Category Archives: African-American Civil Rights

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares ‘we shall overcome’ in historic address calling for voting rights for all 60 years ago this hour (Mar 15 1965)


Video: 'President Lyndon Johnson Address Voting Rights, Mar 15 1965'

(Monday, March 15, 1965, 9:02 p.m. EST; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — In a powerful address to a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson tonight called for new legislation to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans, following the violence in Selma, Alabama. Continue reading U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares ‘we shall overcome’ in historic address calling for voting rights for all 60 years ago this hour (Mar 15 1965)

White minister supporting civil rights fatally beaten by whites in Selma 60 years ago this hour (Mar 9 1965)


Video: 'The 1965 murder of James Reeb'

(Tuesday, March 9, 1965; approximately 7:30 p.m. CST; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — The Rev. James Reeb, a white minister from Boston who’d gone to Selma, Alabama, to show support for civil rights marchers, was fatally attacked today by a group of white men and struck on the head (Reeb died two days later on March 11, 1965, at age 38). Continue reading White minister supporting civil rights fatally beaten by whites in Selma 60 years ago this hour (Mar 9 1965)

Alabama police use gas, clubs to rout civil rights demonstrators on ‘Bloody Sunday’ 50 years ago today (Mar 7 1965)


Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 6) Bridge to Freedom 1965' (Mar. 7, 1965, at 19:46)

(Sunday, March 7, 1965, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Alabama state troopers and volunteer officers of the Dallas County sheriff’s office tore through a column of unarmed African-American demonstrators with tear gas, nightsticks and whips at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma today to enforce Gov. George C. Wallace’s order against a protest march from Selma to Montgomery. Continue reading Alabama police use gas, clubs to rout civil rights demonstrators on ‘Bloody Sunday’ 50 years ago today (Mar 7 1965)

‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke peaks at #31 in USA 60 years ago today (Mar 6 1965)

(Saturday, March 6, 1965) — “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke peaked today at #31 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for one week (less than three months after he was fatally shot Dec. 11, 1964). Continue reading ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke peaks at #31 in USA 60 years ago today (Mar 6 1965)

Claudette Colvin arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to move to the back of the bus 70 years ago this hour (Mar 2 1955)


Video: 'Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin honored for bus protest'

(Wednesday, March 2, 1955, approximately 2:30 p.m. CST; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Nine months before Rosa Parks’ famous act of defiance, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old black high school student in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested today after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger.

Harlem is quiet as crowds watch Malcolm X rites 60 years ago this hour (Feb 27 1965)


Video: 'Malcolm X: Make It Plain' (Feb. 27, 1965, at 2:12:04)

(Saturday, February 27, 1965, 9:30 a.m. EST) — Malcolm X, a black nationalist who had told African-Americans they must meet violence with violence, went to his grave today eulogized as a man who died believing in the brotherhood of man. Continue reading Harlem is quiet as crowds watch Malcolm X rites 60 years ago this hour (Feb 27 1965)

Minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, shot dead inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York 60 years ago this hour (Feb 21 1965)


Video: '60 Minutes reports on the death of Malcolm X'

(Sunday, February 21, 1965, 3:10 p.m. EST) — Minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death this afternoon at a rally of his followers inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. Continue reading Minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, shot dead inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York 60 years ago this hour (Feb 21 1965)

Marian Anderson becomes first African-American to perform with Metropolitan Opera in New York 70 years ago tonight (Jan 7 1955)


Video: 'Marian Anderson canta Un ballo in Maschera'

(Friday, January 7, 1955, evening EST; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Singer Marian Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York tonight in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, becoming the first black person to perform there as a member. Continue reading Marian Anderson becomes first African-American to perform with Metropolitan Opera in New York 70 years ago tonight (Jan 7 1955)

First murder charge in 1964 civil rights killings of three activists 20 years ago today (Jan 6 2005)


Video: 'Mississippi Burning Conviction News Coverage'

(Thursday, January 6, 2005) — The most infamous unresolved case from America’s civil rights struggle four decades ago – the 1964 abduction and killing of three voter-registration volunteers by night riders on a lonely rural road in Mississippi – was revived tonight with the arrest of a longtime leader of the Ku Klux Klan, the authorities announced. Continue reading First murder charge in 1964 civil rights killings of three activists 20 years ago today (Jan 6 2005)

U.S. Supreme Court affirms Congress’s power to enforce Civil Rights Act against private business discrimination 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 14 1964)


Video: 'Court Upholds Law Prohibiting Discrimination in Hotels'

(Monday, December 14, 1964, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, ruled unanimously today that Congress was within its authority to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against racial discrimination by private businesses; in this case, a motel that refused to cater to blacks. Continue reading U.S. Supreme Court affirms Congress’s power to enforce Civil Rights Act against private business discrimination 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 14 1964)