Civil Rights

Student winners of this year's City of Bloomington Black History Essay Contest wrote about everyone from civil rights icons to artists, musicians and little-known scientists. The young people have chosen heroes to admire and people who speak to them.

Historian Barry McNealy teaches high school history and works with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. He'll give a public talk at Eureka College on March 27.

A woman is suing the state of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleging the state prison system forced her to give birth before she was due. Amy Hicks was in custody at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln in early 2024, held on a drug conviction. Over her objections, she was taken to a hospital and labor was induced two weeks before her due date.

Monsignor Doug Hennessy, a Catholic priest known for his kindness, his work in the civil rights era, and a half-century of service to the people of Central Illinois, has died at age 87.

This term’s Supreme Court decision that allows states to ban gender-affirming healthcare for adolescent transgender minors is causing fear, frustration, and resolve in the LGBTQ+ community in Bloomington-Normal.

The future of a state-funded program to increase the diversity of faculty at colleges and universities in Illinois is in doubt as the Trump administration continues to pressure higher education to abandon DEI values.

A group of state attorneys general is asking educators at all levels to have courage in the face of lost funding and lawsuit threats by the federal administration.

May Day protests against Trump administration policies took place across the nation on Thursday, including one outside the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

A large crowd of protesters gathered in downtown Bloomington on Saturday afternoon for a "Hands Off!" rally to speak out about actions taken by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

A Bloomington woman who sued State Farm for wrongful firing, retaliation, and a hostile workplace environment caused by racism has had part of her case restored after a lower court tossed it out.