Mandela presents his statement from the dock at Rivonia

A bomb at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church killed Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. The church had served as a gathering place for civil rights organizing....

The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It articulated international opposition to racial exclusion and superiority. This was a...

Kenya achieved independence after a prolonged anticolonial struggle and negotiations. Jomo Kenyatta headed the new government. Sovereignty ended British colonial government, while the distribution...

Ratification prohibited poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections. Such payments had helped exclude Black citizens and poor voters from political participation. The amendment addressed...

Students and families withheld attendance in a citywide protest against school segregation and unequal educational conditions. Black and Puerto Rican organizing brought racial inequality in a northern...

Mandela and seven fellow defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. The judgment removed prominent organizers from public political activity, while resistance continued through other networks and...

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Mississippi while engaged in civil rights work. The killings involved white supremacists and local law-enforcement participation....

Malcolm X introduced the OAAU at a New York rally. Drawing inspiration from African continental unity, the organization linked Black self-determination in the United States to international human...

President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation prohibiting discrimination in specified public accommodations and employment and strengthening federal action against segregation. Years of organizing...

Malawi gained independence from Britain, replacing colonial Nyasaland with a sovereign state. Hastings Kamuzu Banda headed the government. The change ended colonial political authority following...