Life

Simone Biles Awarded Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden, July 7, 2022

Simone Biles,  the most decorated gymnast in the World championships history has added a new medal to her count. On Thursday, July 7, 2022, US President Joe Biden awarded Simone Biles the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Simone Biles hence becomes the youngest person to win the Medal of Freedom.  

Sidney Poitier receiving Medal of Honor from US President Barack Obama, in 2009

Sidney Poitier, a legendary Black actor and civil rights activist has passed away in Los Angeles, CA on January 6, 2022. He was 94 years old.
His death was confirmed by the office of the prime minister of the Bahamas. Sidney Poitier  was  the first Black man even to win a Best Actor Oscar.  Sidney Poitier,  whose parents hailed from the Bahamas, was also known for being the most prominent, if not the only representative of African-Americans in mainstream cinema during the tumultous period of the American Civil Rights movement.

Homer Plessy vs Ferguson Marker in Lousiana

On Wednesday, January 5, 2022, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a pardon for civil rights activist Homer Plessy, 130 years after his arrest, trial and conviction, for protesting against racism. Homer Plessy's landmark case, Plessy v. Ferguson, was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where all White judges ruled in a 7-1 majority against him, reinforcing the racist "separate but equal" doctrine in the U.S and setting the foundation of the Jim Crow regime in the US southern states.