Report finds democracy for Black Americans is under attack
A new report from the National Urban League is citing what the civil rights and urban advocacy group says are some of the top threats to democracy for Black Americans.
Mamie Till depiction seen as tribute to Black female leaders
A new biopic about the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year old Black boy whose lynching in Mississippi in 1955 catalyzed the U.S. civil rights movement, is being promoted as a tribute to Black women and Black mothers who are continuing her legacy and fight for justice, equality and equity.
Black representation in Alabama tested before Supreme Court
Congressional districts that a federal court panel said were unconstitutional because they dilute representation for Black voters in Alabama are nevertheless being used for the November election after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed them.
Emmett Tillโs house, Black sites to get preservation funds
Emmett Till's Chicago home is one of more than two dozen historically significant sites that will share $3 million in grant money from a preservation organization.
Biden to award Medal of Freedom to Biles, McCain, Giffords
The White House says President Joe Biden will present the nation's highest civilian honor to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, with whom Biden served in the Senate.
Flores says he won't drop lawsuit even if hired as coach
Brian Flores says his lawsuit against the NFL over alleged racist hiring practices will continue even if he becomes a head coach again this offseason because the league needs change.
![Bid considered to wipe Alabama arrest records of King, Parks](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/5tIcQccE2fNZcbmuA2Mc1uA5T7Y=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/72ZAKLGBDBEVPH4ZQB5HRY2X5Q.jpg)
Bid considered to wipe Alabama arrest records of King, Parks
The quest by a civil rights pioneer to have her arrest record wiped clean after nearly 70 years after she protested racial segregation has raised the possibility of similar bids to clear the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. in Alabama.
![Civil rights pioneer seeks expungement of '55 arrest record](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/rZWkRgg42KWjarNTbparQhZe_2w=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/BETPFOTJNVDKRL7FVEZX3ORQ2A.jpg)
Civil rights pioneer seeks expungement of '55 arrest record
An 82-year-old Black woman who became a civil rights pioneer when she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of an Alabama bus in 1955 wants to end the case once and for all.
![First steps made in Congress to honor pop superstar Prince](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/CTyrwdqVl5N8OqUge-1VBf1hqw4=/800x566/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/MVBNNYHSURELFMXMVFNHIQNWLE.jpg)
First steps made in Congress to honor pop superstar Prince
Minnesotaโs Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to pop superstar Prince, citing his โindelible mark on Minnesota and American culture,โ The Associated Press has learned.
![Oregon school board ban on anti-racist, LGBT signs draws ire](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/ClZgsw3ZCwqFvqOeM_jg0lGfjv8=/800x533/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/CQRANM4LCZBLRN77JB77RLO7BE.jpg)
Oregon school board ban on anti-racist, LGBT signs draws ire
An Oregon school board has banned educators from displaying Black Lives Matter and gay pride symbols, prompting a torrent of recriminations and threats to boycott the town and its businesses.
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VP Harris sits at counter where Greensboro Four made history
Vice President Kamala Harris took a detour while visiting North Carolina to sit at the same lunch counter where four Black college students known as the Greensboro Four conducted a peaceful sit-in 61 years ago that became a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
![Defying pandemic, feminists in Spain decry far-right attacks](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/DzOrwZ6dddYfh72IL_NKrjWngfQ=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/LBWB35PKK5DF7BLAGYUZAYLK2I.jpg)
Defying pandemic, feminists in Spain decry far-right attacks
While staying at a distance from each other, women attend an International Women's Day gathering at an avenue in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, March 8, 2021. Women in Spain are marking this year's International Women's Day with static protests, bicycle fun-rides and small-sized events to prevent gatherings that could trigger a new spike of coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)MADRID โ Women in Spain on Monday marked this yearโs International Women's Day with static protests, pot-banging, bicycle fun rides and other small-sized events to prevent gatherings that could trigger a new spike of coronavirus infections. Spain's thriving feminist movement has claimed a few victories in recent years, including the adoption of gender violence laws and forcing judicial reforms regarding sexual abuse. Far-right activists, meanwhile, have campaigned against gender violence laws that they say discriminate against men and lambasted the governmentโs push to make consent in sexual relations legally mandatory.
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Slain Capitol Police officer honored: 'We will never forget'
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON โ Congressional leaders paid tribute Wednesday to slain U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick in the building he died defending, promising his family and his fellow officers that they will never forget his sacrifice. Sicknick died after an insurrectionist mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, interrupting the electoral count after then-President Donald Trump urged them to โfight like hellโ to overturn his defeat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sicknick was a patriot who will be remembered by lawmakers each day as they enter the Capitol. The 42-year-old officer was only the fifth person to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, a designation for those who are not elected officials, judges or military leaders. Also in attendance was Wenling Chestnut, widow of slain Capitol Police Officer Jacob Chestnut, one of two Capitol Police officers killed by a gunman in 1998.
![Cesar Chavez's son happy dad's bust is in Biden Oval Office](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/OiRRh-Vo_bdSJRsltHRIDN-q9zI=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/ZVTYLHCSMRHW7NOJFQ6EBY7RJU.jpg)
Cesar Chavez's son happy dad's bust is in Biden Oval Office
FILE - This Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, file photo shows the newly redecorated Oval Office of the White House in Washington. It was an utter surprise Wednesday when he saw Biden at his desk in the Oval Office, with the bust of the late Cesar Chavez right behind the president. It was an utter surprise Wednesday when he saw Biden at his desk in the Oval Office, with the bust of the late Cesar Chavez right behind the president. All presidents tweak the Oval Office decor at the start of their terms to reflect their personal tastes or to telegraph broader messages to the public. The White House maintains a vast collection of furniture, paintings and other artifacts that they can choose from.
![Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/cyqCs-cYAgatMzUqTPtOLxHMd8E=/1600x1067/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/TZSEWJTT6VAJLA5CYTTRWJYFTM.jpg)
Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020
They were among many religious leaders โ some admired worldwide, others beloved only locally โ who died in 2020. It occurred in April, during a period in which numerous Church of God in Christ bishops and pastors died of COVID-19. 2 leader, Bishop Amfilohije -- who also died after COVID-19 complications -- both downplayed the dangers of the pandemic and avoided wearing masks in public. Edward Kmiec, 84, who between 1992 and 2012 served as the Roman Catholic bishop of Nashville, Tennessee, and Buffalo, New York. John Yambasu, 63, a bishop of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone who died in a traffic accident in August.
![Bruce Boynton, who inspired 1961 Freedom Rides, dies at 83](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/aMIhTxY_tDiaEeBMqjvluTwEsc4=/1600x1320/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/VTOZINYTIVFB3FTNTXFQ5B6HE4.jpg)
Bruce Boynton, who inspired 1961 Freedom Rides, dies at 83
SELMA, Ala. โ Bruce Carver Boynton, a civil rights pioneer from Alabama who inspired the landmark โFreedom Rides" of 1961, died Monday. Yet both his mother and father were early civil rights activists. Thurgood Marshall, then the nationโs leading civil rights attorney and later on to become the first Black Supreme Court justice, was his counsel. The โFreedom Ridersโ were arrested or attacked in Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, and a bus was burned. He spent most of his career as a civil rights attorney before retirement.
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Ginsburg is first woman to lie in state at US Capitol
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, talks with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., right, before a ceremony to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in state at National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. Ginsburg died at the age of 87 on Sept. 18 and is the first women to lie in state at the Capitol. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)
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Ginsburg makes history at Capitol amid replacement turmoil
Ginsburg died at the age of 87 on Sept. 18 and is the first women to lie in state at the Capitol. Mourners gathered to honor Ginsburg under coronavirus distancing restrictions with the nation in political turmoil. Spectators booed and chanted โvote him outโ as the president stood silently near Ginsburgโs casket at the top of the courtโs front steps. She was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the Capitol. As visitors paid tribute at Ginsburgโs casket, resting atop the catafalque used for Abraham Lincoln, the Bidens quietly joined.
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Crowd jeers as Trump pays respects at court to Ginsburg
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pay respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at the Supreme Court building on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Washington. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON โ President Donald Trump was booed Thursday as he paid respects to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They chanted โvote him outโ as the president stood near the coffin. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said people have First Amendment rights, but she found the jeers โan appalling and disrespectful thing to do as the president honored Justice Ginsburg." She said it was right for Trump to come pay respects, though she doesnโt agree with him politically.
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Long lines of mourners pay respects to Ginsburg at court
President Donald Trump, who traded insults with Ginsburg four years ago, planned to pay his respects Thursday. Since Ginsburgโs death Friday evening, people have been leaving flowers, notes, placards and all manner of Ginsburg paraphernalia outside the court in tribute. On Friday, Ginsburg will lie in state at the Capitol, the first woman to do so and only the second Supreme Court justice after William Howard Taft. Martin Ginsburg died in 2010. Ginsburgโs death has added another layer of tumult to an already chaotic election year.
![Rosa Parks' home displayed in Italy as US race tensions rise](https://www.wsls.com/resizer/ocxtYa7TO471X364GF7LZMGXcSA=/1600x1066/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65):fill(FFF)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/3HVNSLAEUNGSNBHZSKEPWIC3PE.jpg)
Rosa Parks' home displayed in Italy as US race tensions rise
The house of U.S. civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks, rebuilt by artist Ryan Mendoza, is on display in the courtyard of an 18th century Royal Palace, in Naples, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Its the latest stop for the house in a years-long saga that began when Parks niece saved the tiny two-story home from demolition in Detroit after the 2008 financial crisis. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Rosa Parks' home displayed in Italy as US race tensions rise
FILE - This Dec. 12, 2017 file photo shows the rebuilt house of the civil rights activist Rosa Parks in Berlin, Germany. In 2018, Brown University announced it would feature the house as part of a planned exhibition on the civil rights movement organized by its Center for Slavery and Justice. Earlier this year, Mendoza approached the Naples-based Morra Greco Foundation, where he had worked for a year in the 1990s. But now, โinstead of being rejected by the walls of the royal palace, itโs embraced and protected by these walls,โ he said. โPotentially thanks to the showing of the house in this way, America will allow the house to have a home.โ___Winfield reported from Rome.
![Rosa Parks, Sally Ride get their own Barbie dolls](https://sharedmedia.grahamdigital.com/photo/2019/02/12/Barbie%20logo.jpg.jpg_22206377_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Rosa Parks, Sally Ride get their own Barbie dolls
Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images(CNN) - Children everywhere are going to get the chance to have two historical female role models as part of their playsets. Mattel is honoring Rosa Parks and Sally Ride with their very own Barbie dolls. Rosa Parks was an American activist known as the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement and Sally Ride was the first American woman -- and youngest American -- to fly in space. "Both Sally Ride and Rosa Parks made the world better for future generations of girls," a Mattel spokesperson told CNN. Showing girls more role models, historical and present, and telling their stories can help close that gap.