On the evening of October 5, 1969, Gerald Davis stepped out of his house in West Las Vegas to fix his mother’s car and noticed police officers had pulled over a taxicab nearby. Known by residents as the “Westside,” this Black-majority area is located west of downtown, literally divided by the railroad tracks running through the city. Patrol vehicles were a familiar sight on the Westside, though younger residents claimed the police seemed less interested in civil service and more prone to brutality and intimidation.

One small school that opened 150 years ago and served primarily African Americans had a big impact on how teachers are educated even now in South Carolina. An exhibit at the University of South Carolina’s College of Education is celebrating the State Normal School, which was founded in 1873 and lasted three years. The display, at the Museum of Education, describes how the school became the foundation for teacher education and training in the state’s public schools.

One-on-one interview with Tyler D. Parry, Associate Professor of African American Studies, UNLV.

On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in America. But in many pockets of the country it has been celebrated since long before then. Juneteenth, a portmanteau for June and nineteenth, began on that date in Galveston, Texas in 1865 when General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3.

Storytelling is the centerpiece of good entertainment, and our city has a lot of stories to tell. Las Vegas has been long obsessed with being ahead of the curve in all things entertainment, food and gaming. But with a reputation for building up new resorts as fast as it tears them down, Las Vegas is a city in constant flux. Often, important stories of our past are simply forgotten.

Google “West Las Vegas Riots” and you’ll be shown stories about an uprising that erupted in the historically Black part of Las Vegas — in response to the Rodney King verdict in 1992. Though that tragic event cost one person his life, another riot in the same place 23 years earlier, was deadlier.

These colors were not chosen by random or just for their look. They have important significance and each symbolizes pride in the culture and experience of Black people.

King’s legacy became entrenched in the Las Vegas area during the ’80s through youth events and parades, followed by passage of long-fought legislation.