White men, age 21 and older, who owned property were given the right to vote in 1776. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution removed racial barriers to voting in 1870, but states continued to practice voter discrimination and continued to deny Black voters a chance to participate in elections. The right to vote was extended
This post highlights a conversation between Dr. Keisha N. Blain and Rebecca Traister on Fannie Lou Hamer’s enduring legacy. Their discussion explores how Hamer’s insights on voting rights, poverty, and policing remain relevant for today’s social justice movements. The event draws from Blain’s book Until I Am Free, which examines Hamer as a working-poor Black
The Voting Rights Act is a historic civil rights law designed to ensure that the right to vote is not denied on account of race or color. Key milestones in the struggle for voting rights include: 1866: The Civil Rights Act of 1866 grants citizenship to all native-born Americans but does not explicitly guarantee the
Jesse Louis Jackson was an American civil rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a
