Browse Cases

Showing 76-100 of 129 results

Indians force Coca-Cola bottling facility in Plachimada to shut down, 2001-2006

Country
India
United States
United Kingdom
Time period
September, 2001 to September, 2006
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nathalie Schils, 11/07/2011

In 1998, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the multinational beverage company, was granted a license to operate a bottling plant in Plachimada, a small village in the state of Kerala in southern India.  Within two years of the plant's opening in 2000, indigenous people living near the plant, known as the Adivasi people, began protesting the bottling plant's presence in their community.  The local population complained that Coca-Cola was lowering the water table and polluting surface and groundwater within the plant site and in the local community.

Puerto Ricans protest United States Navy presence on Vieques Island, 1977-1983

Country
Puerto Rico
United States
Time period
1977 to 1983
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nathalie Schils, 07/07/2011

Vieques is a fifty-two square-mile island located eight miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico.  Home to 10,000 citizens, it is a part of Puerto Rico and therefore a non-sovereign territory of the United States. This status grants American citizenship to its residents and allows them to serve and be drafted into the armed forces, but does not give them political representation in the U.S. Senate or allow them to vote in presidential elections. Since 1938, the U.S.

Puerto Ricans force United States Navy out of Vieques Island, 1999-2003

Country
Puerto Rico
United States
Time period
April, 1999 to May, 2003
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nathalie Schils, 07/07/2011

Since 1938, the United States Navy has occupied a significant portion of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, a fifty-two square-mile island eight miles east of the mainland of Puerto Rico.  By the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. Navy controlled over 70% of the island.  Thousands of the island's 10,000 inhabitants had been forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to the center portion of the island, surrounded by training grounds, weapons depots, and bomb sites on both sides.  According to the U.S.

Puerto Ricans expel United States Navy from Culebra Island, 1970-1974

Country
Puerto Rico
United States
Time period
1970 to 1974
Classification
Change
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Human Rights
Peace
Environment
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nathalie Schils, 06/07/2011

In 1970, Puerto Rico was a non-sovereign territory of the United States. Its residents were U.S. citizens but could not vote in presidential elections, nor did they have political representation in the U.S. Congress, although they could serve and be drafted in the U.S. armed forces. At the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. Navy eliminated the principal town on the island of Culebra and evicted its residents so that a marine base could be built. In 1941, President Roosevelt claimed exclusive rights to the air space above Culebra as well as a three-mile wide radius around the island.

Community members campaign for integration of Girard College in Philadelphia, PA, USA, 1965-68

Country
United States
Time period
January, 1965 to September, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Carl E. Sigmond, 16/6/2011

Stephen Girard (1750 – 1831), the well known Philadelphia merchant and banker, bequeathed a large sum of money to be used in the founding of Girard College, a boarding school for orphaned youth between the ages of six and ten. The school was established in 1848 on forty acres of farmland north of Philadelphia. Stephen Girard stipulated in his will that the school would only be open to “fatherless” white boys.

Philadelphian African American students campaign for greater rights, 1967

Country
United States
Time period
November 10, 1967 to November 22, 1967
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Carl E. Sigmond, 16/06/2011

Cecil B. Moore, the prominent African American civil rights activist and criminal defense attorney, ran for mayor of Philadelphia in 1967. As part of his campaign, Moore supported the demands of Philadelphia's African American students and parents who called for changes to school district policy. These changes included new courses in African American history and the allowance of African American students to wear traditional African clothing in school.

Chicago activists challenge segregation (Chicago Freedom Movement), USA, 1965-1967

Country
United States
Time period
September, 1965 to May, 1967
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Pauline Blount, 02/10/2011

In 1962, in response to growing recognition of de facto segregation of public schools and housing availability, the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (CCCO) was founded in Chicago.  This council included the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago NAACP, and the Woodlawn Organization.  CCCO elected Albert (Al) Raby, a local teacher, to organize and convene the group.  In 1965, Mr. Raby invited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to tour Chicago and witness the spatial segregation of this northern city. 

East Los Angeles students walkout for educational reform (East L.A. Blowouts), 1968

Country
United States
Time period
March 1, 1968 to October, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rebecca Contreras 24/04/2011

In late 1967 East Los Angeles housed a school system entrenched in racism. The Mexican American community had the highest high school dropout rate and lowest college attendance among any ethnic group. The poor facilities and constant underestimation of student capabilities by teachers created an atmosphere hostile to learning. The oppressive conditions coupled with the inability to make changes compelled students, activists, and teachers to meet and discuss the situation.

Los Angleles Justice for Janitors campaign for economic justice at Century City, 1989-1990

Country
United States
Time period
Summer, 1989 to June 25, 1990
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Gavin Musynske, 04/12/2009

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) formed the Local 399 shortly after World War II. The Local 399 was a labor union for janitors which had reached its peak in the 1970s, but was struggling in the 1980s. During this time, the Local 399 fought for higher wages for its members, which motivated cleaning contractors to invest in nonunion options. The cleaning industry was extremely competitive at the time and as a result of this emphasis on nonunion cleaners, membership in the Local 399 had fallen from approximately 5,000 members to only 1,800.

St. Louis CORE campaign for lunch counter desegregation, 1948-52

Country
United States
Time period
Fall, 1948 to April, 1953
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sachie Hopkins-Hayakawa, 02/02/2011

In the 1950s, St. Louis, Missouri was a thriving city. However, African-Americans residents were forced to take low-skill jobs, sit in segregated theaters, and were refused service at downtown restaurants, cafeterias, and lunch counters. In 1947, The St. Louis chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a national group that aimed to practice the tactics of nonviolence against the oppressive forces of segregation, was formed.

Durham students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
February 8, 1960 to February 16, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Auker Becker, 31/01/2010

By the late 1950s, civil rights activists were becoming frustrated with the slow pace of desegregation and integration in southern towns and businesses. Youth especially were impatient with white resistance and black adult leadership and urged organizations to adopt more active and militant strategies. In the spring of 1960, these students took matters into their own hands and started a movement that spread through not only North Carolina, but throughout the entire Jim Crow South as well.

St. Paul's College students boycott segregated Virginia movie theater, Lawrenceville, VA, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
Spring, 1960 to Fall, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nicole Vanchieri, 30/01/2011

St. Paul’s College is a historically African American college in Lawrenceville, a town in rural Virginia. Although Lawrenceville was a predominantly African American town, segregation laws persisted.  In 1960 only 750 of the 17,000 African Americans in the town paid their poll tax and registered to vote. The town lacked a branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a black lawyer, or a black bondsman.

The Albany Movement campaigns for full integration in Georgia (Fall 1961- Summer 1962)

Country
United States
Time period
Mid-November, 1961 to Summer, 1962
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Anthony Phalen, 06/11/2009

Up until 1961, the extent of the civil rights movement in Albany, Georgia had been limited to small student groups refusing to obey segregation laws; however, with the arrival of a prominent civil rights group the community would be energized. Albany, Georgia was chosen by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to conduct voter registration drives and SNCC arrived in September 1961 to begin the challenging process of mobilizing support and excitement around their cause.

Nashville students sit-in for U.S. civil rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
13 February, 1960 to May, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aly Passanante, 30/01/2011

Starting in February of 1960, students began sit-ins in various stores in Nashville, Tennessee, with the goal of desegregation at lunch counters.  Students from Fisk University, Baptist Theological Seminary, and Tennessee State University, mainly led by Diane Nash and John Lewis, began the campaign that became a successful component of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, and was influential in later campaigns.

Baton Rouge students sit-in for U.S. civil rights (Southern University 16), 1960

Country
United States
Time period
March 28, 1960 to April, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 28/01/2010

Throughout most of the U.S. civil rights campaigns of the 1950s, Baton Rouge, Louisiana remained quiet. The city of “broad avenues and tree-lined streets” (Sinclair 1998) remained fully segregated despite movements towards desegregation in neighboring states. However, at the beginning of 1960, when university students staged sit-ins at lunch counters across the south, students at Baton Rouge’s Southern University took notice. Southern University, a black university on the edge of the city, became home to the main civil rights campaign in Baton Rouge.

African-Americans in Birmingham, Alabama, protest segregation, 1956-1958

Country
United States
Time period
December 20, 1956 to November, 1958
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Danny Hirschel-Burns, 30/01/2011

In the mid 1950’s, segregation was widespread and legally enforced throughout the American south.  Birmingham, Alabama was a hotspot of black activism in opposition to segregationist policies.  Between December 26, 1956 and November 1958, Birmingham blacks, led by Fred Shuttlesworth and other black ministers, initiated a campaign against the legal segregation of Birmingham buses.

Rock Hill, South Carolina, students sit-in for U.S. civil rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
12 February, 1960 to March, 1961
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sophia Naylor, 31/1/2010

In 1955, before the sit-in campaign in Rock Hill, South Carolina even began, Rock Hill’s St. Anne School desegregated in compliance with the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. In 1957, Rev. Cecil Ivory (who would later become a leader in the sit-in campaign), led a bus boycott that put the Rock Hill bus company out of business. Sit-ins elsewhere, including in nearby Charlotte (see “University students campaign for racial integration in Charlotte, NC, 1960”), helped start Rock Hill’s own sit-in campaign. Sit-in protests lasted throughout the entire year.

Iroquois women gain power to veto wars, 1600s

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Peace
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nicole Vanchieri 17/04/2011

During the 1600’s the Iroquois Indian Nations, a group of several indigenous tribes in North America, engaged in warfare with many other tribes. The men controlled when and against whom they declared a war.

Tribal Iroquois women decided that they wanted to stop unregulated warfare, and thought of a way to convince the Iroquois men to give them more power in deciding issues of war and peace.

University of Miami janitors campaign for economic justice, 2005-2006

Country
United States
Time period
Fall, 2005 to Summer, 2006
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Gavin Musynske, 09/12/2009

In 2006, non-unionized janitors at the University of Miami earned as little as $6.40 an hour and received no health insurance. Demanding higher wages and better working conditions, these janitors of mostly Haitian and Cuban descent began a campaign against the University of Miami with leadership from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

University of Illinois students gain partial divestment from apartheid South Africa, 1985-1987

Country
United States
Time period
March, 1985 to January, 1987
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rebecca Contreras, 06/02/2011

In 1948, the newly elected National Party introduced systematized and legalized segregation in South Africa. The apartheid regime sought white minority rule and the suppression of other racial groups in order to maintain a cheap labor supply. Government officials segregated public institutions and removed the oppressed black Africans from their land onto racially divided reservations. This system sparked internal protests, often met with violence. International groups of people were outraged at apartheid and asked companies to withdraw their holdings from the South African government.

Greensboro, NC, students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
February 1, 1960 to July 25, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kelly Schoolmeester, 1/02/2010

In Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960, Jim Crow laws were in widespread effect. Though the African-American Civil Rights Movement had led to some successful desegregation (notably within the school system thanks to Brown v. Board and Swann v. Charlotte), “separate but equal” was still the norm with respect to the vast majority of businesses in Greensboro, and the rest of the South.

Cambridge, Maryland, activists campaign for desegregation, USA, 1962-1963

Country
United States
Time period
January, 1962 to July, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rebecca Contreras, 30/01/2011

Cambridge, a small city in Eastern Shore Maryland, was racially divided in 1960 between African Americans and European Americans. Unemployment rates for African Americans were quadruple those of white people and segregation was pervasive in public and private spaces alike.

African Americans campaign for equal accommodations, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 1963

Country
United States
Time period
April 3, 1963 to May 10, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aurora Muñoz, 10/10/2009

On April 3, 1963, several black integrationists belonging to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) entered the Briling Cafeteria in Birmingham and sat at the white’s only lunch counter to request service. When they were refused service, these members staged a sit-in. The ACMHR had struggled to desegregate the lunch counter and bring about equal employment opportunities in all sectors for black citizens in Birmingham for seven long years.

Pastors and students lead campaign to desegregate Danville, VA, 1963

Country
United States
Time period
May 31, 1963 to August, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jennifer Trinh, 30/01/2011 and George Lakey, 8/21/14

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States gained momentum in the 1960’s with campaigns and demonstrations taking place throughout the country. Following the success of the 1963 campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, and the strong leadership of that struggle by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), ministers and other activists in Danville, Virginia, decided to start their own campaign. They formed the Danville Christian Progressive Association (DCPA).

African American citizens campaign for integration in Durham, N.C., 1963

Country
United States
Time period
18 May, 1963 to 21 May, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Auker Becker, 14/03/2010

The mass demonstrations of 1963 in Durham were the culmination of a local black freedom movement that had slowly gained momentum over the preceding years. Durham had been the site of a thwarted sit-in at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor in 1957, limited desegregation of schools, and the long-standing lunch-counter sit-ins in 1960 (see “Durham students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960”). Throughout the next few years, civil rights activists continued to attack segregation in theaters, schools, motels, and restaurants as well as demand increased employment opportunities for blacks.