Vanessa Orr

In 1917, a group of women was forcibly shoved into freezing prison “punishment” cells, brutally injured by male guards, and left to survive the night without medical treatment—simply because they wanted to vote. While many people take this privilege for granted today, the battle for women to represent themselves at the ballot box was hard-fought and hard-won—yet can still easily be taken away. 

PRIDE has always been an important event for the LGBTQ+ community, providing an opportunity to advocate for acceptance and equal rights, celebrate solidarity, and raise awareness of issues that affect the community. While thousands of events are held annually in the United States, it is rare that these events attract the worldwide community—until now.

Yolanda ‘Yollie’ Copeland is a woman with a mission. The retired sheriff’s deputy, who moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2013, is committed to making sure that the city’s rich Black history isn’t erased. She does it by tooling around town in an advertising-covered, low-speed electric vehicle, wearing a bright yellow shirt, shoes, and hat, and sharing her love for the area and the people who shaped it.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. Now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum, this historic structure not only immortalizes this unforgettable moment in time but showcases more than 400 years of African American history.