Monthly Archives: September 2025

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The Little Rock Nine …


18 days of struggle

The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957.

This Day in Black History: Sept. 24, 1957

President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders federal troops to escort nine Black students, nicknamed the “Little Rock Nine,” into the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Sept. 24, 1957.

On Sept. 24, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered units of U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort nine Black students, nicknamed the “Little Rock Nine,” into the previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

In the weeks before, the students were refused entry by the Arkansas National Guard and mobs of segregationists gathered to block the doors, abusing the Black teens with obscenities and death threats.

The “Little Rock Nine” attended their first full day of class on Sept. 25, 1957, and to ensure their safety, the federal officers were ordered to escort them to classes throughout the school year. Two of the students, Jefferson Thomas and Thelma Mothershed, earned their diploma from Central High School in 1960. A third member, Carlotta Walls, earned hers through correspondence classes. The remaining six students completed their high school educations at other schools.


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(Photo: Lloyd Dinkins/Commercial Appeal /Landov)

Written by Britt Middleton

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They fought for our right to vote and suffered… We must Vote!


This post had to be reposted as we count down to the 2022 midterms

 
 
 

Over 50 years ago, African-Americans made up 45% of Mississippi’s population, but fewer than 7% of  Mississippians were registered to vote.

In June of 1964, civil rights groups came together to kick off Freedom Summer, a 10-week campaign to dramatically increase the number of registered black voters in the state.

More than 1,000 volunteers of all races and colors, from all over the nation, traveled to Mississippi to do this important work. While there, youth volunteers and their black Mississippian supporters suffered unimaginable levels of vitriol and violence, but they did not stop fighting for what was right.

In the end, Freedom Summer emerged as a defining moment in the civil rights movement, pushing our country one step closer to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The best way we can honor the work, bravery, and sacrifice of the Freedom Summer volunteers is to exercise the right they fought for so diligently.

Honor the mission of Freedom Summer by pledging to vote in this year’s midterm election.

The extremely low levels of black voter registration in the South were fueled by generations of discriminatory elections practices. States were legally able to hold whites-only primaries, collect poll taxes, and administer literacy tests. When legal barriers weren’t enough, lynchings and bombings—threats and fulfilled promises—kept even more African-Americans away from the polls.

Fifty years later, legislators are attempting to take us backward to 1964, weakening the VRA, making it ever harder for the poor and people of color to have their voices heard at the polls.

Don’t allow these lawmakers to roll back history. They can only win and keep their seats in office when people like you and I stay home during midterm elections.

Raise your voice against those who seek to violate civil rights and human rights. Make a pledge to vote this November:

http://action.naacp.org/My-Vote-2014

In solidarity,

Lorraine C. Miller
Interim President and CEO
NAACP
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1862 US President Abraham Lincoln says he will free slaves in all states on Jan 1


The Civil War began in 1861 as a struggle over whether states had the right to leave the Union. President Abraham Lincoln firmly believed that a state did not have that right. And he declared war on the southern states that tried to leave.

But the fight to preserve the nation was going badly. By summer of 1862, Union troops had not won a decisive victory in Virginia, the heart of the Confederacy. And the war was losing support with politicians and the public in the north. President Lincoln had to do something to guarantee their continued support.

President Abraham Lincoln, center, in Maryland after the Battle of Antietam in 1862
President Abraham Lincoln, center, in Maryland after the Battle of Antietam in 1862

Finally, in September 1862, the Union successfully stopped the Confederate invasion of Maryland. The armies of Union general George McClellan and Confederate general Robert E. Lee battled near Antietam Creek. Almost 100,000 men fought. More than 23,000 were killed, wounded or missing.

Antietam was a violent, savage battle — the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. But the North’s victory there made it easier for Abraham Lincoln to make an important announcement.

Lincoln decided to recognize that slavery was, in fact, a major issue in the war. On September 22, 1862, he announced a new policy on slavery in the rebel southern states. His announcement became known as the Emancipation Proclamation.

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