Rev Martin Luther King Jr at Selma March 1965

Tributes to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were held in the Unites States  nationwide, on Monday January 19, 2015. The day was marked by  massive march protests over the treatment of minorities by law enforcement. "This march is about reclaiming Martin Luther King. He was a radical organizer - he's been arrested, he believed in non-violence, but he was also disruptive," said  Linda Sarsour, spokeswoman for the Justice League NYC, which organized the #Dream4Justice March, a well attended tribute and protest march. 

MONUSCO Head Martin Kobler briefing UN Security Council

On November 26, 2014, the United Nations (UN) Under Secretary General (SG) of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Baroness Valerie Amos, resigned from her position. Since then, several people outside and inside the UN have been seeking the position.

George Stinney prison mugshot in 1944

It is said that "better late than never". George Junius Stinney,Jr., a 14-year-old Black boy convicted and executed in South Carolina in 1944 for murders he did not commit was finally cleared in a new ruling by Judge Carmen Mullen. In her ruling, Judge Carmer Mullen said that the prosecution at the time failed on all accounts, denying the constitutional rights to the boy and rushing to condemn him without clear evidences. 

Tim Cook - Apple CEO

"I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me, " Apple CEO Tim Cook has said in a letter written for Bloomberg Businessweek,  while  publicly coming out as gay and declaring his support for equality.

Tim Cook, though the CEO of perhaps the most prominent company in the World today, has managed to  keep a low profile on his personal life. In the letter he  says that his decision to publicly acknowledge his sexuality was  intended to "bring comfort to anyone who feels alone" and to "inspire people to insist on their equality."

Dikembe Mutombo with Atlanta Hawks in 2001

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, aka Dikembe Mutombo, a famous Congolese  American NBA basketball player and humanitarian has passed away.  His death, following a period of a cancer has raised praises and recognitions from several famous people around the World, including the United States of America,  Africa, especially his birth country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Europe, and Asia. Known for his almost unmatched shot-blocking and rebounding power, followed by his defensive trademark gesture of finger-wagging   when he was an NBA player, he was later often celebrated for his unwavering dedication to humanitarian causes after his retirement.

Celia Cruz Featured On the US 25-cent Coin in 2024

Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso, widely known as Celia Cruz,  a popular Afro-Latin musician and artist of the 20th century,  has been featured on the a coin minted by the US Treasury. She is the first Black-Latin woman ever featured on the US 25-cent coin, also known as a quarter. The quarters features Celia Cruz and other trailblazing American women. Other women featured on quarters include:  activist, lawyer, poet, writer, and  Episcopal priest Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray,  e first woman of color to serve in Congress Patsy Takemoto Mink, Civil War era surgeon and women’s rights activist  Dr. Mary Edwards Walker,  and  writer, composer, educator, and political activist Zitkala-Ša.