Civil rights

Andrew Boxer demonstrates the ways in which external events affected the struggles of African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s.

King's 'I Have a Dream' speech in Washington DC on August 28th, 1963, was admired all over the world. Richard Cavendish provides a short biography of Martin Luther King.

The English philanthropist was born on August 24th, 1759. Ian Bradley explains how his reputation as a champion of the abolition of slavery, evangelical and politician has undergone a series of reassessments.

The author Graham Greene journeyed to West Africa in 1935, ostensibly to write a travel book. But, claims Tim Butcher, it was a cover for a spy mission on behalf of the British anti-slavery movement which was investigating allegations that Liberia, a state born as a refuge for freed US slaves, was guilty of enslaving its own people.

Andrew Boxer traces the origins of a historical issue still as controversial and relevant today as in past centuries.

White South Africans who fought in the long ‘Border War’ to maintain apartheid now find themselves in a country run by their former enemies. Gary Baines examines their continuing struggle to come to terms with the conflict and their efforts to have their voices heard.

Despite the rise of Barack Obama, many African-Americans still feel like second-class citizens. John Kirk charts the progress of the civil rights movement through its most prominent body, the NAACP, which celebrated its centenary in February 2009.

Jim Downs says that the Democrats should blame history for the dilemma they face in having to choose between Clinton and Obama for this year’s presidential nomination.

King was shot dead on the balcon of the Lorraine Motel on April 4th, 1968.

Mark Rathbone examines the importance of one Alabama town’s contribution to the civil rights movement.

Janet Copeland focuses on an important figure in the emancipation of British women.

Viv Sanders corrects the male bias in the study of the civil rights movement in the USA.

Segregation on buses in Alabama officially ended on November 13th, 1956.