The past 50 years have been a time for protest and progress. American saw its first Black president and vice-president, and new movements arose to fight racial injustice and inequity–from environmental racism and food insecurity to police brutality and the rise of white supremacist groups.
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HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS
2012 #BlackLivesMatter
FACES
FACES
Notable people will be to the site as they are added to the on-campus display
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, where she served from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination, the first Black woman to seek the nomination for a major political party. However, instead of being remembered for being the "first" anything, she wanted people to say of her: "Shirley Chishom had guts."
READ: "Unbought and Unbossed": When a Black Woman Ran for the White House
Tracy K. Smith
Tracy K. Smith
From 2017-2019, Tracy K. Smith was appointed the 22nd United States Poet Laureate. Smith currently serves as a Creative Writing professor at Princeton University and as the Chair of the school's Lewis Center for the Arts. Our library has several of Smith's volumes of poetry as well as her memoir, Ordinary Light, available to check out!
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick is a civil rights activist and former NFL quarterback. In 2016, he knelt during the National Anthem at his games in an act of peaceful protest against police brutality. Despite outrage from football fans, the league, and even the president, Kaepernick continued his protest, and the movement spread to other athletes in the NFL and other professional sports leagues.
READ: Colin Kaepernick Sacrificed It All for the Movement. Now the Work Begins.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
In 2008, Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. Obama was the first Black and biracial man to hold the office, serving for two terms from 2009 to 2017. Before entering politics, Obama worked as a community organizer and a lawyer. He attended Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Kamal Harris
Kamal Harris
Senator Kamala Harris broke down several walls when she was elected as the 46th Vice President of the United States. Elected in 2020 with running mate President Joseph Biden, Harris, a former senator from California, is the first Black, South Asian American, and female vice president.
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