Subject Guides: Racial Inequities and Systemic Racism: Find Websites

Organizations

Black Lives Matter
"#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives."
Color of Change
"Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization.
We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America."
Equal Justice Initiative
"The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society."
NAACP
"Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons."
National Action Network
"National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, criminal record, economic status, gender, gender expression, or sexuality."
National Conference on Race and Ethnicity
"Formed in 1961, the Southwest Center is devoted to the study, understanding, and resolution of human conflict and to promoting understanding and cooperation among people of different racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds. One of the major programs of the Southwest Center is the Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE), which serves as the leading national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education."
National Museum of African American History and Culture
"The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution."
National Urban League
"Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the National Urban League spearheads the efforts of its local affiliates through the development of programs, public policy research and advocacy. Today, the National Urban League has 90 affiliates serving 300 communities, in 37 states and the District of Columbia, providing direct services that impact and improve the lives of more than 2 million people nationwide."
Southern Poverty Law Center
"The SPLC is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality."
Teaching Tolerance
"Our mission is to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants."

Web Sources

16th Street Baptist Church
National Park Service article about the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963)
Atlanta University Center Consortium
The Atlanta University Center Consortium is the world’s oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities.
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Our mission is to enlighten each generation on civil and human rights by exploring our common past and working together in the present to build a better future.
The Civil Rights Trail
The fight for American civil rights spanned decades, cities and states – from Topeka, Kansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, from Atlanta, Georgia, to Selma and Birmingham, and all the way to Washington, D.C. Chart the course of the Civil Rights Movement through the Civil Rights Trail that begins with the site of school integration and takes you to the scene of Bloody Sunday and finally the Supreme Court of the United States.

This website allows you to explore the destinations important to the Civil Rights Movement, as well as plan your journey to cities along the trail. On this site, you’ll find places to see and things to do at each destination.
OSL suggested locations:
National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, AL
Selma, AL
Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, AL
Equal Justice Initiative
Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.
The King Center
The King Library and Archives in Atlanta is the largest repository of primary source materials on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement in the world. The collection consists of the papers of Dr. King and those of the organization he co-founded, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, as well as the records of 8 major civil rights organizations and of several individuals active in the Movement. The archives also include more than 200 oral history interviews with Dr. King’s teachers, friends, family and civil rights associates.
Library of Congress Civil Rights History Project
The activists interviewed for this project belong to a wide range of occupations, including lawyers, judges, doctors, farmers, journalists, professors, and musicians, among others. The video recordings of their recollections cover a wide variety of topics within the civil rights movement, such as the influence of the labor movement, nonviolence and self-defense, religious faith, music, and the experiences of young activists. Actions and events discussed in the interviews include the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963), the Albany Movement (1961), the Freedom Rides (1961), the Selma to Montgomery Rights March (1965), the Orangeburg Massacre (1968), sit-ins, voter registration drives in the South, and the murder of fourteen year old Emmett Till in 1955, a horrific event that galvanized many young people into joining the freedom movement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park
A young boy grows up in a time of segregation…A dreamer is moved by destiny into leadership of the modern civil rights movement…This was Martin Luther King, Jr. Come hear his story, visit the home of his birth, and where he played as a child. Walk in his footsteps, and hear his voice in the church where he moved hearts and minds. Marvel at how he was an instrument for social change.
PBS American Experience: Citizen King
"What came to be known as the "I Have A Dream" speech was a high point in the public career of Martin Luther King, Jr. But it was also a turning point in his personal life, as he embarked on a controversial, often lonely struggle to redefine and redirect the movement he had helped lead."

This link leads to the PBS website for the series, which includes video clips, timelines, and articles.
The Office of Student Life has a copy of the full video.
PBS American Experience: Freedom Riders
Companion website for PBS American Experience: Freedom Riders film. Includes clips and articles.

The video is available from the HCC Library
PBS American Experience: Freedom Summer
Companion website for the PBS American Experience film Freedom Summer. Includes clips and articles.

Full video available at the HCC Library.
PBS American Experience: Soundtrack for a Revolution
Companion website for PBS American Experience: Soundtrack for a Revolution film. Includes clips and articles.
Rosa Parks Museum
Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum is an active memorial to the life of civil rights icon Rosa Parks and the lessons of the Montgomery Bus Boycott that brought racial integration to transportation and international attention to civil rights.
Selma Online
Selma Online is a free, online digital education platform. It is interactive and engaging for students and the accompanying teachers’ guide makes it accessible and adaptable for teachers.

Harford Civil Rights Project

Harford Civil Rights Project
"The Harford Civil Rights Project (HCRP) is a free mobile app that allows users to learn about the 20th Century African American civil rights movement in Harford County, Maryland." - HCRP Director Dr. James Karmel

Related HCC Subject Guides

Primary Source Documents

"I Have a Dream...."
Full text and audio of the famous "I Have a Dream..." speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.
Address at Freedom Riders Rally at First Baptist Church
Text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech to the Freedom Riders on May 21, 1961
Letter from Birmingham Jail
In 1963, while imprisoned in the Birmingham, AL, city jail following his arrest during an anti-segregation march, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to fellow clergymen who had been critical of his efforts.