The Alabama Democratic Minority Party may have won the battle but the war is far from over #PunishTheBaseToSpiteYourFace

Cue in Battle Hymn of the Republic



The first shots were fired in the Alabama Democratic Party Civil War when embattled Alabama Democratic Chairwoman Nancy L. Worley filed a lawsuit to block the minority from ruling the majority. Judge Gregg Griffin granted the TRO then the Minority(enabled by the DNC) scurried across the street to their friends on the Alabama Republican-controlled Supreme Court to stay the TRO which allowed them to form their own separate and unequal Alabama Democratic Party.

B-But it's not over.......

The motion for recusal asserts that Griffin has a close relationship with Joe Reed, the chair of the Democratic Party’s black caucus and a supporter of Worley.

Let me see if EYE have this right(pun intended), how can you complain about the judge being black when you had 6 out of 9 white Republican Supreme Court Justices reverse the black judges TRO?  EYE mean, really?

The traditional, loyal, democratic base is not going to the back of the bus without a fight.

“Those who think you got blacks in your pocket you better check your pocket because there’s a hole in it. We don’t have to vote for anybody.
“We don’t have to embrace those who kick us around,” he continued with a preacher’s crescendo. “Let the word go from this time and place: You can’t cuss the party during the day and beg from us at night.”

Stay tuned. 

What looks like #WhiteSupremacy and #BlackDivisiveness on the 52nd Anniversary of #BloodySunday in #SelmaAlabama

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill touted Voter ID at Selma Service

For those who don't know the shameful, sordid history of Bloody Sunday let's recap.

On March 7, 1965, African-Americans seeking voting rights launched a march across the bridge en route to Montgomery but were attacked by police. That violent episode became known as "Bloody Sunday."

For or some reason Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill thought the church honoring the 52nd anniversary of Bloody Sunday at historic Brown Chapel in Selma was the perfect time and place to rub the Voter ID law in the faces of the attendees.   

"We want to make sure that every eligible U.S. citizen that is a resident of Alabama is registered to vote and has a photo ID so they can participate in the electoral process at they level that they want to participate," Merrill said.

Liar Liar sheet on fire!  EYE guess we are supposed to forget about how after passing the Voter ID Bill, our Governor closed most of the DMV's in the black belt before the 2016 election and that it was proven to be racially motivated after the election.

"Based on its investigation, DOT has concluded that African Americans residing in the Black Belt region of Alabama disproportionately underserved by ALEA's driver licensing services, causing a disparate and adverse impact on the basis of race," the department said.

EYE guess we are supposed to forget John Merrill said and threatened to do this: 

"If you’re too sorry or lazy to get up off of your rear and to go register to vote, or to register electronically, and then to go vote, then you don’t deserve that privilege," Merrill said.
He then lashed out at criticism of Alabama's registration process and threatened to prosecute a filmmaker who described registering to vote in the state as "complex and complicated."
Merrill threatened to prosecute Brian Jenkins if he was registered in two states, even though Jenkins never claimed to be registered in Alabama.

Enough about the political duplicity of John Merrill, he's who/what we thought he is.  EYE want to know whose big bright idea it was to invite him to speak at Brown Chapel in the first place? That's like inviting the fox into the hen house.  Note some people walked out on Merrill, not ALL people.   

Multiple spectators called out in opposition several times of having a photo ID including in the voting process. Many walked out of the church service while Merrill was still talking including NAACP president Dr. William Barber, according to WFSA.
"Standing on this historic ground, where people died for voting rights, we cannot accept this hypocrisy of voter suppression," Barber said.
The service continued, despite the moments of tension, with Congresswoman Terri Sewell calling for unity and activism and other leaders asking for respect and peace.

Psst!  Congresswoman Terri Sewell and other leaders asking for respect and peace,  your calls for unity, respect and peace are divisive and a pile of manure.  There can be no unity, respect, and peace with people who hate us for our freedom.  That is like asking a rape victim to unite and respect their rapist.  You should have joined Rev. Barber and the others who walked out on John Merrill.  Do the people from North Carolina need to come down here and give y'all lessons on leadership, courage, and conviction?

We the people are tired of politicians who have style but no substance.  EYE want some real leadership. If you are scared just say you are scared and move over and let those who aren't scared takeover.

Here is a picture of Sen. Richard "Dick" Shelby(r. Tuscaloosa) standing up to President Obama every day

Pres. Obama and Al. Gov. Robert Bentley tour tornado devastation (Larry Downing/Reuters)

Uh, about that standing up to President Obama every day Senator Shelby Sir.

Due to your age,  EYE can understand if you have some memory loss, but your aides should know better.  Either they are suffering from amnesia, or they think we are.  Perhaps you've forgotten the massive tornado that ripped through Sweet Home Alabama in April of 2011, when President Obama flew to Birmingham, AL,  motorcades to Tuscaloosa to assure Alabamans that every level of government was fully dedicated to doing everything possible to help the community recover from the devastation,

Even as Republicans have been kicking and screaming about the need to shrink government, even as they support a budget plan that would devastate government's ability to respond to disasters like this, when something like this happens they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Obama as government leaders eager to serve the people they represent. They aren't calling him a socialist, they aren't saying he was born in Kenya, they aren't accusing him of trying to kill grandma: they are just trying to do the right thing. It's just too bad it took a horrific storm to bring out that cooperative spirit.

EYE see you and the rest of the white, male, red republicans walking WITH President Obama, and the democrats walking BEHIND. 

Sidebar with a sigh
If you look closely at the photograph attached to this diary of a VIP group walking with President Obama, I count nine individuals....Two in the front row, three in the middle row and four in the back, one of whom is barely visible as a pair of grey-trousered legs and the corner of a face. Two of them -- counting the President -- are non-white, one more may be.
The proportion of non-white persons in Alabama's population is about 29%, so 22%, or better 33%, persons of color (2 or 3 out of 9) would not be far out of line with the state population.
According to the same source, the proportion of persons in the population of Alabama who happen to be female is almost 52%. Female persons in the VIP group including President Obama: precisely zero.

You may be suffering from memory loss but we the people will never forget. Link inserted for emphasis mine.

I'm glad the President and First Lady came to Alabama but, why didn't he visit Birmingham too? He went to the place that didn't vote for him, and ignored the place that did. And why wasn't Rep. Terri Sewell, the states top Democrat, the first person to greet President Obama instead of being 4th in line behind anti Socialist Bentley, "I haven't seen his birth certificate" Shelby, "I gave you the middle finger and sent the Azalea Trail Maids to your inauguration parade", Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, and "Birther Spencer Bacchus" all republicans?

You might want to reconsider your Wag the Dog political commercials because that dog won't hunt. 

To ‘Wag the Dog’ means to purposely divert attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance, to something else of lesser significance. By doing so, the lesser-significant event is catapulted into the limelight, drowning proper attention to what was originally the more important issue.
The expression comes from the saying that ‘a dog is smarter than its tail’, but if the tail were smarter, then the tail would ‘wag the dog.
In other words, Shelby’s commercial is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from the facts.

RedEye 

So much to Blog about EYE don't know where to start...

EYE am not sure what EYE want to write about today, but here is something for you to chew on until EYE do.

Alabama 7th Congressional Rep. Terri Sewell looks confused....

#SweetHomeAlabama #Sweet16 #RollTide "Are our priorities messed up?"

This is the Alabama Congressional Delegation making fools of themselves, EYE mean, celebrating the University of Alabama's 16th National Football Championship on the floor of the House of Representatives. 

From the Heisman Trophy winner, [Derrick] Henry, the quarterback, Jake Coker, and the tremendous 95-yard run of Kenyan Drake, all of the players on the 2016 team deserves our applause and congratulations," said U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, who represents Tuscaloosa in the House. She was joined by Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Saks; Martha Roby, R-Montgomery; Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville; and Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville.

 #OurTaxDollarsAtWork

Again,  EYE congratulate the the University of Alabama football program on their 16th National Championship,  b-but there is something....troubling about....pride for a national football championship..... in a state that ranks 48 among 50 states in quality of life for children....where some of the people probably can't spell Alabama much less attend the University of Alabama thanks to it'se pi$$ poor education system , are just bursting with pride.

Are our priorities messed up?

The State of Alabama could learn much from the University of Alabama. If Alabama wants to be the best, there is a cost. A price to pay. Until we're willing to pay it, we'll limp along with the other bottom-tier states, in most everything but a silly game.

Life in Alabama ain't no Crystal Ball  for the majority of it's citizens, but it could be, if we invested in people like we invest in football. 

We're Number 1 .  Again.

A RedEYE Hope You Are Happy Rant #47DemCowards

EYE hope all of you so called democrats who just couldn't bring your self to vote for Ron Sparks for Governor because he will happily kow-tow to them,  and who hate Joe Reed more than they love themselves are happy now.

EYE hope all you so called democrats who told us real democrats to STFU and STFD when we tried to tell you Artur Davis and Terri Sewell were frauds are happy now.

EYE hope all  of you so called democrats/moderates/Independents/progressives, or what ever you want to call yourselves who didn't vote because your candidate lost are happy now.

EYE hope all you democrats etc. who spent more time fighting each other instead of fighting the republicans are happy now.

Don't blame me. EYE voted a straight democratic ticket.  But EYE won't be making that mistake again.  EYE will not vote for any DINO's (Democrats in name only).  

You are either for the democratic party agenda.  All of it.  Or, you are against the democratic party agenda. 

 There is no gray area.

Rant Over and Out.  For now.

EYE want to know what the Alabama Democratic Party is gong to do about Mis-Rep.Terri Sewell?

Congressman Terri Sewell (D-AL7)

Not surprised to see GOP vote for racism, but very disappointed in the behavior of Terri Sewell

Here we go again

Alabama's lone democrat joins republicans, bucks Obama on Syrian Refugee program.

Not surprised to see GOP vote for racism, but very disappointed in the behavior of Terri Sewell


EYE think she should get the Artur Davis treatment. 


Hillary, come get your fundraiser/supporter.

Yellow-spine cowards like 47 Dems cause @TheDemocrats to lose elections #UniteBlue pic.twitter.com/7mKMwiL4ml

— David Samples (@NatureGuy101) November 19, 2015

With Democrats like this who needs republicans?

EYE owe Rep. Terri Sewell, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and others, an apology

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell

Never,  EYE repeat, Never, let it be said EYE won't admit when EYE make a mistake, or,  that EYE refuse to correct factually incorrect information . That said,  EYE owe Congresswoman Terri Sewell, the NAACP, and the Congressional Black Caucus , a mega apology for accusing them wasting time/resources requesting a DOJ investigation into the DMV closings in Alabama. Without an investigation, we the taxpayers, would have never known  Alabama faces a lawsuit from the Department of Justice because it is not in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act – and never has been.

What is the National Voter Registration Act Alabama is not in compliance with you ask?

According to the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the “motor voter” law, citizens must be given the opportunity to register to vote when they renew their drivers license, apply for Medicaid or have other interactions with the state government. States across the old Confederacy have run afoul of this law in recent years, withNorth Carolina and Texas failing to process voter registrations in their DMVs and leading many eligible voters to be denied ballot access.
According to the Star, Alabama hasn’t completely ignored the law for 22 years. Rather, they had been implementing the law incorrectly, and in a way that has almost certainly led to fewer Alabamans registering to vote. Rather than allowing citizens to fill out one form, which served as both their drivers license application and voter registration, the state had been giving citizens a separate card that they were supposed to fill out and mail in, rather than submitting it to the DMV on site.

EYE guess EYE should also thank the Red, Republican, controlled state Legislature for making photo ID mandatory for voting then close  then DMV offices in the Black Belt, your plan almost worked.

Via Charles Thomas at Demos "Actually, this helps clarify why Alabama closed Driver's License offices in 31 counties. If getting your driver's license automatically triggers voter registration (provided that you are of age to vote), then Alabama doesn't want it to be easy to get a driver's license in counties with large African-American populations -- which is the case in the 31 counties where the offices were closed. That would enable more Black folks to vote. Shenanigans like this and many others are what prompted adoption of the Voting Rights Act in the first place. Will this cause the Supreme Court to revise its finding that the prior review provision of the VRA is no longer necessary? We shall see. If not, that will make it even clearer the the Court is now willing to connive in racist policies." #RestoreTheVRA

Please accept my humble and sincere apologies.  Thank you for requesting an investigation, and a mega thank you to the Department of Justice for granting the request.

The National Voter Registration Act is more than 20 years old and allows voter registration at the same office people can receive or renew their drive licenses or other public assistance. But, according to AL.com, Alabama has never been compliant with the Motor Voter Act.

You done good, but you might want to check on this while you're at it.

RedEye

Balancing the Budget on the Backs of Alabama's Black Belt

Obama, Alabama officials pledge aid for white storm survivors, black storm storm survivors not so much.

If you look closely at the photograph attached to this diary of a VIP group walking with President Obama, I count nine individuals....Two in the front row, three in the middle row and four in the back, one of whom is barely visible as a pair of grey-trousered legs and the corner of a face. Two of them -- counting the President -- are non-white, one more may be.

The proportion of non-white persons in Alabama's population is about 29%, so 22%, or better 33%, persons of color (2 or 3 out of 9) would not be far out of line with the state population.

According to the same source, the proportion of persons in the population of Alabama who happen to be female is almost 52%. Female persons in the VIP group including President Obama: precisely zero.

Band Director Ryan Campbell watched his Sumter Central High School Tigers marching band strut last week on a field outside the gleaming new public high school in Sumter County.

"Where are the white kids?" a visitor asked.

"At the academy down the road," Campbell said, referring to private Sumter Academy.

And this is why Governor Bentley and the red, republican controlled state legislature robbed the public education budget to the tune of $80 million dollars.   This is why public schools (not to be confused with segregation academies) are failing, or should EYE say, being failed? 

If you're thinking of moving to Huntsville, or the State of Alabama I hope you don't have any k-12 school children. If you are not affluent enough to live in a neighborhood with the best public schools your tax dollars can buy, or afford to send your student to private schools, your children are tough out of luck, because of the sad, sorry state of separate and unequal education in Huntsville, and the state of Alabama. Over 50 years after Brown v. Board ordered schools to integrate Alabama is still the state of segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and it looks like segregation forever.

Officially, the news out of Alabama is this:

Alabama's Republican-controlled legislature and governor's office are committed to cutting the state's budget and the size of state government. That means the state will slice into the money available to a number of public agencies. And the Department of Public Safety, which includes the state's offices that issue driver's licenses, will simply have to take an $11 million hit. To make that math work, the agency will shutter driver's license offices in the state's most sparsely populated counties.

B-But it's not racial, it's just a coincidence the DMV offices slated for closing are in the Black Belt.  If it was really about saving money Governor Bentley would expand Medicaid.  But if he did that people who need access to health care the most might benefit.

Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District in the center of the state. It includes a region called the Black Belt, which has some of the poorest counties in the Southeast and the nation.

A recent national study on county-by-county health rankings published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that several counties in Davis’ district had high poverty, inadequate access to primary care doctors and a large numbers of uninsured residents.

Sumter, Hale and Greene counties had less than half the number of doctors recommended for their size populations, and 13 percent to 16 percent of the residents were uninsured, the survey showed.

Saving money my Donkey.  If it were about saving money they wouldn't be appealing  the Victory Land verdict.  Heck, they wouldn't have closed Victory Land in the first place.

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 Wiregrass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs. Had Bob Riley needed to worry about a U.S. Attorney with integrity in Montgomery, he would likely not have earned his Mississippi Choctaw bribes by shutting down the bingo halls, and the Legislature would probably have put a bingo referendum on this November’s ballot.

This is why EYE weep for the residents of Alabama's Black Belt, our state, and our country.

You’re either going to treat us right, or we’re going to withdraw from you our economic support,We intend to boycott Christmas, but not Jesus,”said Farrakhan. “So on Black Friday, we won’t be there.”‪#‎JusticeOrElse‬ #NotOneDime

There is no #ShameOnAlabama None. Zilch. Nada.

Alabama Sucks Because it Dishonors It's Own African American Heritage

What part of Alabama has no shame don't they understand? 

Governor Bentley says Congresswoman Terri Sewell is impulsive and ill informed on onehand, and that's she's done a good job on, EYE mean for, her district on the other hand. EYE wonder if he realizes how condescending he sounds?  He also claims the decision to close DVM office in predominately black counties is not race based it's about saving money.  Yeah right, so was Slavery.

"We will go to people's houses to have their picture made if they don't have a photo ID in the state of Alabama," said Bentley. "We're not ever going to do anything to keep people in the state of Alabama from voting. And for them to jump to a conclusion like that, that is politics at its worst."

See what EYE mean? If it were all about saving money the Governor would expand Medicaid, but I digress.  So how does Congresswoman Sewell and the Congressional Black Caucus respond...with a big old hashtag?

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are using the hashtag #ShameonAL on Twitter on Wednesday to describe the state's decision to close driver's license satellite offices in the state that disproportionately affect African Americans, the poor and the elderly.

How does the NAACP respond....with a thinly veiled threat, sorta, kinda...?

A top civil rights legal group, citing a likely violation of voting rights, suggested possible legal action against Alabama for its decision to close 31 of its driver's license offices. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund has requested to meet with Alabama state officials in person to express the group's concerns that the DMV closures will make it harder for residents -- particularly African Americans in the state's "Black Belt" -- to obtain the government-issued photo IDs required to vote under Alabama law.

They pull out a knife you pull out a gun.   Now is not the time for hashtag and threats.  Now is the time for action.  The Alabama Legislature can't be shamed into repealing the Voter ID Bill.  The United States Congress can't be shamed into restoring the Voting Rights Act.  We the People are going to have to make them hear us.

#SweetHomeAlabama Congress CritterTerrie Sewell Faking the Funk One Photo Op at a Time

Rep. Terri Sewell with President Obama and Civil Rights movement veteran Amelia Boynton Robinson.

Just when EYE think Mis-Representative Terri Sewell can't sink any lower, she does.  And, if there is any doubt the mainstream media enables false narratives,  look at the picture above then listen to Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders interview on Black Agenda Radio with Glen Ford, where he talks about her scheme to protect a racist southern icon,  enabled by non other than Rep. John Lewis.  SMH

State Sen. Hank Sanders and lots of other people in Selma, Alabama, want to name the Edmund Pettus Bridge for Amelia Boynton Robinson, the “Mother of Voting Rights” who died in August at the age of 110. Ms. Boynton Robinson was an activist in the 1920s, registered to vote in 1934, brought both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and SNCC to Selma, ran for Congress in 1964, was beaten and left for dead by police on Bloody Sunday, 1965, and continued her political work until a month before her death. Edmund Pettus, on the other hand, was a Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon. Hank Sanders won unanimous State Senate support for a bill to remove Pettus’s name, but “Congresswoman Terri Sewell interacted to try and prevent that name from being changed, and so did Congressman [John] Lewis,” said Sanders. “There was a concerted effort to keep the white supremacist’s name on the bridge.” Some in Selma believe the goal is to ultimately have the bridge named for John Lewis, who was also badly beaten on March 7, 1965. Rep. Sewell was rated Worst Black Congressperson on the CBC Monitor Report Card.

Psst...... Rep. Terri Sewell...now is not the time for photo ops and sound bites.  Just stop talking.  Do something for someone other than yourself for a change.

EYE Report.  YOU Decide.

Stop with the Faux Shock and Shame. Just stop. #SweetHomeAlabama #VoterSuppression

Alabama continues to turn the hoses on blacks and the poor

EYE don't know which is worse, the Faux Shock and Shame, or the Faux Shock and Awe.

Give me a break.  It's not like you didn't know this was going to be the end result.

What did you expect was going to happen when you enabled republicans to dominate the government?

What did you expect when the republican majority Supreme Court over turned a key section of the Voting Rights Act?

What did you expect when you were dividing, bashing, and destroying the Alabama Democratic Party and it's leadership?

What did you expect when some of you didn't vote in the mid term election, or if you did, vote for republicans?

What did you expect when those of us who tried to tell some of ya'll this was going to happen  were told to STFU and STFD?

Now is not the time for Faux Outrage.   Now is the time for Action.

Action We Need to Take ASAP.

Talk is cheap.

EYE Report.  You Decide.

EYE tried to some of Y'all Congress Critter Terri Sewell was Artur Davis is Designer Pumps

Left in Alabama: Terrie Sewell It's a historic election because it's about you,not about me.

But did y'all listen?  Nope.  As a matter fact, some of y'all accused me of inventing a straw man, making sh*t up, and peddling hypocrisy (I'm not going to call any names but you know who you are), and banned me fromyour Blogs and List Serves for life, but EYE digress.

What EYE predicted has come to pass, 7th Congressional District Congress Critter Terri Sewell (DINO Hoover), has the dubious distinction of being ranked the worst black member of Congress.  

Black Agenda Report is once again publishing the annual CBC Monitor Report Card. The former all-time worst Black Congressman, David Scott of Georgia, has passed the torch to a new generation of corporate-bought politicians, represented by Alabama’s Terri Sewell – although Scott remains a close second.

 Are you happy now?

As a Democrat running in a D+18 district, Terri Sewell is without question the Alabama Democrat most likely to be elected to Congress tomorrow. If that happens Sewell will become Alabama's first African-American Congresswoman and the first woman elected to Congress from this state in a regular election. But, as the Birmingham News recently said when they endorsed her, that isn't the best reason to vote for her. The best reason to vote for Terri Sewell on Tuesday is the same as it was last spring ...she's simply the best candidate. From the early days of her campaign Sewell has maintained, "I'm the best candidate on the issues." On the eve of the general election, she still is!

What did the residents of the 7th district to do deserve this? 

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).

Again, this is what  happens when the white wing of the Alabama Democratic Party decides who should represent the black wing of the Alabama Democratic Party.  Say what you want to about 
the Alabama Democratic Conference, not to be confused with the Alabama Democratic Party, and Dr. Joe Reed, but they didn't endorse Terri Sewell or her predecessor.  The 7th district and had a perfectly capable and effective Congress Critter until the white wing replaced him with Artur Davis.  The residents of the 7th district had the chance to replace Davis with an effective, progressive/liberal representative, but again the white wing said no. 

If the Alabama democratic party were courageous, and I'm not saying they are, they would run a real democrat against Ms. Nine West Pumps in November. The residents of the 7th district deserve better. They are the most loyal voting block the state and national democratic party has, it's time to stop taking their loyalty for granted, and stop choosing who should represent them.

EYE hate being right.

Not.

When a comment becomes a blog post #Selma50 #WhiteGuilt

In the 1800s, the Black Belt area of Dallas County, Alabama -- home of Selma -- was one of the most prosperous areas in the country, enjoyed by the white elite. Today it has the highest poverty rate in the state. (Photo: Chris Kromm/Facing South)

In a lame attempt at tone deaf, racial, concern trolling, Upset Resident, aka FED Up, aka DARYAL Pinchon, had this to say in response to my #Selma50 Round Up. 

Selma: "One small step for a black man, one giant leap for inducing white guilt"
By every possible metric measuring social capital in a community, the 80 percent black city of Selma is a monumental failure.


Here’s a brief overview of 80 percent black Selma in 2015 (courtesy of Hunter Wallace):

In 2015, Selma is 80 percent black and now has a black mayor, a black chief of police, a black district attorney, a black school superintendent, a majority black city council, and a majority black police force.

In 2015, Selma City Schools are 97 percent black. Last year, the Alabama Department of Education’s Board of Education voted unanimously to take over Selma City Schools in the aftermath of a scathing state investigation.

In 2015, fifty years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, Selma has lost a third of its population, around 10,000 White people.

In 2015, 42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is represented in the US Congress by a black woman, Rep. Terri Sewell, in the Alabama House of Representatives by a black man, State Rep. Darrio Melton, and in the Alabama Senate by a black man, nine-term incumbent State Sen. Hank Sanders.

In 2015, Selma is the fourth most dangerous city in Alabama with the third highest number of murders per capita and the fourth highest number of property crimes.

In 2015, Selma is struggling with code enforcement on numerous blighted, abandoned homes.

In 2015, Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is an epicenter of new HIV infections in rural Alabama. The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average.

So, the new and improved Selma in 2015 is plagued by extreme poverty, STDs, high crime, terrible schools, a terrible business climate, high unemployment, low property value, low civic engagement and racial strife by the likes of Faya Rose Toure. Yet the Voting Rights Act was unquestionably a huge success in Selma where blacks now occupy every public office which their numbers allow them to dominate.

It's their city now, with Selma's current conditions a reflection of its majority black population. [Selma's message on civil rights 50 years later:As President Obama prepares to visit Selma five decades after 'Bloody Sunday,' how the civil rights struggle has – and hasn't – changed an epicenter of the movement., Christian Science-Monitor, 3-6-15]:

True, Selma now has black leaders in positions of power, including the mayor, police chief, district attorney, six out of eight city council members, and four out of five school board members. True, Selma’s black population is quick to speak out against injustices – and has overcome innumerable ones.

But the journey toward equality is still a long march. Black children here are more likely to grow up in poverty, less likely to graduate, less likely to attend college, and less likely to become homeowners. Sections of Selma remain sharply segregated, partly because of white flight and partly by choice. Jobs are scarce, and even harder to obtain for those who lack adequate education and skills.

But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city.

March 10, 2015 at 5:00 AM

 This is my response with links inserted for emphasis and clarity. 

Selma is a crumbling black majority city located in a majority white/republican state, with a white/republican Governor, two white/republican Senators, and 6 white/republican and one black/democrat (who will vote with white/republican) members of Congress, a majority white/republican state legislature,  a white/republican State Attorney General, a majority White/republican State Board of Education, and an all white/republican State Supreme Court.

A white/republican Governor who refuses to expand medicaid despite the FACT " The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average."
A white/republican Governor who is closing State Mental Health Hospitals and Women's Wellness and Health Clinics despite the fact "42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama." Then whine about the STD rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature that cuts the budgets of law enforcement while passing Open Carry gun laws,  then whine about the crime rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature whose first order of business when they took control of the state legislature was to file Shelby County v. Holder paving the way for the majority white/republican Supreme Court to gut section 5 of the voting rights act, allowing white/republican legislature to pass Voter ID bills and Gerrymander they way into lifetime jobs.

A white/republican Governor/Senator, Congress and State Legislature who have made sure Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

Selma Behind the Scenes

In 1965, Selma was about half-white; today only 18 percent of residents are. Many affluent whites live near the Selma Country Club, located just west of downtown and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Los Angeles Times reports that the club today doesn't have a single black member.

Across the street from the country club is Live Oak Cemetery, divided into "Old" and "New" sections. In 2012, protests erupted when whites moved a statue of Confederate and Klan member Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to the site; at one point the bust was stolen off of Forrest's statue.

Rolling under the Edmund Pettus Bridge is the Alabama River. A recent report found Alabama to have the third-most toxic waterways in the country, including the lower sections of the Alabama. The biggest employer in Dallas County is International Paper Co.'s Riverdale Mill, which ranks 21st in the state for toxic releases -- more than 1.3 million pounds annually (although some have applauded the company's pollution-reduction efforts). The short-changing of the environment for economic development usually affects poor and black communities the most: Just north of Selma, majority-black Perry County -- where local civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson was murdered in 1965, helping spark the Selma protests -- became the dumpsite for toxic coal ash spilled in 2009 in Tennessee. The dump is the target of civil rights complaint.

The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was busy under cover of night distributing leaflets around Selma. Atlanta Progressive News obtained an image of one of the flyers.
Also a billboard, visible from the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, features a Confederate flag and invites visitors to tour “Selma’s War Between the State’s Historic Sites.”

"But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city." 

 As well it should be, and not just in March, but year long.

"I think that George Bush’s presence is really an insult to me and people who do not believe in non-violence.” ~MLK Footsoldier #DianeNash on #Selma50

 You are doing a "Heck of a job" Terri

No More Mister Nice Blog: ON THE 50TH SELMA ANNIVERSARY, RIGHTIES PAUSE TO REMEMBER THE REAL VICTIMS: GEORGE AND LAURA BUSH

Enabled by none other than the lone  democratic (and I use that term loosely) member of the  Alabama Congressional delegation,  Terri Sewell.  I weep for the residents of the 7th Congressional District.  Really, I do.

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 have more respect for the GOP Lawmakers that didn't attend than I do for the GOP Lawmakers  that did attend.  There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

Talking Points Memo:  In Selma, GOP Lawmakers  Explain Why They Don't Support John Lewis To Restore Voting Rights Act

The U.S. has not made progress on race relations under President Obama, said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the first African-American senator from the South since Reconstruction.

So much for HOPE for CHANGE we can BELIEVE in.

Blast from the Past: Alabama has it's first elected African American Congresswoman #NetanyahuSpeech

Terri Sewell: "It's an historic election because it's about you, not about me"

Yeah right.  In light of the fact the elected Congress Critter from Alabama's 7th Congressional district, and the only African American Democrat who attended  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before a joint session of Congress I thought it appropriate to re post this blast from the past.

It's no secret I am 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).

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

#SkipTheSpeech

Eye tried tell some of y'all Terri Sewell was Artur Davis in Designer Pumps, can you hear me now #Leftinbama? #Vindicated

H/T Left in Alabama

Yes, this is another Eye tried to tell some of y'all Alabama's lone democratic (and I use that term loosely) Congresswoman was Artur Davis in designer pumps post.

Remember when Congress Critter Davis was the lone member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the Affordable Health Care Act ?

Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, who is attempting to become that state’s first Black governor, was the lone Congressional Black Caucus member who voted against health care reform championed by President Barack Obama, sparking local and national criticism.
“He let us down,” state Rep. Mary Moore, a Birmingham Democrat, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You tell someone, ‘Vote for me, and I will look out for you,’ then they vote for his or her own agenda.”
She and about a dozen people gathered in front of Davis’ downtown Birmingham office around midnight Saturday.
“We prayed for a miracle. We prayed that God would change his heart because so many people in this country and in his district are hurting,” Moore said.
Davis says he couldn’t vote for the health care reform package because it’s too big.

If Sewell  thinks she's going to be governor some day, toadying up to the white folks (H/T RD), she might want to ask her predecessor how well that turned out for him.  But I digress.

BREAKING: ALABAMA'S 7TH US CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN, TERRI SEWELL, BREAKS WITH OTHER CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS, SAYS SHE WILL ATTEND ISRAELI PM BIBI NETANYAHU'S SPEECH. This action by Rep. Terri A. Sewell is an insult to President Barack Obama. (H/T ES)

“I don’t hold Netanyahu responsible,” Butterfield said. “I hold Speaker Boehner responsible, but I would hope that Mr. Netanyahu would not want to get involved. I personally think it is disrespectful.”
That was a word many members used: “It is very disrespectful to this president, and what concerns me more is that I think it’s a pattern that is starting to develop from this speaker that we’re getting more and more disrespectful of the office of the presidency,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). “I think it’s silly and petty.”

So, Why has Terri Sewell chosen to join the other side? Her recent votes surely indicate that her positions are far different than what her own constituents would expect.

 Friday, February 13, 2015, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Selma) issued a written statement after the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015 was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. While supportive of the legislation’s intent, Congresswoman Sewell wants to see the legislation strengthened.

Sound familiar?

Last week, as President Barack Obama urged Congress to plow ahead even without support from Republicans, Davis said he was open to supporting a bill if certain major changes were made.
On Tuesday, he ruled that out.
"What's on the table now is a massive overhaul of the health care systems in this country," Davis said. "We can fix the problems without having to do a massive systems overhaul."

I pity the residents of the 7th district .

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 guess I can't blame Sewell for being afraid of losing her job..or worse...

Tea Party radio host Andrea Shea King argued recently that Democratic lawmakers — and specifically members of the Congressional Black Caucus — should be put to death by hanging if they boycotted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to Congress
“Obama doesn’t have to run for reelection again, a lot of these guys do,” King said in a clip of her radio show that was published by Right Wing Watch on Monday. “Listen, I would like to think that these guys could pay with their lives, hanging from a noose in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.”

Don't blame me, I supported Sheila Smoot.