lasted from 5 December 1955 to 20 December 1956. The boycott was a mass protest against the racially segregated bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, which was declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. This 381-day boycott brought the issue of …
W.E.B. Du Bois, a prominent African American intellectual, writer, and activist, played a significant role in shaping the discourse around race and civil rights in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His extensive body of work, including his groundbreaking book “The Souls of Black Folk,” provided a foundation for the …
Pan-Africanism is a global movement that focuses on strengthening the bonds of solidarity among all people of African origin, including those in the diaspora living in the Americas and Europe. The primary goal of this movement is to foster unity and cooperation among African peoples for their collective economic, social, and political progress. The origins …
The assassination of Medgar Evers, a prominent African American civil rights leader, marked a significant turning point in the fight against racism and sparked renewed efforts towards achieving racial equality in the United States. Early life and the path to civil rights activism Medgar Evers was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on 2 July 1925. He …
The American Civil Rights movement of the 1960s remains a monumental period in American history, as it brought about significant changes in legislation and social attitudes towards racial inequality. From the late 1950s to the end of the 1960s, civil rights leaders led a revolution that pushed back against systemic racism, discrimination, and segregation. This …
The Jim Crow laws were an umbrella term for state and local laws which legalised racial segregation. African Americans were to be marginalised by these laws – which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968 – by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education and other …
Malcolm X was a prominent civil rights leader, Black nationalist, and minister who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and 1960s. As an influential figure in both the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement, he played a significant role in shaping the political and social landscape of …
Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of his most famous speeches on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Most people only remember the ‘I have a dream…’ parts. Here is the speech in full. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the …
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and a pivotal figure in American history. Through his tireless work, inspirational speeches, and unwavering commitment to nonviolence, he played a crucial role in the advancement of civil rights for African Americans, leading to the end of legal segregation and the passage of key legislation such …
