The Facing History community and the nation are mourning the loss of lifelong civil rights activist Ernest “Rip” Patton, Jr. Patton was a Freedom Rider—a participant in an activist campaign that began in 1947 when the Congress on Racial Equity and Fellowship of Reconciliation sought to test a Supreme Court decision that declared segregation on interstate buses unconstitutional. The campaign would be reignited in 1961 amid a wave of civic activity around racial justice, subjecting Patton—along with fellow Freedom Riders John Lewis, Diane Nash, and others—to a harrowing series of bombings and beatings by white mobs as they journeyed further and further south on an integrated bus. Patton and his fellows were ultimately arrested in Jackson, Mississippi and subsequently imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Patton is said to have comforted and supported the group while they were incarcerated by encouraging everyone to sing. Their brave acts, fueled always by a philosophy of nonviolent disobedience, would eventually earn them nationwide media attention and become a decisive factor that helped to eradicate bus segregation in the South. But Patton’s contributions did not stop there; he was also a father, a grandfather, a teacher, and a friend to so many, including our community here at Facing History. 

As we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the midst of our present climate of hate, we are inevitably asked to consider how far we have come in realizing the visions of justice and equality that King articulated a half century ago. Though King has been memorialized in many places around the country and world, how we represent his legacy remains contested and points to divisions in our thinking about what it actually means to promote racial justice. Cultural artifacts like monuments present rich opportunities to examine the narratives we choose to uphold and sideline in the public sphere, and the forthcoming Boston-based memorial to the Kings is no exception.

LGBTQ Pride Month every June is an opportunity to explore and amplify the stories of LGBTQ people past and present. But even during Pride Month, we seldom hear stories of LGBTQ people of color. Described as the “unknown hero” of the Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin was the openly gay African American civil rights activist who served as the chief organizer of the historic March on Washington.

The recent 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education—the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the policy of state-sanctioned segregation in public schools—raised a number of vexing questions for those concerned with educational equity today. As a decades-old quagmire of competing interests sustains school segregation in many parts of the country, this anniversary reminds us that we must have all hands on deck in the continuing fight for educational equity.

Sixty-five years ago today, the justices of the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn decades of racial segregation in American public schools. Buttressed by the groundbreaking research of psychologists Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark on the adverse effects of segregation on black children, the Brown v. Board of Education decision inaugurated a new chapter in American education that would compel communities to reckon with racism and inequality in new ways. But as we reflect upon this momentous legal decision, we must ask whether the educational equity that Brown called for has actually been realized—as well as what curious residues of racial segregation remain more than a half-century later.

Nearly 65 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education that separate schools for black and white children were not and could never be equal. As we navigate continuing threats to educational equity in the present, we invite you to learn more about the history of Brown and its legacy through these six resources.

Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered what would be his final speech. He was assassinated the next day at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. His leadership in the Civil Rights Movement captured the attention of a nation, including journalist, Lee A. Daniels. He recalls his childhood in Boston during the Civil Rights Movement and how Dr. King's message transcended from the southern states, inspiring him to be a part of the movement in his own way. 

The recent passing of Linda Brown, whose landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education, opened the door to desegregate public schools, is yet another reminder of the role young people have played in shaping our society. At only seven years old, she was thrust into the national debate surrounding "separate but equal" schools, and even deeper below the surface, the tense debate around race in the United States. 

On March 7, 1965, 17 year old Charles Mauldin took his place near the front of a line of marchers heading out of Selma, Alabama with a demand for equal voting rights. The peaceful marchers were brutally assaulted by local law enforcement; Mauldin was so close to John Lewis that he still remembers the sound of an officer’s billy club cracking Lewis’ skull. The drama of the Selma to Montgomery march transfixed Americans and was a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights. In 2015, the 50th anniversary of the march, Mauldin looked back at his experiences, including at photos of him at the march. Now, as student activists are drawing national attention with their calls for reform in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, Charles Mauldin reflects on the power of young people to spark social change and offers his insights for today’s emerging activists.

Facing History is proud to feature young voices on Facing Today. Julia Clardy is a high school student who is part of the Rising Voices Fellowship, a program of the Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA). She wrote this piece as a Fellow, noting how one young Jewish civil rights activist helped her see that fighting for social justice goes beyond just fighting for those in your own inner circle. This piece was originally published on JWA’s blog, Jewish Women, Amplified.