"It is certain, in any case, that ingnorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." James Baldwin, No Names in the Street.

In 1882, Wells moved to Memphis, Tn. An owner of 2 newspapers the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and Free Speech.In 1892 she turned her attention to anti-lynching after a friend and two of his business associates were murdered. Later, she wrote an in-depth report on lynching for the New York Age.

Remembering Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, an American investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. One of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she was born #onthisday July 16, 1862.

An international sports icon in track and field, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics.

Remembering American sprinter and Tennessee State University's Wilma Glodean Rudolph, born #onthisday June 23, 1940. She overcame polio as a child and went on to become a world-record-holding Olympic champion.

There is a Tennessee historical marker in Haywood County for Elbert Williams, one of the early members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) killed in the United States for his civil rights work.

Remembering Vivian Malone Jones (7/ 1/, 1942 – 10/13, 2005), who #onthisday June 11, 1963, desegregated the University of Alabama. Governor George Wallace stood in the school's door to stop her from enrolling. Vivian Malone Jones was the sister- in- law of former Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr.

Passing as White: Anita Hemmings 1897 By Olivia Mancini '00 www.vassar.edu/vq/issues/20...

Remembering Malcolm X an African American revolutionary leader born #onthisday May 19, 1925.

#Onthisday May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Mellville W. Fuller, delivered its seven- to-one decision in Plessy v. Ferguson establishing the 'separate but equal' doctrine as national law and authorizing discrimination against African Americans in public accommodations.

#Onthisday May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, a Republican, ruled unanimously that the "separate but equal" doctrine enunicated in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional.

Civil rights activists Diane Nash was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—by President Joe Biden on July 7, 2022.

Wishing Diane Nash born #onthidday May 15, 1938, a Happy Natal Day. One of the most influential organizers and strategists of the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Nash became active while attending Nashville's Fisk Univ., the city in which she was confronted with the realities of southern segregation.

#Onthisday May 14, 1961, Mother's Day, a mob of white segregationists and Ku Klux Klan members brutally attacked two buses carrying the Freedom Riders, in Anniston, Alabama.

John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in theShelby County v. Holder (2013) that struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2026, under Roberts, the Supreme Court significantly altered the legal landscape surrounding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

U. S. Supreme Court Justices who legalized Racism. The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision was issued on March 6, 1857, by the United States Supreme Court, with the majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.

#Onthisday May 7, 1867, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech at the first annual meeting of the American Equal Rights Association.

Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, who #onthisday May 4, 1959, at the first Grammy Awards became one its honorees. Known as the "First Lady of Soul," Fitzgerald won both the Best Jazz Individual Performance and the the Best Female Vocal Performer.

Federal troops were sent to quell the violence, and peace was restored on the third day. A subsequent report by a joint Congressional Committee detailed the carnage, with blacks suffering most of the injuries and deaths by far:

Remembering the Memphis Massacre that took place May 1 through May 3, 1866. White mobs, inclusive of the city's police force attacked African American residents, burned homes, schools and churches.

Justice John Marshall Harlan’s famous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson dissent famously stated, "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens".

Remembering editor, poet, essayist, novelist, and educator Jessie Redmon Fauset born #onthisday April 27, 1882. Her literary work helped sculpt African American literature in the 1920s as she focused on portraying a true image of African-American life and history.

On April 23, 1988, Whitney Houston Whitney Houston added her seventh song to the Hot 100, for most consecutive No. 1 hits - an achievement nobody has been able to match since.

Remembering multi-talented American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and film director Prince Rogers Nelson, known as "Prince," joined the elders #onthisday April 21, 2016.

#Onthisday April 20, 1960, after the bombing of attorney Z. Alexander Looby's home the day before, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Fisk University to praise the students' disciplined efforts. He said the Nashville Student Movement was one of the best movements in the South.

The confrontation between Diane Nash and the Rev. C. T. Vivian caused Mayor West to declare that lunchcounter should be desegregated. On May 10, 1960, Nashville became the first southern city to desegregate its lunch counters.

Remembering Attorney Z. Alexander Looby whose home was bombed #onthisday April 19, 1960. The bombing of his home caused thousands to march to the Nashville Courthouse and confront Mayor Ben West.

#Onthisdy April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier, debuting for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Remembering Pauli Murray, who #onthisday April 14, 1964, sent a memorandum urging the retention of "sex" in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray argued that prohibiting sex discrimination was crucial to protecting African American women from dual discrimination.

Florence Beatrice Price was an American classical composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher. Price is noted as the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.