By D. Kevin McNeir Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, an ardent supporter of women’s rights and a champion of mental health and caregiving, died peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 19, at her Plains, Georgia home, surrounded by her family. Mrs. Carter, who died at age 96, and Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United […]
By D. Kevin McNeir In the not so distant past, three portraits held a prominent place in the homes of thousands of African Americans – a fitting tribute to men who had been an integral part of the road traveled by Blacks in their long journey toward achieving equality. The first was Jesus, the quintessential […]
By D. Kevin McNeir Shiloh Baptist Church (1500 Ninth Street, NW) was founded during the tumultuous years of the Civil War in 1863 by 21 former slaves who left Fredericksburg, Virginia with other slavery refugees under the protection of the Union Army. The North was fighting for reunification while the South was fighting for independence. […]
By D. Kevin McNeir Dred Scott, born in Southampton, Virginia in 1799, was a slave living in St. Louis, Missouri in 1846 with his wife and their two children, when he, like so many others before and after him, set his mind on securing their freedom. However, instead of hitching a ride on the Underground […]
New song, ‘1963,’ pays tribute to the four girls killed in heinous attack By D. Kevin McNeir Years before she was known for classic R&B tunes like “Young Hearts Run Free,” “You Got the Love,” and “Nights on Broadway,” the legendary soul singer Candi Staton was provided with a front row seat to civil rights history. She was […]
By D. Kevin McNeir On a picture perfect summer day, thousands gathered on the National Mall on Saturday, August 26, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, many demanding that America overcome its centuries-old history of racial inequities so that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream may finally be fulfilled. One […]
By D. Kevin McNeir On March15, 1965, a week after Bloody Sunday, President Johnson delivered a nationwide address in which he declared that “all Americans must have the privileges of citizenship regardless of race.” Johnson informed the nation that he was sending a new voting rights bill to Congress, and he urged Congress to vote the […]
By D. Kevin McNeir On July 25, 2023 – what would have been the 82nd birthday of Emmett Till – President Joe Biden established a new national monument that will honor a mother and her son – two figures at the center of one of the darkest and most tragic periods in civil rights history. […]
By D. Kevin McNeir The Supreme Court justices, in striking down affirmative action in higher education and voting along ideological grounds – the conservatives members in the majority – recently determined that race-conscious admissions programs violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. In the words of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., “the student must be […]
Organizers see upcoming August 26th event as ‘not just a commemoration but a continuation’ By D. Kevin McNeir On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 descended on the National Mall to participate in one of the largest political rallies for human rights in U.S. history. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, organized by […]