Honoring Civil Rights Leader Beth Shulman
February 8, 2010 - Posted by Tyler Lewis
Civil rights and labor leader Beth Shulman died from complications with pneumonia on Friday, February 5.
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Celebrate Rosa Parks’ 97th Birth Anniversary Today
February 4, 2010 - Posted by Beth Sadler
Ninety-seven years ago today, civil rights icon Rosa Parks was born in rural Tuskegee, Alabama.
Born Rosa Louise McCauley, this remarkable woman is remembered as the "mother of the modern day civil rights movement." Most famously, she gained national attention in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a White male on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus. With little more than a high-school education, Rosa Parks inspired a generation of activists to fight legal segregation in the United States.
Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005. Today, we celebrate her legacy as a courageous leader and inspiring civil and human rights activist.
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Today in Civil Rights History: Shirley Chisholm’s becomes First Black Woman Elected to Congress
November 5, 2009 - Posted by Cassandra Stabbert
 Today marks the anniversary of Shirley Chisholm's election to Congress in 1968. Chisholm, a Democrat who represented New York's 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983, was the first Black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, Chisholm became the first Black woman from a major political party to run for president.
Before her political career, Chisholm earned a BA from Brooklyn College and an MA from Columbia University in elementary education and became known as an expert on early childhood education. She worked as a nursery school teacher, a director of a nursery and a child care center, and an educational consultant. She also volunteered with organizations like the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League and the League of Women Voters, which eventually led to her political career.
Chisholm first ran for the New York State Assembly, where she served from 1964 to 1968. When asked why she became involved in politics, she said, "The people wanted me." She then decided to run for Congress in 1968 with the slogan "unbought and unbossed," which accurately reflected her strong personality. She won the congressional seat in an upset victory over Independent candidate James Farmer and Republican candidate Ralph Carrano.
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Bernice King Elected to Head SCLC
October 30, 2009 - Posted by Nicole Sweeney
 Bernice King speaking at the groundbreaking of the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2006. Photo Credit: Mark Blacknell.
Bernice King speaking at the groundbreaking of the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2006. Photo Credit: Mark Blacknell.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) announced today that it elected Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., to be the organization's next president. She is the first woman and the second King child to head the organization, which was co-founded by Dr. King in 1957.
King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King, Jr., is a longtime activist, minister, and lawyer who has spoken around the world. She is an elder at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia.
She inherits an organization that has expanded considerably since her father's time. There are about 10,000 members and 80 chapters residing in 17 states. In addition to a conflict resolution site already opened in Israel, the SCLC has plans in place to open other international sites over the next 10 years.
The SCLC was founded to coordinate and support nonviolent protests of segregation and played a key role in many of the most famous demonstration of the civil rights movement. Dr. King served as its first president until his death in 1968.
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Sen. Edward Brooke Receives Congressional Gold Medal
October 29, 2009 - Posted by Nicole Sweeney
 Sen. Edward Brooke and President Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office in 1967.
Sen. Edward Brooke and President Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office in 1967.
Former Sen. Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts received the Congressional Gold Medal yesterday for his lifelong and historic service to the nation.
Brooke, who was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and served in the U.S. military, was the nation's first African-American senator elected by popular vote and the last Republican African-American senator. He was elected in 1966 and served for two terms until 1979.
Brooke was a champion of civil rights, fighting for strong enforcement in the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which he co-authored with former Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota, and voting rights for the District of Columbia. For his commitment to civil rights, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights honored Brooke in 1978 with the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award, the civil rights community's highest honor.
The Congressional Gold Medal is, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. It was first awarded in 1776 to then-General George Washington and John Paul Jones. It has since been awarded to a wide array of notable figures, including Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and Jackie Robinson.
Categories: Civil Rights History
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Today in Civil Rights History: The AIDS Memorial Quilt Is Displayed for the First Time
October 9, 2009 - Posted by Adam Lange
 The AIDS quilt laid out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The quilt has gone on many tours since, with panels being added at each stop and a reading of names traditionally following each display. It currently includes more than 44,000 panels, including panels from every state and dozens of countries. To date, it has been visited by over 14 million people and has helped the NAMES Project Foundation raise more than $3 million for AIDS services.
The quilt, while impressive for its size and scope as the largest community art project in the world, is perhaps most significant for other reasons. It is full of emotionally powerful and often uplifting responses to a tragic pandemic. It offers an opportunity for those who have lost loved ones to AIDS to commemorate their lives in a unique way.
As important as the quilt is for the gay community and those impacted directly by the disease, it also sends an important message to the world. It represents the scale and impact of the AIDS pandemic to others through both its large size and deeply personal patchwork pieces.
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Civil Rights 101
Civil Rights 101 addresses the history of many civil rights issues that we face today.
Civil Rights Book Club
Each month, we will feature five books representing the diversity of the contemporary social justice landscape.
> This Month's Selections
Voices of Civil Rights
Voices of Civil Rights - AARP, The Leadership Conference, and the Library of Congress teamed up to collect and preserve personal accounts of America's struggle to fulfill the promise of equality for all.
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