Today is the anniversary of the historic Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896. Did you know that the case was initiated by the Comité des Citoyens, or Citizens Committee in New Orleans, which had raised the funds, developed the strategy, secured the lawyer, and done much more to challenge racist laws. "They hired the detective to arrest Homer Plessy so that they could get him charged with the right thing," wrote Keith Weldon Medley in We as Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson. In response to the horrific ruling, the Comité des Citoyens stated: "We, as freemen, still believe that we were right and our cause is sacred.” Read more about the organizing history of this case: http://bit.ly/10bjpza [Note: There is not a Wikipedia page for the extraordinary Comité des Citoyens. A class project?]

"For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth."—educator and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) Photo: Bethune with students from the Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in Daytona, circa 1905, State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://bit.ly/12ja32o