Civil Rights in East Texas

Civil Rights in East Texas A tribute to Branden Johnson, former Longview NAACP # 6197 President and community leader.

Civil Rights in East Texas promotes both the history and the present of the Civil Rights Movement in East Texas and Beyond.

09/02/2026

Happy to be part of this USM event, which will include the screening of a documentary on Vernon Dahmer, a voting rights leader who died defending his family from a K*K attack in 1966. Will be followed by panel discussion.

08/31/2026

in 1904, George Poage became the first Black American to compete and win a medal in the Olympic games, capturing bronze medals in the 200-yard and 400-yard hurdles in the Olympics in St. Louis. A year earlier, the star athlete and student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse became the first black Big Ten track competitor, winning the same events.

But after the games, he was largely forgotten, working in a high school and then as a postal clerk before being buried in an unmarked grave. A headstone now marks his grave, and the city of La Crosse has named a city park after him. In 2016, the city unveiled a sculpture to honor the athlete.
https://mississippitoday.org/2024/08/31/1904-george-poage/

08/31/2026

Emmett Till’s family gathered with state and community leaders to mark 71 years since his death.

08/30/2026

In a 69-11 vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court on August 30, 1967, making him the Court's first Black Justice. ⚖️

Marshall had a long history of arguing successfully before the Supreme Court as a civil rights lawyer, most famously on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case.

Learn how he got the name "Mr. Civil Rights" → https://to.pbs.org/3NUVG4k

📸: Thurgood Marshall at the White House, June 13, 1967. (Yoichi R. Okamoto/National Archives and Records Administration)

08/30/2026

in 1983, Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first Black astronaut in space, four years after beginning his training. The Vietnam War pilot who flew 144 combat missions boarded the Challenger on a rainy morning. Despite the weather, crowds flocked to glimpse history.

“People came from all over to watch this launch because I was flying,” he recalled in an interview with NASA. “I imagined them, all standing out there at 1:00 in the morning with their umbrellas, all asking the same question, ‘Why am I standing here?’”

After the Challenger began its ascent into space, howls could be heard coming from the cockpit. NASA officials finally realized it was Bluford. “I laughed and giggled all the way up,” he recalled. “It was such a fun ride.”

He returned to space three more times before retiring and founding The Aerospace Technology Group in 2002. A year later, he was pressed back into NASA service, this time to help investigate the fatal breakup of the Shuttle Columbia. In 2010, he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.
https://mississippitoday.org/2024/08/30/1983-guion-s-bluford-jr/

08/28/2026

Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the historic for Jobs and Freedom and of Rev. Dr. 's prolific speech, .

With a focus on eradicating economic and racial injustice, the March organizers, including Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, Dr. King, Joachim Prinz, Walter Reuther, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and John Lewis, put forth 10 demands.

highlighted the demands on social media this week. Learn more about the March On Washington: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-march-washington

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