These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Vote

Relatives of James Chaney, a Black man killed for his voting rights activism, at his funeral in 1964 Bettmann via Getty Images It was a Thursday evening, nearing the end of a summer work week that Elbert Williams, a charter member of his town’s NAACP chapter, spent carrying out his duties as an employee of Sunshine Laundromat. Already dressed in his pajamas, Williams and his family were listening to the…