Marlee Bunch, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Fannie Lou Hamer became one of the most respected civil rights leaders during the 1960s in part because of her resistance to racist voting laws in Mississippi.
Civil rights activist James Meredith grimaces in pain as he pulls himself across Highway 51 after being shot in Hernando, Mississippi, during his March Against Fear.
AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File
Meredith is a civil rights hero who doesn’t fit neatly into political categories. He espouses conservative ideas, yet he proclaims a radical mission to destroy white supremacy.
These people are protesting because they are tired, because they are worn out, because they are exhausted by violence against themselves and their communities.
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Some lament that today’s anti-racism movement has no charismatic leaders like the civil rights era did. Such comparisons don’t reflect the real history of the struggle for Black equality in the US.
A protester holds up a sign with Breonna Taylor’s name. Taylor was killed by police officers on March 13.
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Young men make up the majority of black people killed by police in the US. That’s fed a perception that black women are somehow shielded from the threat of police violence. They aren’t.
A protester raises a fist in New York’s Washington Square Park during a June 2, 2020 demonstration.
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