Latest news with #FreedomRider
Chicago Tribune
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Lewis and Clark expedition begins in Illinois
Today is Wednesday, May 14, the 134th day of 2025. There are 231 days left in the year. Today in history: On May 14, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition, organized to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest, began its journey near present-day Hartford, Illinois. Also on this date: In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, was established by members of the Virginia Company. In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner successfully inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter. (Smallpox would be declared the first fully eradicated human disease in 1980.) In 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by David Ben-Gurion, who became its first prime minister. In 1955, representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The pact was dissolved in 1991.) In 1961, Freedom Rider civil rights activists were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. In 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the first American space station, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2022, an 18-year-old white supremacist wearing body armor opened fire in a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people before being taken into custody. (The gunman, Payton Gendron, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in February 2023.) Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Pérez is 83. Filmmaker George Lucas is 81. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is 74. Musician David Byrne is 73. Actor Tim Roth is 64. Actor Cate Blanchett is 56. Filmmaker Sofia Coppola is 54. Former NFL running back Frank Gore is 42. Actor Amber Tamblyn is 42. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is 41. Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski is 36. Actor Miranda Cosgrove is 32.
Boston Globe
14-05-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Today in History: May 14, Lewis and Clark Expedition begins
In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner successfully inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter. (Smallpox would be declared the first fully eradicated human disease in 1980.) Advertisement In 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition, organized to explore the Louisiana Territory as well as the Pacific Northwest, began its journey near present-day Hartford, Ill. In 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by David Ben-Gurion, who became its first prime minister. In 1955, representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. (The pact was dissolved in 1991.) In 1961, Freedom Rider civil rights activists were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Ala. In 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the first American space station, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2022, an 18-year-old white supremacist wearing body armor opened fire in a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y., killing 10 people before being taken into custody. (The gunman, Payton Gendron, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in February 2023.) Advertisement
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Bob Filner, Mayor of San Diego Who Left Amid Scandal, Dies at 82
Bob Filner, a progressive Democrat who served two decades in Congress and then successfully ran for mayor of San Diego, promising to shake up City Hall — but whose career imploded within months amid a storm of sexual harassment charges — died on April 20. He was 82. His family announced the death. The announcement did not give a cause or say where he died, but The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that he died in an assisted living home in Costa Mesa, Calif. Mr. Filner, who was known for his brash and combative style, resigned as mayor under pressure in August 2013, after 18 women accused him of sexual misconduct in his time as mayor and during his years in Congress. The women included a retired Navy rear admiral, a university dean and Mr. Filner's former communications director, who said that Mr. Filner had told her he wanted to see her naked and asked her to work without underwear. He left office denying any wrongdoing. But two months later, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of false imprisonment and misdemeanor charges of battery involving two other women. He was sentenced to three months' home confinement and three years' probation. 'I never intended to be a mayor who went out like this,' he said. His humiliating downfall overshadowed a long record of liberal activism in which he represented largely low-income, racially diverse districts of San Diego and Southern California, and a career as a progressive champion that traced to his jailing in Mississippi as a Freedom Rider in 1961. He was the first Democrat elected mayor of San Diego in 20 years and came into office with sweeping plans for a liberal agenda for California's second-largest city, which was more conservative than other big cities in the state. He battled the city's business establishment, including the conservative editorial page of The Union-Tribune, which in a cartoon compared him to the Joker in the 'Batman' movies. A former college history professor at San Diego State University, Mr. Filner entered electoral politics in 1979 by winning a seat on the San Diego school board, which led to a seat on the City Council in 1987. He was elected to Congress in 1992 from California's newly drawn 50th district, which included most of the state's border with Mexico, with a large Hispanic population. In the House, Mr. Filner helped establish the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Over his 10 terms he rose to chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He championed labor, environmental and civil rights issues. As a sophomore at Cornell, he had volunteered in the summer of 1961 for the Freedom Rides, protests against segregated bus terminals in the Deep South. Arriving by bus in Jackson, Miss., Mr. Filner was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and inciting a riot. Rather than post bond, he followed the protesters' agreed-on tactics and accepted a two-month jail term in the notorious Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm. 'The Freedom Ride changed my whole life personally and politically,' Mr. Filner later said. Robert Earl Filner was born on Sept. 4, 1942, in Pittsburgh, to Sarah and Joseph Filner. His father was a labor organizer who went on to run a series of metal trading businesses. After serving prison time in Mississippi, Mr. Filner returned to Cornell, where he earned a degree in chemistry in 1963 and a Ph.D. in the history of science in 1969. He then moved to San Diego and taught college history there for 20 years. His two marriages, to Barbara Christy in 1966 and Jane Merrill in 1985, both ended in divorce. He is survived by a son, Adam, and a daughter, Erin, from his first marriage; two grandchildren; and a brother, Bernard. In July 2013, just seven months into Mr. Filner's four-year term as mayor, he was engulfed in a blizzard of sexual harassment accusations. A former City Council member who had once worked for Mr. Filner, Donna Frye, held a news conference in which she declared that several women had accused the mayor of unwanted advances, including groping and kissing. 'Bob Filner is tragically unsafe for any woman to approach,' Ms. Frye said, calling on him to quit. Mr. Filner apologized for any misbehavior he might have committed, calling himself a 'very demonstrative person' and a 'hugger of men and women.' But he refused to step down. Within days, Irene McCormack Jackson, his former communications director, filed a lawsuit and said at a news conference that the mayor would wrap his arm around her neck and pull her 'like a rag doll, while he whispered sexual comments' in her ear. More accusers came forward, including military veterans who said Mr. Filner had used his position of authority to pressure them for dates or intimate contact. Elected Democrats and former political allies demanded that the mayor resign. The chorus included Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who published an open letter calling on him to step aside. He did so on Aug. 23 but remained defiant, suggesting that he was being pushed out by 'a lynch mob mentality.' He later pleaded guilty to a felony charge of restraining a woman and to two misdemeanor charges of kissing a woman against her will and touching the buttock of another woman. The plea deal was reached by Kamala Harris, who prosecuted the case as the state attorney general. 'This conduct was not only criminal, it was also an extreme abuse of power,' Ms. Harris, who was later the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee facing Donald J. Trump, said. 'No one is above the law.'
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Yahoo
6 years later: Aurora community remembers victims of 2019 shooting at Henry Pratt Company plant
AURORA, Ill. – A lot has changed in Aurora over the last six years, but the memories of what happened at the Henry Pratt Company plant still remain. On Feb. 15, 2019, an employee with Henry Pratt Company who was about to be fired went into the office, pulled out a gun and opened fire on those who happened to be inside. Trevor Wehner, Clayton Parks, Russell Beyer, Vicente Juarez and Josh Pinkard were all killed. 'What we can do as a community is remember these five men who passed away….these five souls, these five lights who endure beyond the loss,' said Clayton Muhammad with the City of Aurora. ORIGINAL COVERAGE: 5 employees dead, 5 officers wounded in Aurora shooting; gunman killed by police Six other people, including five responding officers, were injured in the search for the gunman who was also killed that day. 'Aurora remembers. Aurora honors. Aurora stands with you today and always,' Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said. Irvin was among those at Saturday's memorial, remembering those lost and what their legacy leaves behind in how the city responded to the tragedy. Freedom Rider shares his story at Black History celebration in Markham ''Aurora Strong' still defines us. It's found in the way we care for our neighbors and the way we honor those we've lost,' Irvin said. Parks' widow Abby was in attendance with her now-6-year-old son, Axel, who was just an infant when his father was killed. 'When February comes, it's like a slow march to February 15,' Abby Parks said. 'I'm thankful there's a community that continues to involve us in their embrace and their kindness and their love. It makes it just a little bit easier to know they have the City of Aurora behind us.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Yahoo
Freedom Rider shares his story at Black History celebration in Markham
MARKHAM, Ill. – A south suburban city council chamber filled with residents for a Black History celebration featuring one of the Freedom Riders who played a role in dismantling segregation in transit across the country. Selections from the production '1619 The Journey of a People' brought a large crowd inside Markham's city council chamber on Saturday. 1619 The Journey of a People is a theatrical experience using acting, singing, dancing and spoken word to shine a light on the Black experience in America. Keynote speaker Miller Gary Green, 81, also captured the crowd's attention as he shared his story as a Freedom Rider in Jackson, Mississippi in 1961. The Black church's role in Civil Rights and social justice continues to grow 'The purpose of the mission was to integrate the State of Mississippi,' Green said. 'The state was segregated. Schools were segregated.' Freedom Riders were groups of mostly young Black and White students who road buses across the South in 1961, challenging segregation in public interstate spaces like buses and station facilities, including bathrooms and lunch counters. In spite of the horrific violence they often experienced on their routes, Green felt compelled to participate. 'We had seen Freedom Riders come in every day, beaten, bloody, dogs on them, dogs biting them. We're watching the news every evening at 6 o'clock, but now someone is asking you as a teenager to be a member of that organization and go in a place you had never seen a Black person go in,' Green recalled. At the age of 18, Green was among a group that tried to buy bus tickets to New Orleans at Trailway Bus Station in Jackson. 'I went in to purchase a ticket and I was told that I had to go around the back, and my question was, 'Why do I have to go to the back?' because my money is the same,' Green said. He was arrested on July 7, 1961, and was among about 400 Freedom Riders detained during the summer of 1961. How Lloyd Gaines' Supreme Court case changed Black education 'From the city jail, we were transferred to the county jail and from the county jail to prison – Parchman, Mississippi,' Green said. 'I was in jail for two months, on death row for 39 days…simply for trying to buy a bus ticket to go to New Orleans? Simply for going into the white interest to purchase a ticket to go to New Orleans.' On Nov. 1, 1961, a U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission Order ending segregation in interstate travel went into effect. Since then, Green said he's seen lots of progress, but believes much more can be done when the realities of the past are passed down. 'I would like the adults, the teachers, whoever to teach the young people their history. They do not know their history,' Green said. 'You see, if you don't know where you've been, you don't know where you're going. There is enough history out there to motivate any student because we've done wonders, it's just been hidden.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
