A Black woman claimed self-defense after killing her jailer. Her 1975 high-profile trial shook the American South, and a recent documentary highlights eternal questions about juries and public pressure.
civil rights movement
Posted inFeatured
“Repeat After Me: ‘I Am Somebody’”
Jesse Jackson was furious over injustice. He was also full of hope. His funeral was a reminder that the two were never meant to be separated.
Posted inPolitics
Remembering Jesse Jackson’s Poetic Synthesis
I wrote a book about him, and we became friends. The cynics didn’t understand how he fused moral simplicity and political profundity.
Posted inBooks
Disordering Our National Myths
The Founders, the Pioneers, the Movement, the Lost Cause—the more driving myths one identifies, the more our true national character is obscured.
Posted inJuly/August 2023
How College Athletes Finally Got Paid
Antitrust lawsuits and a landmark state law were the key. But to make the system truly fair and rational, the NCAA needs to regulate, and players may need a union.
Posted inPolitical Animal
The White Evangelical Christians’ Revisionist Civil Rights History
Some of their leaders are trying to rewrite their roles in major historical moments.
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Trump Administration Wants to Give Racists Free Rein to Discriminate
They are attempting to roll back the gains made as a result of the Civil Rights Movement.
Posted inPolitical Animal
I Thought the Really Hard Work Was Over
When I am feeling shocked or fatigued, I remind myself that older generations persevered through harder challenges than I’ve ever faced.
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Right-Wing Media Machine Was Built to Destroy People Like Christine Blasey Ford
They’re more aroused by destroying lives than Donald Trump was by Stormy Daniels.
Posted inEducation, Higher Education, K-12
Never Mind Trump’s Visit — Mississippi’s New Civil Rights Museum is a Real Game Changer for Education
State’s racist history revealed in unsparing detail: ‘It hurts my heart’
