civil rights
Rev. C.T. Vivian, longtime civil rights activist, dies at 95
By Adelle M. Banks — July 17, 2020
(RNS) — Vivian gained global attention in 1965, when he confronted a sheriff on the steps of a courthouse as activists attempted to register to vote.
The preaching politician: ‘Good Trouble’ documentary follows John Lewis from fields of Alabama to halls of Congress
By Adelle M. Banks — July 2, 2020
(RNS) — ‘Faith is an integral part of Mr. Lewis’ life but also part of his activism,’ said director Dawn Porter.
Valarie Kaur: ‘Revolutionary love is showing up in the labor for justice’
By Simran Jeet Singh — June 30, 2020
(RNS) — The filmmaker, lawyer and civil rights activist talks about her debut book, ‘See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love.’
Yes, confederate names matter
By Jeffrey Salkin — June 16, 2020
Get rid of those names. Remove the statues. Remember that protests can actually work.
Supreme Court rules that federal law protects LGBTQ persons from employment discrimination
By Kathryn Post — June 15, 2020
(RNS) — The Court ruled that LGBTQ people are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, making employment discrimination against LGBTQ persons illegal in all 50 states for the first time.
Black church leaders urge churchgoers to continue to ‘tele-worship’
By Adelle M. Banks — April 24, 2020
(RNS) — ‘We regard this pandemic as a grave threat to the health and life of our people,’ they said.
Joseph Lowery, minister, civil rights leader, friend of King, dies at 98
By Adelle M. Banks — March 28, 2020
(RNS) — ‘He was a champion for civil rights, a challenger of injustice, a dear friend to the King family,’ the King Center tweeted.
Civil rights: The road to Bloody Sunday began 30 miles away
By Gary Fields — March 5, 2020
MARION, Ala. (AP) — Della Simpson Maynor remembers the mounted police officer cracking her elbow with a baton. She recalls the panicked marchers unable to escape the onslaught, and the scuffle between officers and a young church deacon who was trying to protect his mother and grandfather. Most of all, she remembers the gunshot. Two weeks before Bloody Sunday — the clash […]
Often-reticent Justice Clarence Thomas speaks about his faith in new documentary
By Adelle M. Banks — January 29, 2020
(RNS) — Documentarian Michael Pack says of Thomas: ‘when you have a faith, lose your faith and come back to your faith, in some ways it's stronger then.’
Dr. King in today’s America
By Jesse L. Jackson Sr. and Grace Ji-Sun Kim — January 20, 2020
(RNS) — Dr. King would recognize the progress that has been made, but he would not be dancing; he would be organizing. 'Change,' he taught, 'does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.'
Book: How Martin Luther King Jr. used the pulpit to ‘redeem’ America’s soul
By Yonat Shimron — January 17, 2020
(RNS) — He believed there were transcendent truths that had the power to change hearts and move them away from the political and social policies of segregation.
George Clements, Chicago priest known for adopting sons, dies at 87
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 26, 2019
CHICAGO (RNS) — The civil rights activist's life turned into a made-for-TV movie after he became the first Catholic priest to adopt a child.
Montgomery, Ala., churches part of city’s 200-year history of slavery, civil rights
By Adelle M. Banks — August 1, 2019
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (RNS) — 'It is the cradle of the Confederacy and the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement,' said a local church historian.
California church sues after removal as polling place over Black Lives Matter banners
By Aysha Khan — June 13, 2019
(RNS) – The church's lawsuit claims that when it refused to remove its two Black Lives Matter banners, a county election official illegally removed the church from the list of polling places.
‘Hesburgh’ captures the simple faith and outsized influence of ‘Father Ted’
By Paul O'Donnell — May 3, 2019
(RNS) — A big-screen chronicle of the civil rights campaigner and Catholic priest known as 'Father Ted' shows how a simple man became a force in troubled times.
