All in Activism

The Fight for the Right: Voting Rights in the United States

Violence was actually the principal means used to disenfranchise African Americans and to keep them from voting or running for elected office. The Ku Klux Klan (founded in Kentucky in 1866) was formed with the purpose of terrorizing African Americans who acquired economic and/or political power, particularly focusing on Blacks who tried to vote. But “citizens councils” and other groups used violence to disenfranchise African Americans.

Black Explorers: Going to the Congo!

Sheppard learned to speak the Kuba* language, which helped him to discover parts of the Congo region where no American or European had ever gone. Sheppard and his local Bakuba guide would go from village to village buying eggs at different markets. For three months, he bought and ate eggs and preached the gospel at every village where he stopped. Sheppard stayed and studied the culture and, because of his excellent language skills, he was welcomed into the villages by the local leaders.