On September 15, 1963, white supremacists bombed a Birmingham church and murdered Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. The attack exposed how violently segregation defended itself and how far the nation remained from its promise of equal citizenship.

In the closing years of the 19th century, Wilmington, North Carolina, offered a glimpse of what American democracy might become.

The recent federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center has sent shockwaves through the legal community, civil rights organizations, and advocates for democracy across the country. The Department of Justice under the second Trump administration has accused the SPLC of fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and making false statements related to an informant program the organization used to monitor violent extremist groups.