Today marks the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, one of the most sweeping pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. This ground-breaking measure was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 after the courageous efforts of Civil Rights leaders who marched, fought, and bled for the movement everywhere from Washington, D.C. to Selma, Alabama. The Voting Rights Act was designed to knock down legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. These barriers may seem like a distant past, but the truth ...
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In a move UAW President Rory L. Gamble said was long overdue, the UAW announced as part of Pride Month the formation of a UAW LGBTQ Caucus that will operate under the UAW Constitution’s standing committees on Civil and Human Rights. “The UAW has a unique and proud history of early advocacy of LGBTQ issues in its history,” said Gamble. “From contract negotiations that included non-discrimination and insurance protections prior to the legalization of gay marriage, to local union leadership and support for LGBTQ civil rights advocacy, UAW members in many ways have pioneered efforts for the LGBTQ community. We are ...
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Detroit — “Regardless of today’s outcome, George Floyd was a man, a citizen, a fellow American and did not deserve to die on that fateful day in Minnesota. While the jury has issued a just verdict in Officer Derek Chauvin’s case, the deep divide in our nation over race was also on trial and does not end today. We have come a long way in this nation, but clearly given recent events, not far enough. As a father and grandfather, I live every day with the idea that my family could be treated unjustly because of the color of their ...
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Registration is now live for the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference! This year, the conference will be held Jan. 15–16 and will be free for all participants, but you must register to attend. You won’t want to miss it, so REGISTER NOW! Emerging from a year that has presented many challenges and obstacles, the theme for the 2021 MLK Conference is “From Protest to Power: When We Fight, We Win,” to honor the brave and bold leadership of the activists among us and celebrate the power of people united in collective action toward justice ...
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The senseless shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI, by police officers this past week is yet another horrific tragedy, yet another Black Man shot on an American street. Blake was shot in the back seven times and shot with deadly force in front of his children. As a father and grandfather, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to his family. This incident, like the agonizing death of George Floyd earlier this year at the hands of Minneapolis police and so many others before him, is tearing at the very fabric of our nation. We must not look away ...
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On August 28th, activists across the country will gather—physically and virtually—to mark the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington and advocate for policing reform. The Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks will call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to ensure equal protection under the law. Speakers will include national leaders in the fight for police reform and voter protection, as well as the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner. We encourage you to join the march virtually and view the ...
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On June 23, 1963, over 125,000 people marched down Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan in the ‘Walk to Freedom.’ The march was the largest civil rights demonstration at the time highlighting the injustices African Americans faced across the country.
The citizens of this country are in the midst of a battle that we have been fighting for a very long time. A battle of racial inequality, systemic abuse, and injustice. It is time to win this battle once and for all. Across the nation over the past weeks, protesters are saying they have had enough. They are weary of the ongoing struggle for equality and equity, of the battle against systemic injustice, and the fear of being a person of color in America. The horrific, needless death of George Floyd on May 25 at the hands of four police ...
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America’s Black History, which we celebrate this month, offers abundant examples across the centuries of how one person can make a difference, how one person can move an entire people forward. I am lucky enough to have witnessed the results of two such difference makers firsthand, both in my job and in my life. Two men who found each other in their individual fight for human rights, and in doing so, helped shape the future of our nation. So, this February, I would like to pay tribute to that relationship, to two heavyweight champions who fought together for America’s soul, ...
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fierce advocate for working people and America’s labor movement. For King, the struggle for racial justice went hand in hand with the struggle for economic justice, and was driven by his belief that all people had the right to earn a fair and dignified living — regardless of race, occupation, or socio-economic status. The final weeks of Dr. King’s life will be forever fixed in the history of the labor movement, as he played a key role in helping lead the famous Memphis Sanitation Strike. After two African American garbage collectors were crushed ...
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