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#OnThisDay in 1959, days before Mack Charles Parker went on trial for allegedly raping a white woman, a white mob took him from his Poplarville MS jail, beat him & killed him. Then dumped his body in the river. His killers were never punished. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/25/o...

submitted 7 hours ago • 0 comments

On This Day in 1963, postman William Lewis Moore began to march from Chattanooga to Mississippi’s capital, wearing a sandwich board that read, “Equal Rights for All” and “Mississippi Or Bust.” A Klansman gunned him down in Attala AL and went unpunished. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/23/o...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

#OnThisDay in 1892, civil rights leader Vernon Johns was born in VA. Dexter Avenue Baptist Church hired Johns, who urged members to stand up against police killings of Black men. When few followed, he resigned. His successor? A young preacher named #MLK. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/22/o...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

#onthisday in 1966, Milton Olive III became the first Black soldier awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. A member of the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, he fell on an enemy grenade to keep it from hurting his fellow soldiers. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/21/o...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1939, Billie Holiday recorded “Strange Fruit” about the lynchings of Black Americans — 6,400+ between 1865 & 1950. The song reminded her of her father, who died when a hospital refused to treat him because of his color. The song sold 1M+. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/20/o...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1977, Alex Haley was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for “Roots,” which was also adapted for TV. 130M watched the epic miniseries (85% of US households). The miniseries received 36 Emmy nominations & won 9. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/19/o...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1959, 26K students joined the Youth March for Integrated Schools. #MLK praised them: “You have awakened on hundreds of campuses throughout the land a new spirit of social inquiry to the benefit of all Americans.” mississippitoday.org/2025/04/18/1...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1863, Charlotte Brown sat in a “whites-only” horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco. She handed the conductor her ticket, only for him to say no one Black was allowed to ride. She sued and won, paving the way for victories beyond the Bay. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/17/o...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

#onthisday in 1963, #MLK wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to white clergymen who criticized him for breaking the law. He reminded them that everything that Hitler did in Germany was “legal.” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” mississippitoday.org/2025/04/16/o...

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Two Capitol Police officers who shot to death Jaylen Lewis, 25, face a manslaughter indictment. They claimed self-defense, but his mother said the woman riding with her son said the officer was walking toward them with his gun drawn before firing. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/15/t...

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, becoming the first Black player in the 20th century. After his Hall of Fame career, he was active in the civil rights movement & became the 1st Black TV analyst in #MLB. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/15/o...

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1952, Ralph Ellison became the 1st Black author to win the National Book Award: “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe ... I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/14/o...

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1873, after Reconstruction Republicans won the Louisiana governor’s race, 150+ white men attacked the Colfax courthouse, which an all-Black state militia was protecting. Up to 150 were killed. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/13/o...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1864, the Fort Pillow Massacre took place when 2,500 in a Confederate cavalry attacked the fort held by less than 700 Union soldiers. They killed up to 300 Union soldiers, most of them Black, even after they threw down their guns and surrendered. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/12/o...

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1968, a week after MLK's assassination, LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The new law granted Native Americans full access to constitutional rights and included the Fair Housing Act, which barred racial discrimination in housing. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/11/o...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

This summer, Investigative Reporters & Editors celebrates its 50th anniversary. After Arizona reporter Don Bolles was assassinated in 1976,a group of reporters continued his work, & IRE was born. The convention is a great place to learn from the top pros. www.ire.org/ire-50th-news/

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1967, Fannie Lou Hamer & Unita Blackwell testified about immense poverty in the Mississippi Delta as #RFK & others listened at a Senate subcommittee hearing. He saw malnutrition in the Delta he equated with Third World countries. Reforms followed. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/10/o...

submitted 15 days ago • 2 comments

#OnThisDay in 1962, Cpl. Roman Ducksworth Jr., a 27-year-old Black military police officer stationed in MD was traveling home to Mississippi for the birth of his daughter. A white police officer, perhaps believing he was a Freedom Rider, killed him. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/09/o...

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1918, “Harlem Hellfighters” joined the French Army in battling German forces. They confronted racism, helped bring jazz to France and battled Germany longer than U.S. soldiers. Afterward, they received medals of honor from France and a NYC parade. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/o...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1915, Billie Holiday was born in Baltimore & became 1 of the greatest jazz singers. 1st Black female singer to work w/ white orchestra. Her recording of “Strange Fruit” drew controversy & popularity. Inducted into Grammy, Jazz & Rock Hall of Fames. mississippitoday.org/2025/04/07/o...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1856, Booker T. Washington was born near Roanoke VA. Became a leading voice from the last generation of Black leaders once enslaved. Founded Tuskegee Institute. His memoir was the best-selling Black biography until “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” mississippitoday.org/2025/04/05/o...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1968, #MLK delivered his last speech, supporting 1,300+ striking sanitation workers in Memphis. “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” mississippitoday.org/2025/04/03/o...

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1855, John Mercer Langston became the 1st Black public official in the US, serving as a town clerk in Brownhelm OH. He founded Howard University's law school. In 1890, he became the 1st Black Virginian to serve in Congress. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/02/o...

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1935, the “Great Debaters” of the Wiley College, an all-Black college in Texas, defeated national champion, USC's all-white team. Denzel Washington starred in & directed the 2007 movie about the team, "The Great Debaters." #History mississippitoday.org/2025/04/01/o...

submitted 24 days ago • 1 comment

Many Rankin County MS jail trusties say the trusty program changed – or saved – their lives. The program offered addiction recovery courses, GED classes, mentorship & counseling. But some raised questions about the arbitrariness of the power exerted over them. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/31/s...

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the 1st Black American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment. He later became Perth Amboy NJ’s first Black officeholder. In New Jersey, March 31 is known as Thomas Mundy Peterson Day. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/31/o...

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1941, CBS aired the 1st all-Black hour-long radio show. Until then, Black performers were often barred. The National Urban League asked CBS for 15 minutes of free time and was asked to create an all-Black show, which was highly successful. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/30/o...

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

In response to a @nytimes & @mstodaynews investigation, State Auditor Shad White has initiated an investigation into allegations that Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey used inmates and taxpayer-purchased equipment on his family’s chicken farm. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/28/s...

submitted 26 days ago • 2 comments

#OnThisDay in 1973, Tom Bradley became mayor of Los Angeles — the first Black mayor of a predominantly white major city in the U.S. The Los Angeles International Airport now features a bust of Bradley, and the international terminal bears his name. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/29/o...

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1968, #MLK led a march of sanitation workers in Memphis: “You are reminding, not only Memphis, but you are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.” It was his last march. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/28/o...

submitted 28 days ago • 2 comments

Marshall Ramsey's cartoon on our investigative story on allegations that Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey used inmates and taxpayer-purchased property on his mother's chicken farm. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/27/m...

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who saw 5 deputies go to prison in the "Goon Squad" scandal, used inmates & taxpayer-purchased equipment at his mother’s chicken farm, according to those inmates & a former deputy. Inmates reportedly received cash or meals for work. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/27/y...

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1961, 9 Tougaloo College students entered the all-white Jackson Municipal Library and sat down. Police ordered them to go to the “colored” library, but when they refused, police arrested them. The sit-in inspired other protests across Mississippi. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/27/o...

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

#OnThisDay in 1964, #MLK & Malcolm X met for the only time — an encounter in Washington DC. Malcolm was from the North, represented the city. King was from the South, fought for the rural poor. Both were dynamic speakers who were, sadly, assassinated at age 39. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/26/o...

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

60 years ago today, Klansmen killed Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a Detroit mother of 5 who joined the Selma march for voting rights for all Americans. Two Klansmen were convicted of federal conspiracy charges & given 10 years. No one was ever convicted of murder. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/25/o...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1912, #CivilRights pioneer Dorothy Irene Height was born in Richmond VA. She coordinated strategies with #MLK and was a chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom & Congressional Gold Medal. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/24/o...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

Check out the excellent podcast by Mississippi Today reporters Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield as they detail how they discovered a two-decade reign of terror by deputies, some of whom called themselves the "Goon Squad." revealnews.org/podcast/miss...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1964, 4 white men killed Johnnie Mae Chappell, a mother buying ice cream for her children in Jacksonville FL. They had been looking for anyone Black to kill following a day of racial unrest. The alleged triggerman served only 3 years behind bars. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/23/o...

submitted 33 days ago • 2 comments

#OnThisDay in 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. was found guilty of violating a 1921 boycott statute in Montgomery. When he appealed, the judge converted the $500 fine to 386 days in jail. King announced the boycott would continue, and the crowd cheered. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/22/o...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1965, protesters, led by #MLK, began to march from Selma to bring attention to Alabama officials who blocked Black Americans from voting. The marchers shouted, “What do you want?” “Freedom, freedom, freedom!” “When do you want it?” “Now, now, now!” mississippitoday.org/2025/03/21/o...

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

#HappyBirthday, Spike Lee! His first film, “She’s Gotta Have It,” helped pioneer the independent film movement of the 1980s and changed how Black characters were depicted in film. Despite his terrific films, he has never won an Oscar for directing. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/20/o...

submitted 36 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1966, Texas Western, the 1st NCAA championship basketball team to have five Black starters, defeated the top-ranked, all-white University of Kentucky team. The movie, “Glory Road,” recreated events leading up to and including the famous game. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/19/o...

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

#OnThisDay in 1968, #MLK wept when he saw a teacher in Marks MS slice an apple to feed lunch to students, along w/ crackers. He saw 100s of Black children walking w/o shoes. He encouraged the impoverished across the U.S. to join the Poor People’s Campaign. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/18/o...

submitted 38 days ago • 1 comment

WWII veteran Medgar Evers, whom President Trump called “a great American hero,” has been erased from the Arlington National Cemetery website, which featured a section honoring Black Americans who fought in the nation’s wars. mississippitoday.org/2025/03/17/w...

submitted 38 days ago • 8 comments

Happy Birthday, Myrlie Evers! The widow of Medgar Evers was born on this day in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After he was assassinated in 1963, she continued to push for prosecution, which finally took place in 1994 when the killer was convicted of murder. #History mississippitoday.org/2025/03/17/o...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments