On July 17, 1944, hundreds of sailors were loading ammunition onto two cargo ships in Port Chicago, Calif., when an explosion killed 320 men, mostly Black. The 258 Black sailors who objected to unsafe conditions faced sham trials and convictions, pushing Thurgood Marshall to intervene.
The 50 men who continued resisting were dishonorably discharged and jailed. This incident, known as the Port Chicago 50, catalyzed the early civil rights movement and eventually influenced the desegregation of the armed forces.
Eighty years later, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro exonerated all 258 Black sailors, posthumously acknowledging the miscarriage of justice they endured in the aftermath of the Port Chicago explosion.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]