Update~ Alabama has it's first elected African American Congresswoman

File photo - Congresswoman Terri Sewell talks to supporters during a town hall meeting at the McDonald-Hughes Community Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Friday, July 12, 2013.

But what exactly does it mean? Specifically, what does it mean for the residents of Alabama's Black Belt?

Some of the most important events of the American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) occurred in the Black Belt, including Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat, which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott; the Selma to Montgomery marches; and voter registration reform, focusing in Selma, Alabama, allowing African Americans to vote (see Voting Rights Act).

Today, Alabama's Black Belt includes some of the poorest counties in the United States. Along with high rates of poverty, the area is typified by declining populations, a primarily agricultural landscape with low-density settlement, high unemployment, poor access to education and medical care, substandard housing and high rates of crime.

Some Alabamians are celebrating the "historic" election of Terri Sewell as Alabama's first elected African American Congresswoman as if it magically erases Alabama's past and present, turbulent racial history. The Confederate Flag still flies on the grounds of the State Capital and there is an annual Civil War re enactment in Selma complete with cannons blasting for goodness sake. But I have to wonder if they would be celebrating if Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Smoot were Alabama's first elected African American Congresswoman?

Shelia has a natural passion to fight for under served communities and
individuals. She sees no issue as insurmountable. The 7th Congressional district of
Alabama can rest assured that sending Shelia to Washington will guarantee that their
voices and concerns will be heard, loud & clear! It is without a doubt that Shelia
will also make sure that necessary and long overdue resources are secured to move
the district forward!

Let's be clear, Alabama was poised to elect the first African American woman to Congress by virtue of the make up the 7th Congressional district. You see, it's one of them there gerrymandered districts mean, evil, Joe Reed and other mean, evil, Civil Rights leaders helped create.

Some judges and proponents of racially drawn congressional districts have interpreted Section 5 of the Act as requiring racial gerrymandering in order to ensure minority representation.[29][30] The United States Supreme Court in Miller v. Johnson, 515 U.S. 900 (1995), overturned a 1992 Congressional redistricting plan which had created minority majority districts in Georgia as unconstitutional gerrymander. In Bush v. Vera, the Supreme Court, in a plurality opinion, rejected Texas's contention that Section 5 required racially-gerrymandered districts.

It's no secret I was not a supporter of Terri Sewell, not because she isn't nice, accomplished young lady from a good family, but because I don't believe she has the experience or the political skills to represent the interest of the voters of the 7th district. I'm going to be frank, and say the out of state money and the wall street connections worry me. I fear this is another case of affluent white folks deciding who should represent poor black folks.

My worst fear has come to past. Republicans, enabled by the media (again) and the neo liberals (again) bought and paid for the only African American seat in congress (again). I'm sure they are patting themselves on the back and high fiving their "victory" this morning, but this is wrong on so many levels. For one thing it proves it's not about the people, it's about the money, the power and the influence. It's proof the residents of the 7th district didn't get to decide who represents them in congress (again).

I HOPE and pray my fears are unfounded and Terri Sewell isn't just a empty skirt. We have plenty of fluff but no substance. What committee is she on? What's her plan? Who has she hired other than an out of state Chief of Staff? How does she plan to represent to the interest of the people who live in the district? Is she willing to fight back against the conservatives in Congress or will she join them like her predecessor? As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus will she help them confront the harsh new climate on Capitol Hill?

For 40 years, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has used it's bully pulpit to advocate, persuade, stall, negotiate and, ultimately, to legislate. Through many highs, a few lows and more than a couple attacks, the CBC now finds itself in a unique position -- the defender of historic policies that have a positive impact on America in general, and black America, specifically.

African Americans took a punch in the gut in the last election when the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party took control of the House of Representatives. Let's be clear the Tea Party would like nothing better than to dismantle the programs that have benefited the middle class and African Americans in particular. As AL. State Senator Hank Sanders said;

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."

Scott Horton reminds us If we had to pick one state in the nation where these evil tendencies are most obviously on display, then certainly it is Alabama, home to the nation’s highest profile and most abusive political prosecution.

Alabama is the state where the red, republican legislature's idea of ethics reform is to bust up the unions and outlaw public opinion polling. I'm not writing Sewell off before she even begins, but I am asking her to be accountable and visible to her constituents. I know she is capable of representing the residents of the 7th district, but will she?

I'm ready and able to judge Congresswoman Terri Sewell by the content of her character, not the color of her skin, her gender, her religion, or sexual orientation. I HOPE she will make ALL of us proud because God knows the residents of the Black Belt are depending on her. I HOPE and pray, she is not Artur Davis in designer pumps. I am encouraging the behavior I would like to see from the first Alabama African American Congresswoman, not condemning her before she disappoints me.

It matters not if Sewell is the first African American blah, blah, blab, blab. Michael Steele was the first African American head of the RNC. Condolezza Rice was the first African American National Security Advisor then Secretary of State. General Colin Powell was the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Ann Roy Moore was the first African American Superintendent of the Huntsville City Schools. Being the first black doesn't mean being a empty suit/skirt with no power or a token. It doesn't mean ignoring issues that affect people that are black like you. It doesn't mean pandering to the right at the expense of the people who elected you. Being elected the first black means the people gave you the POWER to help them.

I HOPE the election of Congresswoman Sewell as the first Alabama African American to serve in Congress means she will be just like the first African Female elected to
Congress, Rep. Shirley Chisholm

As a freshman, Chisholm was assigned to the House Agricultural Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents[4] and shocked many by asking for reassignment. She was then placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee.[4] Soon after, she voted for Hale Boggs as House Majority Leader over John Conyers. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized Education and Labor Committee,[10] which was her preferred committee.[4] She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.

All those Chisholm hired for her office were women, half of them black.[4] Chisholm said that during her New York legislative career, she had faced much more discrimination because she was a woman than because she was black.[4]

Redeye, waiting, watching, and HOPING Congresswoman Terri Sewell makes us ALL proud as the first Alabama African American Congresswoman.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy. Even in the white-majority Wire grass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs.

So much for waiting,watching and HOPING Congresswoman Terri Sewell makes us all proud as the first Alabama African American Congresswoman.