Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach (January 17, 1922 – May 8, 2012) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. . . . On June 11, 1963, Katzenbach (arms folded in photo above) was a primary participant in one of the most famous incidents of the Civil Rights struggle. Alabama Governor George Wallace (left between two officers in photo above) stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to stop desegregation of that institution by the enrollment of two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door." Wallace stood aside only after being confronted by Katzenbach, accompanied by federal marshals and the Alabama National Guard. . . . Nicholas Katzenbach, 90 .  . . helped draft the Voting Rights Act of 1965.—Wikipedia

Interview with Ngugi Wa Thiong'o  /  From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia /  Marsalis and Martins—Accent on the Offbeat (1994)  /  Noam Chomsky—The Conscience of America

According to some historians, she was owned by Judge Dunn and grew up on his family farm. She became friends with his daughter, Dolly, who was around the same age.Unlike most other African Americans of the time, Mary was taught to read and write.After the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, many ex-slaves left the plantations and farms of their former owners. Mary, however, stayed with the Dunns. When she did leave, she spent time in Ohio and along the Mississippi River.—CascadeMontana

For the past three decades, America has steadily become a nation of haves and have-nots. Our incomes are increasingly drastically unequal: the top 1% of Americans collect almost 20% of the nation’s income—more than double their share in 1973. We have less equality of income than Venezuela, Kenya, or Yemen. What economics Nobelist Paul Krugman terms "the Great Divergence" has until now been treated as little more than a talking point, a club to be wielded in ideological battles. But it may be the most important change in this country during our lifetimes—a sharp, fundamental shift in the character of American society, and not at all for the better. The income gap has been blamed on everything from computers to immigration, but its causes and consequences call for a patient, non-partisan exploration.