links for 2011-07-30

"I realise that many Aboriginal Australians who identify through the skin name system might not want to access Google+ (and, as one commenter pointed out yesterday, some who do are happy to have an “alternate” Western name form as well). However, it still seems somewhat limited to demand that identification be made in a Euro-centric way. Here’s hoping that gets changed as Google+ evolves."

"The Cuban government will soon cast a media spotlight on the issue of racism on the island, although some programs to improve the lives of black Cubans had to be cut because of economic restraints, a Havana official said Thursday.

"Their unusually frank comments — for decades Cuba officially denied the existence of discrimination on the island — seemed to reflect the growing concern over race issues as the country drops some of its socialist policies and embraces more private enterprise."

"More than a century after the Emancipation Proclamation began the long and halting process of extending equal rights to African Americans, Congress passed, and President Lyndon Johnson signed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This landmark legislation, which ensured that all Americans could participate in government, came at a price. A heroic struggle unfolded in Alabama as civil rights advocates, both black and white, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., fought through peaceful means for the right to vote. You can follow in their footsteps today on the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail."