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Black America Web
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
EJI's Yearly Calendar Sheds Light On America's Hidden History Of Racial Injustice
Source: Equal Justice Initiative / Photo courtesy of the Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit challenging racial and economic injustice, has created an eye-opening calendar filled with the untold stories of America's insidious racial inequality legacy. Spanning over two centuries—from the 1800s through the 2000s—the EJI's 'A History of Racial Injustice' calendar is a powerful digital tool designed to shed light on critical but often overlooked moments in American history. Each day, the virtual calendar highlights an event with historical significance, providing richly detailed narratives and easy sharing options to spark reflection and dialogue. For those seeking a tangible version, EJI's award-winning wall calendar serves as a valuable educational resource, ideal for classrooms, community centers, offices, and homes. Both formats aim to deepen public understanding of America's legacy of racial injustice and help chart a path toward truth and repair. Among this month's notable entries is the 2016 death of Philando Castile. On July 6, Mr. Castile was fatally shot during a routine traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, by former law officer Jeronimo Yanez. Although Mr. Castile legally owned a firearm and calmly informed the officer he had it, he was shot multiple times at close range, with his fiancée and her four-year-old daughter in the car. The shooting sparked national outrage and added to the ongoing calls for police accountability and justice in the face of systemic violence against the Black community. Today, July 11, also marks the painful anniversary of another chapter in America's long resistance to racial equality. On this day in 1954, white residents in Indianola, Mississippi, formed the first White Citizens' Council, just weeks after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. While less openly violent than the Ku Klux Klan, these so-called 'Uptown KKK' groups used economic coercion, intimidation, and political power to prevent school desegregation and maintain white supremacy. The White Citizens' Councils were led by businessmen, pastors, and civic leaders who weaponized respectability and social standing to retaliate against those—Black or white—who supported integration. In South Carolina, 17 Black parents were fired or evicted after signing a pro-integration petition. In Mississippi, the Yazoo County council published the names of petition signers in a newspaper ad, leading to job loss, harassment, and the eventual collapse of the local NAACP chapter. Though the councils claimed to reject violence, their impact was devastating. Their tactics proved so effective that by the fall of 1960—six years after Brown —every Black child in the five Deep South states still attended segregated schools. Even by the 1964–65 school year, fewer than 3% of Black children in the South attended integrated schools. In states like Alabama and Mississippi, that number hovered below 1%. EJI's calendar invites us to engage with these stories, not as distant relics of the past, but as living truths that continue to shape our present. By confronting this history, we open the door to understanding, accountability, along with 'truth and reconciliation.' The EJI added in a statement, 'As a nation, we have not yet acknowledged our history of racial injustice, including the genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities. When we engage truthfully with our history, we are better equipped to address contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural moments and icons.' Take a look at the EJI's ' A History of Racial Injustice' calendar here. SEE MORE: Activists Kick Off Criminal Justice Reform Festival In Philadelphia The Legacy Of 'Good Trouble' SEE ALSO EJI's Yearly Calendar Sheds Light On America's Hidden History Of Racial Injustice was originally published on
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lynched at 18, College Student's Legacy Lives On as Nephew Accepts His Degree 95 Years Later: 'Martyr of Justice'
In June 1930, Dennis Hubert, a sophomore divinity school student, was killed in a racially motivated attack at a playground Almost 100 years later, his nephew, Imam Plemon El-Amin, gratefully accepted his honorary posthumous bachelor's degree 'People are conscious of his life, which means he's still alive," El-Amin said Nearly a century after an 18-year-old Black college student was lynched at a Georgia playground, his nephew has accepted his honorary posthumous bachelor's degree. Dennis Hubert, a sophomore divinity school student, received the posthumous degree from Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, on Sunday, May 18, CNN and FOX affiliate WAGA reported. His nephew, Imam Plemon El-Amin, whom he never got the chance to meet, gladly accepted Hubert's Bachelor of Arts degree in religion. During the graduation ceremony, David Thomas, the university's president, described Hubert as a 'son of Morehouse, a martyr of justice, and what history now sees as the Trayvon Martin of the 1930s in Atlanta,' according to CNN. The college and El-Amin did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment. For El-Amin, now 75, the moment was important to his family and resonated with a common sentiment in Islam: a person who dies leaves nothing behind except for their good deeds, knowledge and loved ones who pray for them. 'Many prayers were said in his name,' El-Amin told the outlet about the ceremony. 'Many people remembered him and were informed about his life and his legacy, and so the knowledge was there, as well as the charity of him sacrificing his life so that we would be more conscious of the value of young life and the value of human life, but also the value of justice.' On June 15, 1930, Hubert had spent the day at his mother's and grandmother's houses before going to the playground of Crogman School, a segregated school for Black children. He was in the area for less than 15 minutes before seven white men came up to the college student and accused him of insulting a white woman, according to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). They began attacking him, despite Hubert saying he knew nothing about their allegations. 'What do you want of me? I have done nothing,' a witness recalled the young man saying. 'Without investigation, police involvement, or trial, one of the white men held a gun to the back of Dennis Hubert's head and shot him at point blank range in front of at least two dozen witnesses,' wrote the nonprofit organization, which was founded by lawyer Bryan Stevenson to end mass incarceration and fight against racial injustice. The fatal attack was part of a wave of racially motivated killings during that era in the United States, especially in the south. There were more than 4,000 lynchings in the south between 1877 and 1950, the EJI reported. After Hubert's death, which reverberated through the county because his family was so well known, the seven men were arrested — an unusual occurrence at the time. Two days after the men were denied bail, the home of Hubert's father, a beloved pastor, was intentionally burned to the ground, and a Baptist church that was attempting to raise money for the rebuilding and support the men's prosecution was tear-gassed. 'A few days later Dennis's cousin, Rev. Charles R. Hubert, narrowly escaped an attempted murder,' the EJI wrote, adding that the chapel for Morehouse sister college, Spelman College, 'was attacked by night riders who threw stones and shattered the Chapel's lamps.' Despite the witnesses who saw Dennis's murder, the seven men involved were acquitted and were convicted of lesser offenses. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'One defendant received 12-15 years imprisonment for voluntary manslaughter, while the defendant who confessed to firing the fatal shot received a sentence of just two years,' according to the nonprofit. Almost a century after the Hubert family was terrorized — and lost a promising son — they are grateful he is finally recognized. 'Ninety-five years later, people are conscious of his life, which means he's still alive,' El-Amin said, according to CNN, 'though not here with us physically or in body, but his life, his will, and he is providing inspiration for those of us left behind.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Yahoo
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project shines light on painful history
Each time you pass Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte, you'll also pass a part of Charlotte's and the nation's painful history. In 1913, Joe McNeely, a Black man, was lynched on the site. It would happen again years later at another Charlotte landmark. WSOC: Celebrating Black History Month More than a century later, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project is working to ensure their names and stories are never forgotten. 'It is really important to tell the truth about things that have taken place in Charlotte Mecklenburg,' said Krista Terrell, a member of the group's steering committee. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project is part of a national movement through the nonprofit, Equal Justice Initiative. It's researchers documented 6,500 cases of racial terror lynchings between 1865 and 1950. The EJI documented two lynchings in Mecklenburg County. The first of which happened outside then Good Samaritan Hospital, which currently stands as Bank of America Stadium. 'Even when I drive by, and I drive by here all the time, there's something that really stirs inside of me,' said Hannah Hasan. Hasan is a spoken word poet commissioned by the group to tell the men's stories. 'Who they were as humans before we get to a place where we are talking about them as victims,' Hasan said. 'And also what it meant for what this space is now, it just felt, it feels very heavy. Newspapers of the day tell part of the history, with headlines that included 'Majesty of the law trampled upon by Mecklenburg mob,' following McNeely's death. Another read 'Lynchers identity remains complete mystery so far.' In August 1913, a mob pulled Joe McNeely from his bed at Good Samaritan Hospital, dragged him into the street, and killed him. He was 22. Days before, McNeely was involved in a confrontation with a white police officer. 'Charlotte leaders were touting how great Charlotte was, and how the race relations were good and that they had never had a lynching in Charlotte,' Terrell said. McNeely would be the first lynching on record in Mecklenburg County. The other documented case occurred at present-day Reedy Creek Park. In 1929, Willie McDaniel was found dead, and his neck broken, on the farm where he and his wife rented land. The day before, McDaniel was in an argument with his white landlord. 'I think the big thing that stood out to me with both cases is that no one was ever indicted,' said Terrell. 'There was never any justice, no one was brought to justice.' In addition to telling their stories, committee members with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project have been advocating for historical markers at each site. Their website includes support letters from the city's mayor, county manager, and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. In 2021, they collected soil from the stadium site with plans to do the same at Reedy Creek Park. 'EJI asked us to tell the story, and as we have told the story, other stories have emerged,' said Elisa Chinn-Gary, the group's Community Engagement chair. Chinn-Gary is the county clerk of Superior Court and among members on the project's steering committee. She said sharing the stories of McNeely and McDaniel created the space to share her own. She said her uncle was lynched when he was a teenager. 'My greatest hope is that the history informs the present,' Chinn-Gary said. 'So much that is happening in the world today people question why. I believe that there is an opportunity to let history share some of those answers. So it's my hope that we have the courage and the willingness to talk about that history.' In the coming months, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project will host community conversations, providing updates on the group's website. VIDEO: Efforts to revitalize Excelsior Club after developer drops out
