*On August 16, 2012, the Marikana massacre occurred. This was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) during a six-week wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg in South Africa’s Northwest province. The episode occurred against a backdrop of antagonism between the National Union of Mineworkers […]
learn more*The Danville Massacre occurred on this date in 1883. Also known as the Danville Riot, it was a deadly assault on Blacks at a Danville, Virginia market, and continued for several days after, with violent attacks continuing until after the election. The shooting took place during tensions between white supremacists and members of the Readjuster […]
learn more*Massive Resistance began on February 25, 1956. This policy pushback was a conservative political strategy devised by white American politicians Harry F. Byrd and James M. Thomson, aimed at persuading Virginia officials to enact laws and policies that prevented public school desegregation. After Reconstruction ended in 1877 and the local Readjuster Party fell in the […]
learn moreKim Green is a board member of the Clayton, Jackson, McGhee Lynching Memorial. In this segment, she comments on the lynching episode’s national significance and what visitors to Duluth can expect from this memorial.
learn more*On this date in 1956, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was created. This commission was a state agency in Mississippi, active from 1956 to 1973, tasked with fighting integration and controlling American civil rights activism. After James P. Coleman won Mississippi’s gubernatorial election in 1955, he proposed to the Legal Educational Advisory Committee the creation […]
learn more*Slave Fortresses in Africa are affirmed on December 20, 1441. A fort was built to protect someone or something, and a slave fort or slave castle kept enslaved victims until ships were ready to set them aboard and forcefully kidnap the enslaved people. A slave fort was a militarized factory (trading post) that evolved at […]
learn more*The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 began on this date in 1823. This uprising involving about 12,000 African slaves took place in the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo in what is now Guyana. The rebellion took place a few months after the founding of the Anti-Slavery Society and had a substantial impact on Britain. Although public sentiment […]
learn more*The Slave Compensation Act 1837 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on December 23, 1837. Together with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, it authorized the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the British colonies of approximately £20 million for the freeing of […]
learn more*The Berbice Rebellion began on this date in 1763. This was a year-long slave rebellion in Guyana that lasted into 1764. The Dutch colony of Berbice was owned by four Amsterdam merchants who founded the Society of Berbice as a public company listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The colony was unsuccessful compared to other […]
learn more*Thomas Coleman was born on this date in 1910. He was a white-American highway engineer, sheriff deputy, and segregationist. On August 20, 1965, voting rights activists were released from jail in Fort Deposit, a small town in Lowndes County, Alabama. After release, the group waited near the courthouse jail while one of their members called […]
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