Civil rights songs were the soundtrack of the movement that helped bring President Obama to the White House. On Tuesday, Obama welcomed an array of artists to celebrate those songs.
Watch the CNN special: MLK Papers - Words That Changed a Nation when it airs on Saturday February 6, 2010, from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET on CNN.
One thing about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: the man understood sports.
The nation's capital city took a major step Friday toward legalizing same-sex marriage.
Don't look now, but Pennsylvania might be the new Mississippi.
The Obama administration's new civil rights chief said Thursday that he was "shocked" to learn of the steep decline in hate-crime prosecutions during the Bush presidency and vowed to combat violence stemming from hatred and bias.
The serendipitous occurrence of this year's Thanksgiving holiday on the same evening as the Muslim Eid-ul-Adha is a festive occasion to reflect on the place of Islam in American collective consciousness and on Muslims as Americans.
The legacy of the past is an unavoidable presence as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference considers who will be its next president.
In their latest communique regarding the fate of seven arrested members of the Baha'i religious minority in Iran, Amnesty International has expressed grave concern they may face the death penalty if they are found guilty of the charges of "espionage for Israel," "insulting religious sanctities," and "propaganda against the system."
On Wednesday, President Obama will make the most important speech of his presidency. We hear this phrase so much that it has become a cliché. But, in this case, the cliché is accurate.
Civil rights songs were the soundtrack of the movement that helped bring President Obama to the White House. On Tuesday, Obama welcomed an array of artists to celebrate those songs.
Watch the CNN special: MLK Papers - Words That Changed a Nation when it airs on Saturday February 6, 2010, from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET on CNN.
One thing about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: the man understood sports.
The nation's capital city took a major step Friday toward legalizing same-sex marriage.
Don't look now, but Pennsylvania might be the new Mississippi.
The Obama administration's new civil rights chief said Thursday that he was "shocked" to learn of the steep decline in hate-crime prosecutions during the Bush presidency and vowed to combat violence stemming from hatred and bias.
The serendipitous occurrence of this year's Thanksgiving holiday on the same evening as the Muslim Eid-ul-Adha is a festive occasion to reflect on the place of Islam in American collective consciousness and on Muslims as Americans.
The legacy of the past is an unavoidable presence as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference considers who will be its next president.
In their latest communique regarding the fate of seven arrested members of the Baha'i religious minority in Iran, Amnesty International has expressed grave concern they may face the death penalty if they are found guilty of the charges of "espionage for Israel," "insulting religious sanctities," and "propaganda against the system."
On Wednesday, President Obama will make the most important speech of his presidency. We hear this phrase so much that it has become a cliché. But, in this case, the cliché is accurate.
For half a century, Ted Kennedy was the most prolific senator on the political scene, making major strides in civil rights, civil liberties, education, human rights abroad, arms control, good government and of course health care.
One year before the day of his death, an ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy electrified a crowd of thousands at the Democratic National Convention.
We have known for over a year this day would come, and yet now that it's here it still doesn't quite seem possible.
A new federal report says employees at four New York state juvenile residential centers have been responsible for abuse resulting in concussions, broken bones and even one death.
On a number of occasions and in perfectly pitched and calibrated statements, President Obama has expressed his unequivocal support for the civil rights movement in Iran without appearing to interfere in Iranian domestic affairs.
The Supreme Court compromised Monday in a major voting rights case, finding that a powerful enforcement tool in the landmark Voting Rights Act was being applied too broadly.
Last week Gov. John Lynch signed a bill making New Hampshire the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
CNN Presents: Black in America: Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination airs Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CNN
Barack Obama's inauguration marks a profound manifestation of the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream, civil rights leaders say, but the movement would be foolish to drop its guard now.
The world will be watching as Barack Obama is sworn in as president of the United States of America. In anticipation of the inauguration, reporter John Zarrella, photojournalists Dominic Swann and Greg Kilday and I traveled to some of the landmark sites of the civil rights movement to reflect on events that helped shape this historic moment.
More than two-thirds of African-Americans believe Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision for race relations has been fulfilled, a CNN poll found -- a figure up sharply from a survey in early 2008.
For almost 60 years, Grace Britton Sweet has had the right to vote. She can vividly recall the day she registered.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 19, 2009
Three Staten Island men are charged with violating voting rights, accused of assaulting African-Americans after Barack Obama's win in the November presidential election, authorities said Wednesday.
Three Staten Island men face charges of voting rights violations for targeting African-Americans for assault after Barack Obama's win in the November 4 presidential race, authorities said Wednesday.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights icon, but for one man, he's something else: the father he barely remembers.
Record the CNN Special Investigations Unit Classroom Edition: MLK Papers -- Words That Changed a Nation when it airs commercial-free on Monday, December 15, 2008, from 4:00 -- 5:00 a.m. ET on CNN. (A short feature begins at 4:00 a.m. and precedes the program.)
Solomon Brown of San Jose, California, is one of the millions of voters who helped elect Barack Obama to be the future president. He's also one of the voters in California, Arizona and Florida who cast ballots in support of same-sex marriage bans that got considerable support in each state.
It's a done deal: Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage illegal in California, has been approved by voters.
Advocates are working to change that with a nationwide effort to make sure those with mental disabilities know their rights and exercise them on Election Day
The Justice Department will deploy more than 800 federal observers and monitors to voting sites in 23 states to make sure voters' rights are not violated on Election Day.
A trip through sweltering Alabama to experience some of the civil rights movement's most important sites brought history books to life for my family and me.
Students will examine Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Also, they will compose written responses to Dr. King in which they compare his historic vision of racial equality in the United States to the reality of present-day life.
The Senate approved and sent to the White House a bill overhauling controversial rules on secret government eavesdropping Wednesday
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws
Students will learn about the champions of voting rights in the United States.
Britney Spears saw her sons again Monday, while her father sought to quickly end a civil rights challenge to his control of her affairs.
The man who claims to be Britney Spears's new lawyer says that the pop star is being "deprived of her Constitutional rights" and tells PEOPLE he is seeking a "return to normalcy" when it comes to Spears's living and legal situations.
The Rev. James Orange, a civil rights activist whose 1965 jailing sparked a fatal protest that ultimately led to the famed Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act, died Saturday at Atlanta's Crawford Long Hospital, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said in a statement. He was 65.
The foundation of a democratic republic is suffrage: the right to vote. Universal suffrage extends this civil right to all adults without distinction to race, sex, belief, intelligence or economic or social status. In the United States, almost all adult citizens over the age of 18 may vote in the presidential election. To this day, U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories do not vote in presidential elections, but may vote in local elections.
Many Americans spent Monday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by recalling the civil rights icon's legacy nearly 40 years after his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee.
Use the following information as a springboard for your students to discuss and research the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both called for an end to a bitter fight in a racially charged debate that has roiled the Democratic presidential contest over the last few days.
Mary-Jo Criswell wants to vote in the November elections but is not sure if she will be able to, because of one barrier: She does not have government-issued photo identification.
The Justice Department's top civil rights enforcer resigned Thursday following more than a year of criticism that his office filled its ranks with conservative loyalists instead of experienced attorneys.
Issues such as same-sex marriage and gays serving in the military have played an important role in American politics for at least the past 10 years and may do so again in next year's presidential and congressional elections.
Congressional investigators are looking into new allegations a top official at the Justice Department illegally hired career lawyers based on their political affiliations.
Six Islamic religious leaders have filed suit against US Airways for having them removed from a domestic flight last November.
Six Islamic religious leaders have filed suit against US Airways for having them removed from a domestic flight last November.
The top two Democratic presidential contenders fought Sunday for the support of African-American voters in a place infamous for a bloody clash between voting rights protesters and police.
As polls began to close in the East, Justice Department officials said voter complaints to federal officials had been "low" on Tuesday.
The Justice Department Monday announced it has dispatched an army of election observers and monitors across the country to polling places where it sees a potential for discrimination or other voting rights violations.
President Bush will address the NAACP's annual convention this week, the White House said Tuesday, making an appeal for unity in what will be the president's first appearance before the nation's oldest civil rights group since coming to office.
Four U.S. presidents -- including President George W. Bush -- were among the luminaries at Coretta Scott King's funeral Tuesday. Among some speakers' accolades and tributes to the civil rights icon were criticisms of the current administration's actions -- the war in Iraq and domestic eavesdropping.
As the nation pays its last respects to Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN.com asked readers what they think will be the civil rights struggles of the 21st century. Here are some of those responses:
The body of Coretta Scott King was laid to rest Tuesday night after a funeral attended by presidents, poets and graying veterans of the civil rights movement she helped lead after her husband's assassination.
The following profiles feature prominent African Americans in the fields of politics, law, sports, civil rights and entertainment.
The Senate Judiciary Committee won't vote on Judge Samuel Alito until next week, but it seems pretty clear he will be the next Supreme Court justice and will move the court to the right compared with the woman he's replacing, Sandra Day O'Connor. Well, why not?
Use this Extra! as a springboard for your students to discuss and research the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Congressional leaders reached a deal Thursday to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act, the government's premier anti-terrorism law. However, prominent Democratic senators said they opposed the compromise, and one threatened a filibuster.
The Supreme Court Monday, without comment, rejected the appeal of Florida felons seeking to regain their right to vote.
Thousands of mourners packed a Detroit church Wednesday for an emotional tribute to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who changed the country 50 years ago when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man.
Rosa Parks was remembered Tuesday as the mother of the civil rights movement, a powerful but quiet voice for equality and as a humble woman who did not seek the limelight.
Rosa Parks, whose act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspired the modern civil rights movement, died Monday in Detroit, Michigan. She was 92.
John Roberts now awaits two Senate votes to decide whether he will be the next chief justice, after telling lawmakers Thursday, "I am not an ideologue."
In 1998, President Bill Clinton was almost forced from office because he lied about whether he had "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky in a deposition. The deposition was conducted by lawyers for Paula Jones -- who had sued the president under federal civil rights law and Arkansas tort law.
Forty-one years after three civil rights workers were killed in rural Mississippi, jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of a Baptist preacher accused of instigating the crime.
Jury selection begins Monday in a 1964 civil rights case that still haunts this rural town of 7,300 residents.
The trial of a reputed Klansman charged with one of the most notorious killings of the civil rights era will begin in late March, a Mississippi judge ruled Wednesday.
A reputed member of the Ku Klux Klan declared his innocence Friday in the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers whose bodies were buried in an earthen dam outside the Mississippi town of Philadelphia.
Many of the nation's leading civil rights groups expressed "serious concern" Monday with President Bush's nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general, calling for "close scrutiny" by the Senate.
The Justice Department is expected to announce Thursday where it plans to send about 1,000 federal election monitors charged with protecting the voting rights of citizens in the November 2 balloting.
On August 26, 1920, the United States took a giant democratic leap when Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving millions of American women the right to vote for the first time in the nation's history.
The Rev. Al Sharpton brought down the house with a passionate speech to Democratic National Convention delegates about what's wrong with the Bush administration and how Sen. John Kerry will help fulfill America's promise. This is a transcript of his remarks:
As Florida county election boards review a list of thousands of potentially ineligible voters -- including some who may be felons -- CNN is suing the state, claiming the public and media should also be able to review the list.
President Bush and Sen. John Kerry marked the 50th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision on school integration with separate speeches Monday that hailed progress in the fight for racial equality but said the battle was not won.
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples rallied for marriage rights in Manhattan Thursday while about 40 couples lined up in the rain outside New York City Hall seeking to persuade Mayor Michael Bloomberg to issue them marriage licenses.
LEFTOVERS OF 1995
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We have bad news from Billcast: The Civil Rights Act of 1990 looks like a winner. Billcast, the legislative forecasting system admiringly described in these columns a while back (February 26), says...
If you were trying to explain the current contretemps at Virginia Military Institute to a fellow from Mars, you might plausibly begin with the late Howard Smith and his famous petard. Smith was the...
Friends, it is not easy being a lonely seeker after the truth. For one thing, it can be hard on the lower back. Or so we morosely concluded the other evening after several hours of squinting upward...
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