The UN adopts its first resolution on discrimination against Indians

The Supreme Court overturned Irene Morgan’s conviction for refusing segregated seating on an interstate bus. The ruling addressed an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. Morgan’s resistance...

Indian activists launched passive resistance against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act by occupying a restricted site in Durban. Volunteers courted arrest rather than accept...

India requested that South Africa’s treatment of people of Indian origin be placed on the United Nations General Assembly agenda. Domestic resistance gained an international diplomatic channel. This...

African mineworkers on the Witwatersrand struck for a minimum wage of ten shillings a day and better working conditions. Police repression helped break the strike. Their collective withdrawal of...

Viola Desmond refused to leave the main-floor seating reserved for white patrons at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow. Police removed and arrested her, and a tax charge was used against her. Her...

Alfred Xuma, Monty Naicker and Yusuf Dadoo signed a joint declaration of cooperation between the ANC and the Natal and Transvaal Indian Congresses. The pact sought coordinated struggle against...

An armed uprising began in Madagascar against French colonial domination. French forces responded with severe repression, including torture and summary executions. The struggle challenged the right of...

An interracial group began the Journey of Reconciliation through the Upper South to test compliance with the Morgan decision. Riders challenged segregated seating and faced arrests and hostility....

Jackie Robinson made his Brooklyn Dodgers debut, breaking the colour barrier in modern Major League Baseball. His entry challenged institutional exclusion from a prominent cultural and economic arena....

India became independent following decades of organizing against British rule. Ending imperial political authority repudiated the assumption that colonized people should be governed by a foreign...