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Martin Luther King Jr.

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They might be surprised that the republic exists at all.
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The question of what Jefferson meant by “all men” has defined American law and politics for too long.
Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph.

How Mamdani’s Predecessors Built Democratic Socialism

A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin’s Freedom Budget is the key to understanding the appeal of the Democratic nominee for NYC mayor.
A collage featuring Kwame Nkrumah, Martin Luther King Jr., and Africa.

What Pan-Africanism Can Teach Us Now

A biography of Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah casts the post-WWII era as a Black liberation epic rather than a psychodrama between Moscow and Washington.
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The radical lives of James Baldwin.
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Pretty Garrotte: Why We Need Dorothy Parker

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William F. Buckley Jr. (far right) with his brother, New York senator James L. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater at National Review’s twentieth-anniversary celebration, New York City, November 1975

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A Republican administration that wages war against immigrants and colleges should be understood as the culmination of William F. Buckley conservative movement.
A white hand gives a key to another white hand, bypassing a Black hand.

What We Miss When We Talk About the Racial Wealth Gap

Six decades of civil-rights efforts haven’t budged the racial wealth gap, and the usual prescriptions—including reparations—offer no lasting solutions.
Wanto Company storefront with a sign that reads "I am an American."

Alien Enemies

The torturers have been revising, the gestapos have been busy, and the prisons have been full for generations.
US National Guard troops block off Beale Street as Civil Rights marchers wearing placards reading, "I AM A MAN"

The Classical Liberal Foundation of Civil Rights

The progress we have seen toward civil rights for all Americans is inseparable from the history of classical liberalism.
A pride flag framing the US Capitol building.
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The Lavender Scare and the History of LGBTQ Exclusion

The rollback of LGBTQ rights echoes a deeply consequential chapter of American history: the Lavender Scare.
Protestors confronting Army military police.

When the Military Comes to American Soil

Domestic deployments have generally been quite restrained. Can they still be?
The letters Q and A having a conversation.

The History of Advice Columns Is a History of Eavesdropping and Judging

How an Ovid-quoting London broadsheet from the late seventeenth century spawned “Dear Abby,” Dan Savage, and Reddit’s Am I the Asshole.
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What Made Malcolm X Dangerous

He challenged the violence of US power, abroad and at home. His radical internationalism, from Congo to Palestine, speaks to our moment.
Ella Jenkins at a School Assembly Service performance, c. 1962.

Ella Jenkins and Sonic Civil Rights Pedagogy

She translated Black freedom movements' ideals into forms that children could enjoy and grasp, nurturing their political consciousness through music-making.
Huddie Lesbetter's draft registration card.

Secret Recordings Show President Roosevelt Debating Military Desegregation with Civil Rights Leaders

More than a year before Pearl Harbor, President FDR heard arguments from the civil rights leaders of the era for the desegregation of the military.
Josephine Baker and a soldier.

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A new book highlights Josephine Baker’s wartime contribution, and how she used her fame to provide cover and promote equal rights.
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