Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now

The life and legacy of A.G. Gaston: a man who quietly helped fund the Civil Rights Movement

Feb 1, 2024
A.G. Gaston was a Black entrepreneur who invested millions of dollars into the Civil Rights Movement and Black America.
Entrepreneur A.G. Gaston, right, alongside Birmingham Mayor George G. Seibels Jr., in front of the the Citizens Federal Savings bank.
Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives

If reparations aren't politically viable, what's the next best thing?

Jan 5, 2024
Scholars say local action directed at improving access to housing, health care and education are more likely to pass than cash payments.
Many Black families were excluded from suburbs that were rapidly growing in the '50s and '60s.
Illustration: Dylan Miettinen/Marketplace | Photo: Courtesy USC Libraries. “Dick” Whittington Photography Collection

In "Black Folk," the history of the Black working class is a family story

Jun 14, 2023
Historian Blair LM Kelley traces that evolution through her own family roots.
According to historian Blair LM Kelley, as Black women moved to Northern cities during the Great Migration, many found domestic work that took them away from their families — but led to the creation of new communities. Above, a woman and child in Harlem, New York City, in 1946.
Eric Schwab/AFP via Getty Images

Banking law rooted in civil rights era gets a 21st century update

May 5, 2022
Federal regulators propose new rules for the Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to invest in low- and moderate-income communities.
The Community Reinvestment Act, which aims to close the racial wealth gap, may be updated to cover financial firms that don't rely on neighborhood branches.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How promises to fix income inequality have played out after elections

Oct 28, 2020
Income inequality is on the minds of many voters right now, much like in the run-up to the 1968 presidential election.
We know from the Nixon White House tapes that he didn't really believe in wage and price freezes to get roaring inflation under control.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Here's what civil rights leaders want from Facebook

"It shouldn't be my nonprofit that has to be monitoring and focusing its energy on a corporation that makes $70 billion a year," said Color of Change President Rashad Robinson.
Many of the companies boycotting Facebook are major brands with big budgets.
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Employees look at their companies' actions — not just statements

Jun 4, 2020
Many companies issued statements in support of the anti-racial bias movement. But some employees question internal actions and policies.
Starbucks closed its stores in 2018 to provide anti-racial bias training for employees.
Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

In Mississippi, labor rights can also be civil rights

Nov 14, 2018
Some workers at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, are framing their fight for a union and higher wages as part of a longer fight for equality in the Deep South.
After a night shift, Nissan auto factory workers Travis Parks, Eric Hearn and Antonio Ivy gather at a Canton, Mississippi, truck stop.
Justin Hardiman for Marketplace

While challenges remain for transgender jobseekers, more businesses are reaching out to the trans community

Jun 8, 2018
Looking for a job can be difficult for anyone, but for transgender people, it can be especially tough.
At a recent “Transgender Job Fair” hosted by Cleveland’s Metro Health hospital, the organizers gave away buttons that participants could use to indicate their gender pronouns.
Adrian Ma for Marketplace