Civil Rights Act Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Civil Rights Group Calls On Justice Dept. To Suspend Local Police Grants

By NPR News April 26, 2021

Protesters confront law enforcement on April 13 outside the police headquarters in Brooklyn Center, Minn., over the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by an officer. The NAACP Legal Defense And Education Fund is asking the Justice Department to suspend local police grants, citing ongoing killings of Black people like Wright by police. CREDIT: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to suspend grants to local law enforcement until he's sure that no federal taxpayer money is funding police departments that engage in discrimination, according to a letter obtained by NPR.Read More

In Selma, A ‘Final Crossing’ For John Lewis Across The Edmund Pettus Bridge

By NPR News July 26, 2020

The casket of Rep. John Lewis crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse-drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis on July 26 in Selma, Ala. CREDIT: John Bazemore/AP

In 1965, John Lewis was nearly killed as he led a group of protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to protest racial discrimination in voting. Today, his body crossed that bridge one last time.Read More

Rep. John Lewis, A Force In The Civil Rights Movement, Dies At 80

By NPR News July 18, 2020

Rep, John Lewis, who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, said it was a moral obligation to stand up for his beliefs. CREDIT: Susan Walsh/AP

Lewis began his nearly 60-year career in public service leading sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in the Jim Crow-era South. He went on to serve in Congress for more than three decades.Read More

Rev. Joseph Lowery, ‘Dean’ Of The Civil Rights Movement, Dies At 98

By NPR News March 28, 2020

The Rev. Joseph Lowery speaks at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Lowery got his start as an activist organizing bus boycotts in 1950s Alabama. He led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for two decades and prayed at Barack Obama's first inauguration.Read More

For MLK Day, ‘Just Mercy’ Attorney Asks U.S. To Reckon With Its Racist Past And Present

By NPR News January 20, 2020

The Legacy Museum and Memorial are designed to bring visitors "closer to the anguish and the suffering" of the past. CREDIT: Human Pictures

Stevenson built a museum and monument in Alabama dedicated to slavery and its legacy. "We need to create institutions in this country that motivate more people to say 'Never again,' " he says.Read More

Theresa Burroughs, Voting Rights Activist, Dies At 89 In Alabama

By NPR News May 24, 2019

Civil rights "foot soldier" Theresa Burroughs in 2016, in front of a photo of the day she was arrested in 1965. Burroughs has died at age 89. Debbie Elliott/NPR

"Disappear? We're not going to do that," she said. She went 10 times to the courthouse before the registrar would sign her up to vote. Then she worked to guard the right and never missed an election.Read More

Supreme Court Will Hear Cases On LGBTQ Discrimination Protections For Employees

By NPR News April 22, 2019

The court is poised to decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to sexual orientation and gender identity, along with factors such as race, religion, sex and national origin.Read More