Civil Rights

This is one of more than 5,000 postcards mailed to residents in majority-Black neighborhoods in Memphis urging them to vote. They were mailed by former volunteers with the West Tennessee Voters Project, a 1960s civil rights initiative.

News and Features

Civil Rights-era activists once again urge West Tennessee voters to the polls

Mel Eleftheriou

'60's voting rights activists were spurred by the Republican bust up of Memphis’ majority-Black congressional district.

Tiara Hatley and her son, Maleek Williams, visit the grave of her great-grandfather, Philip Hatley, at Memphis National Cemetery. Hatley was shot and killed by Memphis police in 1939. Decades later, research by the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project revealed the details of his death to his surviving family.

News and Features

CIVIL WRONGS: The Killer Wore a Badge, Part 2

Laura Kebede-Twumasi

In the second part of our latest Civil Wrongs series, Memphis families, past and present, wrestle with generational trauma after loved ones are killed by public servants entrusted with community safety.

Counterpoint

Interview with Paula Giddings on the 150th Anniversary of Ida B. Wells' Birth

Justin Willingham, Jonathan Judaken

This summer marks the 150th year after the birth of Ida B. Wells, civil rights and women's rights activist.Dr. Jonathan Judaken speaks with author and…