Princeton, New Jersey (Scheerpost) The Rev. Will Campbell was forced out of his position as director of religious life at the University of Mississippi in 1956 because of his calls for integration. He escorted Black children through a hostile mob in 1957 to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School. He was the only white person that was invited to be part of the group that founded Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He helped integrate Nashville’s lunch counters and organize the Freedom Rides.
But Campbell was also, despite a slew of death threats he received from white segregationists, an unofficial chaplain to the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He denounced and publicly fought the Klan’s racism, acts of terror and violence and marched with Black civil rights protestors in his native Mississippi, but he steadfastly refused to “cancel” white racists out of his life. He refused to demonize them as less than human. He
By Darcie Caswell
This February, the Central Rappahannock Regional Library celebrates African American history with online programs for all ages that can be found at librarypoint.org/african-american-history. There, you can find a video series focusing on Black inventors and a variety of booklists with recommended titles for all ages.
The books below are selections from one of those lists, Our Stories: The African American Experience for Children, which includes titles for readers up through grade 6.
âBedtime Bonnetâ by Nancy Redd and illustrated by Nneka Myers. A little girl watches as all the members of her family get ready for bed. Her brother twists his locs and slips on a durag, her mother wraps her curls in a scarf, her grandma puts her hair in rollers and a kerchief. While her mother lovingly braids the little girlâs hair, her grandpa tells jokes that make her laugh. But when the little girl canât find her bedtime bonnet to protect her hair w
There are added activities and lessons for Black History Month in Columbia schools, but Black history and culture is a part of lessons all year, school officials say.
Notable African Americans in history are sometimes emphasized in lessons during February, said Joy Bess, social studies coordinator for the school district. Sometimes kids, they can identify with people who come from run-of-the-mill backgrounds to go on to do something great, Bess said.
Some students have built-in lessons in their buildings, Bess said. There s Muriel Battle High School, next to Eliot Battle Elementary School, educational leaders who worked for desegregation in schools. Beulah Ralph Elementary School was named for a Black educator and community leader. Frederick Douglass High School is named for the famous Black abolitionist. Lange Middle School is named for Black entrepreneur John B. Lange Sr.
‘Systemic racism’: Does it even exist?
Troy Williams
Systemic racism has become the operative phrase in a lot of political circles these days. Systemic racism, also called “institutional” racism, was coined and first used by Stokely Carmichael in 1967.
Since high school, Carmichael was a fiery young civil rights activist and was one of the original Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Riders. Most notably, Carmichael originated the Black nationalism rallying slogan, “Black Power.” He graduated from Howard University in 1964 with a degree in philosophy and was the youngest person imprisoned for his participation as a Freedom Rider.
Carmichael later became frustrated with the Civil Rights Movement, particularly Dr. Martin Luther King’s nonviolent philosophy. He changed his name to Kwame Ture, became active in the African liberation movement, and urged people worldwide to fight against white imperialism. I savor in the irony that America is presentl