Tag Archives: American history

Posted tonight to President Obama’s Facebook page: America’s long journey towards equality has been guided by countless small acts of persistence, and fueled by the stubborn willingness of quiet heroes to speak out for what’s right. Few were as small in stature as Edie Windsor – and few made as big a difference to America. I had the privilege to …

I’ve been waiting in vain all day for an updated trailer so let’s go with the original one below. The A.V. Club sets up the mini-series that launches tonight: “Each generation has its own epic confrontations it must deal with,” narrates Cleve Jones (Guy Pearce) over the opening scenes of Dustin Lance Black’s When We Rise. When he makes this …

JMG reader Bess tips us that New Yorkers are waiting in a hour-long line at the Rochester gravesite of legendary suffragette Susan B. Anthony so that they can place their “I Voted” sticker on her tombstone. From New York Magazine: On November 8, 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for illegally casting a ballot in the presidential election. More than …

The New York Times reports: Janet Reno, who rose from a rustic life on the edge of the Everglades to become attorney general of the United States — the first woman to hold the job — and whose eight years in that office placed her in the middle of some of the most divisive episodes of the Clinton presidency, died …

ABC News recaps: Bill Maher’s months-long on-air campaign to persuade President Barack Obama to appear on his HBO show “Real Time” culminated Friday evening with the airing of the president’s sit-down interview with the left-leaning host. The 40-minute interview was taped Tuesday at the White House in the Roosevelt Room. The interview was wide-ranging, with the pair discussing the election, …

The USNS Harvey Milk hasn’t been built yet, but today the Navy held a naming ceremony for the ship on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. This, despite an outraged campaign of complaints to Congress led by the American Family Association. Attending this afternoon were San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Stuart …

IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW. Earlier….. Entertainment Weekly reports: Orlando’s Pulse nightclub will reopen as a memorial for the 49 people killed at the venue in the June 12 mass shooting, its owners announced via Facebook Sunday night. The news was shared on the onePULSE foundation page, a nonprofit established in the aftermath of the attack to “provide financial assistance to the …

The 2016 Democratic National Convention comes to its climax over the next few hours as Hillary Clinton formally accepts her historic nomination. Watch below. Speakers still to come include Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Sen. Sherrod Brown, and NAACP North Carolina head William Barber, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year. Sometime around 10PM, …

Oh yes, the sadz will be deafening. USNI News reports: The Navy is set to name a ship after the gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, according to a Congressional notification obtained by USNI News. The July 14, 2016 notification, signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, indicated he intended to name a planned Military Sealift …

Note the family in the background. Mashable sets up the clip: John Cena wants to body slam bigotry in America. In a new public service announcement that feels as if it could just as easily be an ad announcing a “Cena 2016” campaign, the pro wrestler gives an earnest-sounding lecture about how patriotism goes hand in hand with respect for …

This afternoon Edith Windsor joined Stonewall riots veteran Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt and a raft of federal officials in dedicating the Stonewall National Monument in New York City’s West Village. From the speech delivered by White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett: Today in Christopher Park in New York City we celebrated the designation of the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument …

From the Washington Post: President Obama is poised to declare the first-ever national monument recognizing the struggle for gay rights, singling out a sliver of green space and part of the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood as the birthplace of America’s modern gay liberation movement. While most national monuments have highlighted iconic wild landscapes or historic sites from centuries ago, this …

Thirty years ago today the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. Today is NASA’s Day Of Remembrance, which also marks the losses of other US space teams. Watch below. Where were you that day?

After President Obama finished his final State Of The Union address, he lingered at the exit to the US House chamber, saying, “Let me look at this thing one last time.” The president’s last look was brief as moments later he was swarmed by well-wishers. Watch below.

President Obama’s final State Of The Union address begins at 9PM Eastern. Embedded below is the official White House video stream, which at this writing is broadcasting prerecorded messages from the president and vice president. All eyes tonight will be on Jim Obergefell and Kim Davis, the hero and villain of same-sex marriage. Watch along with us.

This morning the White House announced that Jim Obergefell will be among the guests seated with the First Lady during President Obama’s final State Of The Union address. From their bio on Obergefell: Jim Obergefell was the named plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled same-sex couples nationwide have the Constitutional right to marry. In …

This actually looks pretty good. Via Indie Wire: How do you make an entire movie about a one-day visit to the White House by an aging rock n’ roll icon and the Commander-In-Chief of the U.S.? Well, that’s what filmmaker Liza Johnson tries to pull off in “Elvis & Nixon,” the true story of the morning of December 21, 1970, …

Two days ago George Will wrote a Washington Post column attacking Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Reagan in which he denounces O’Reilly’s “slander” for claiming that the assassination attempt on Reagan triggered a mental decline so severe that his advisors considered using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Last night the fellow Fox News personalities tangled on-air about the …

From “the dawn of film.” Gothamist recaps: “The below video is a supercut of footage showing New York City between the years of 1896 and 1901. You’ll get to spend just about 10 minutes around town—during a blizzard, an automobile parade, the Central Park ice skating rink—and it’s all set to noise that’s been added in. Something about the noise …

NBC reports: The Atlanta Braves’ “Kiss Cam” entertainment at Turner Field featured a famous couple Thursday night: former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn. The two were in their usual seats near the Braves dugout during a 5-0 loss to Toronto, and they received a loud cheer when shown on the video board. Carter kissed his wife and then gave …