civil rights

Jazz played a surprising yet powerful role in the desegregation of U.S. military bands. During World War II, African American musicians were often restricted to all-Black units despite their talent and experience. Yet their exceptional skill in jazz ensembles and big bands could not be ignored.

Jazz played a quiet but powerful role in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Artists like Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim used music to protest racial segregation, promote unity, and give voice to the oppressed.

As the Civil Rights icon is laid to rest, neighbors and friends who knew the Rev. Jesse Jackson reflect on how extraordinary, and yet how extraordinarily simple he was to the community he grew up in.

Cecil Williams is well-known as a chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina. The photojournalist was born and raised in the town of Orangeburg where he still resides, as does the museum which he built. The South Carolina Civil Rights Museum is home to hundreds of photographs Williams captured that bore witness to the realities of striving for racial equality.

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for January 20, 2026: we hear from some potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls; we remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; we also have major campaign trail updates; and more!

In 1963, the nation was shaken by the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. John Coltrane responded not with words, but with music.

On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people made their way to Washington, D.C. to demand civil and economic rights for African Americans. In attendance at the March on Washington was Gloria Dreher Eaddy of Columbia, SC, who later became a friend and mentor to Dr. Bobby Donaldson, a professor at the University of South Carolina.

“H” is for Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (b.1942). Journalist, civil rights activist.

“H” is for Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (b.1942). Journalist, civil rights activist.

“G” is for Grimké, Archibald Henry (1849-1930). Activist, scholar.