Human Rights

Former President John Quincy Adams argued on behalf of Africans who had seized the Spanish slave ship Amistad after being illegally enslaved and brought into U.S. waters. Speaking before the Supreme Court, Adams denounced the U.S. government’s support for Spanish slave traders and defended the…

The 1984 Commonwealth Club Address, delivered by Cesar Chavez, was a speech that highlighted the poor working and living conditions faced by farmworkers due to pesticide exposure and poverty. Chavez reaffirmed the United Farm Workers' commitment to nonviolent resistance as the path to justice…

A foundation document that outlined the rights and freedoms that Black people should be afforded worldwide. This declaration condemned racial oppression and called for the self-determination, equality, and unity of Black people. It's one of the earliest declarations of Black rights predating…

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2021 is a landmark piece of U.S legislation that officially marked lynching as a federal hate crime. The bill was signed into law by President Biden on March 29, 2022; it's seen as a notable step in recognizing and addressing the history of U.S racial…

United States v. Paradise (1987) was a landmark Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of racial discrimination in employment practices, specifically in relation to affirmative action policies. The case involved the Alabama Department of Public Safety, which had a history of discriminatory…