civil rights

COMMENTARY

Why cellphone videos of black people’s deaths should be considered sacred, like lynching photographs

BY: - June 1, 2020

As Ahmaud Arbery fell to the ground, the sound of the gunshot that took his life echoed loudly throughout his Georgia neighborhood. I rewound the video of his killing. Each time I viewed it, I was drawn first to the young black jogger’s seemingly carefree stride, which was halted by two white men in a […]

U.S. House votes on landmark bill to make lynching a federal hate crime

BY: - February 27, 2020

WASHINGTON — Lynching is not considered a hate crime under federal law, but that’s expected to change soon. The U.S. House voted 410-4 on Wednesday to approve a bill called the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. The bill would specifically list lynching as a hate crime, which is identified as a crime that targets people based on their race […]

COMMENTARY

Civil rights in Columbus: The Vanguard League

BY: - February 27, 2020

Most of us have heard the national story of civil rights. But did you know that many cities and towns across Ohio had (and still have) incredibly active local civil rights organizations? The Ohio History Connection holds the papers of one of these local organizations: the Vanguard League. In May 1940, in the home of […]