Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars, interviewed by Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman & Juan González

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Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Civil Rights

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  • "Why Did Obama Fire Dan Choi?." By Amy Goodman

    Dan Choi was an Iraq War veteran, a graduate of West Point and a trained Arabic linguist. I ran into Choi the day after he received his official discharge for violating the military’s so-called "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy.
    Aug 04, 2010 | Columns & Articles
  • Sherrod

    Jesse Jackson Calls Shirley Sherrod a "True Freedom Fighter" Who Fought Back Against "Attempted Character Assassination"

    Two days after Shirley Sherrod was fired from her job at the Agriculture Department over allegedly racist comments she made in a selectively excerpted internet video posted by Tea Party activist Andrew Breitbart, Sherrod has received an apology from both the White House and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Sherrod used to oversee rural development in Georgia, and Vilsack offered her another unspecified position within the department. Sherrod...
    Jul 22, 2010 | Story
  • Rand-paul-civilrights

    GOP Senate Nominee Rand Paul of Kentucky Faces Firestorm After Suggesting Opposition to Civil Rights Act

    Rand Paul, the Republican Senate nominee from Kentucky, is scrambling to tamp down a growing firestorm over comments he made suggesting he does not favor portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
    We’re joined by North Carolina State University professor Blair Kelley, author of Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson, and Mike Ervin, a freelance...
    May 21, 2010 | Story
  • Stormyweather

    Pioneering African American Actress, Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne, 92, Dies

    Lena Horne enjoyed a six-decade singing career on stage, television and in film. She was the first black woman to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio. She helped break racial boundaries by acting alongside white entertainers, but she was segregated on screen so producers could clip out her singing when the movies ran in the South. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in part because of her friendship with Paul Robeson and...
    May 11, 2010 | Story
  • Dorothyheight

    Dorothy Height (1912-2010): Civil Rights Leader Remembered for Lifelong Activism

    President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, along with hundreds of mourners, packed into the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on Thursday to attend the funeral of civil rights and women’s rights leader Dorothy Height. She died last week at the age of ninety-eight. We speak with Stanford University professor Clayborne Carson. [includes rush transcript]
    Apr 30, 2010 | Story
  • Tavis-smiley

    As Obama Visits Afghanistan, Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War

    As the President renews his commitment to expand the American military presence in Afghanistan, we turn to a man he is sometimes compared to: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A new special on PBS from TV host and author Tavis Smiley delves into this comparison and looks at a speech that has a particular resonance today with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: Dr. King’s famous antiwar speech of April 4, 1967 titled "Beyond Vietnam."...
    Mar 29, 2010 | Story
  • Charter-schools

    Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms

    Encouraged by the Obama administration, efforts to expand the number of charter schools are being organized around the country. But concerns are being raised about the system. We speak to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project co-director Gary Orfield about a new study that suggests charter school growth is increasing classroom segregation. [includes rush transcript]
    Feb 11, 2010 | Story
  • Freedomriders-double

    The Freedom Riders: New Documentary Recounts Historic 1961 Effort to Challenge Segregated Bus System in the Deep South

    The International Civil Rights Center and Museum opens today in Greensboro, North Carolina at the site of the historic 1960 Woolworth’s sit-in. To mark the start of Black History Month, we turn to the story of another group of young people who were inspired by the success of the nonviolent strategy of the Greensboro sit-in. Starting in May of 1961, mixed groups of black and white students began taking interstate buses into the Deep South,...
    Feb 01, 2010 | Story
  • Martin_luther_king

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968

    Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King. He was born January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy...
    Jan 18, 2010 | Story