Civil rights legend to be honored with Medal of Freedom

By theGrio via AP

11:50 AM on 08/12/2009

VIDEO - A civil rights icon who worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott is headed to Washington to receive the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama...

theGrio Reflects: the Underground Railroad

By theGrio

11:42 AM on 08/09/2009

More than 150 years ago this week, the Underground Railroad began, giving slaves in the South a chance at freedom. The Grio reflects with iCue on railroad "conductor" Harriet Tubman's legacy with a look at how it is being remembered today...

theGrio Reflects: NAACP Founded

By theGrio

12:31 PM on 07/16/2009

In the early 1900s, vicious attacks against African Americans were almost as common in the North as in the South. "Many whites and blacks saw the need for an organization that would be a kind of national presence, both in speaking out against this kind of racial terrorism, but also...

Lost class reunites 50 years after integration battle

By theGrio

10:34 PM on 07/12/2009

In Arkansas Sataurday, it was a memorable reunion for a senior class that didnt exist. Classmates from the Horace Mann high school class of 1959 gathered to celebrate the their 50th reunion. Their class motto was appropriately called "the class that should have been"...

Emmett Till's casket found rusting in shack

By theGrio

11:51 AM on 07/10/2009

ALSIP, Illinois (AP) -- While Till's grave site was not disturbed, Sheriff Tom Dart said investigators found his original iconic glass-topped casket rusting in a shack at the cemetery...

Juneteenth a state holiday in Texas

By theGrio

5:30 PM on 06/19/2009

MARY BENTON Since 1979, Texas has celebrated the end of slavery on June 19. But on Galveston Island, the true meaning of Juneteenth goes back to 1865. Doug Matthews of Galveston Island is dedicated to keeping the tradition alive on the island. He points out a statue dedicated to the...

NAACP disputes raised confederate flag in Florida (video)

By theGrio

6:59 PM on 06/11/2009

It's a symbol of history -- but also of hate. Some 150 years after the Civil War, the confederate flag is still stirring emotions -- and South Florida is no exception. The city of Homestead is at the center of a controversial bout over the confederate flag and the NAACP...

Some black WWII veterans honored after death, not before - (video)

By theGrio

11:59 AM on 06/10/2009

Until recently, many African-American veterans have fought alongside their comrades but received little to no recognition for their courage. For some World War II veterans, the recognition has finally come -- after death. Under slate gray skies, former Navy Chaplain Thomas McPhatter, 88 and African-American, is buried in Lumberton, North...

Black and white churches acknowledge common history in slavery (video)

By theGrio

11:45 AM on 06/09/2009

VIDEO - Charlotte, NC - Mary Sadler is an 83-year-old African-American who remembers when blacks had to use the other fountain, sit in the back of buses and church. Even in death blacks were buried in the back of the graveyard...

Tuskegee airman dies (video)

By theGrio

4:30 PM on 06/04/2009

James Travis was one of the storied World War II airmen as a part of the nation's first black military pilots and ground crew. He trained as an aerial engineer, gunner and crew chief, serving with the 477th bombardment group at several bases. Travis died at his Cleveland home on...

Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton unveil Sojourner Truth statue (video)

By theGrio

3:12 PM on 05/22/2009

VIDEO - Washington - A statue of a former slave who became a women's rights activist is now on display in Washington DC. First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a bust of Sojourner Truth at the Capitol Visitor Center...

Rosa Parks: In her own words

By theGrio

2:49 PM on 02/02/2009

Booker T. Washington's importance in his time

By theGrio

2:43 PM on 02/02/2009