Congressman John Robert Lewis " rooted deep in Alabama soil"

Credit: courtesy of the Lewis family

 “So you are John Lewis? The boy from Troy,” Martin Luther King Jr. said upon meeting the teenager who would become one of the civil rights movement’s most famous, vocal, and long-lived members.

The third of ten children born to sharecropper Eddie Lewis and his wife, Willie Mae, John Lewis was out in the blistering Alabama fields at age 4, picking cotton, gathering peanuts, pulling corn. The family survived on the leavings after their white landlord deducted his rent in cash or crops. They lived in “Carter’s Quarters,” a tract that had been home to Willie Mae Carter’s family since slavery days. Ironically, it was just a few miles from where John Lewis’s great opponent, Gov. George Wallace, was raised.

My father couldn’t afford a newspaper subscription. I’d walk half a mile to get my grandfather’s paper after he got done reading it. I kept up with what was going on, reading that paper and listening to that radio. . . . We ordered everything from the Sears & Roebuck catalog. We called it ‘the Wish Book.’ . . . I was bused 18 miles to the Pike County Training School. Black schools were ‘training schools’; whites went to high schools. We had old broken-down buses, ragged books, a rundown building. White students had new buses, nice painted buildings with the grounds kept up. . . . In Troy, they had a soda fountain where you could get Coca-Cola. We called it a combination. A black person could not take a seat. We had to stand at the end of the counter. ‘May I have a combination?’ You put your money down and went outside to the street corner to drink it. . . . As a young child I saw a difference. I resented it. Even the country road where I grew up—because black people owned the land, the road was left unpaved for many, many years. When it rained, the bus got stuck in the mud. That was life in Alabama.—U.S. Rep. John Lewis

Listen to John Lewis describe how Rev. Martin Luther King Jr inspired him in his own words.

While researching John Lewis EYE discovered black politics are more complex than they look.

Sometimes, going back into history is what helps define the present in black politics and helps point the way forward. The fight for Atlanta’s fifth congressional district once upon a time, in 1986, pitted two civil rights icons, Julian Bond and John Lewis, against each other. It is the sort of history that tells us everything about much of black politics today: Bond, the intellectual race man beloved by blacks, loses to John Lewis, the man who sold himself particularly well to whites.

Rest in peace, power, and love with the #Ancestors Congressman John Lewis. EYE will keep getting into #GoodTrouble in #SweetHomeAlabama in honor of your courage and sacrifice. 

Today will live in infamy as #TheDayDemocracyDied

Despite the white male dominated media spin about the peaceful transfer of power and this is how the system works, this is a false narrative. The system failed, and they enabled it.  The bloodstains of our democracy are on their hands.

EYE am posting this video today in honor and memory of our late democracy.  Watch it and weep.

EYE don't want to hear a mumbling word about giving Trump a chance or holding him accountable

The train has left the station.

I stand with Representative John Lewis.

“ I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president...

“[W]hen you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something. You cannot afford to be quiet or to be silent. We have to continue to work, continue to speak up and speak out”.

What Representative Maxine Waters said all the darn way all the darn day.

"I don't honor him. I don't respect him, and I don't want to be involved with him."

#TheDayDemocracyDied  Again 

Thanks for your help and support Senators.  

Neither Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders "deserve the black vote." They have to earn the black vote. #BlackHistoryMonth2016

 Michelle Alexander, who EYE admire and respect, wrote a scathing article outlining why Hillary Clinton doesn't deserve the black vote.  She made some valid points in regards to former President Bill Clinton's Three Strikes Crime Bill, which led to the mass incarceration of black/brown/poor folks.  To be fair, Hillary was First Lady, and not the President of the United States.  She did not vote for or against the crime bill, but Bernie Sanders and The Congressional Black Caucus did.  It's not fair she be held responsible for the actions of others, including Bernie and the CBC.

 WASHINGTON -- With the switch of at least three votes, the Congressional Black Caucus made clear yesterday that it would come to President Clinton's rescue on the crime bill. 

After a meeting at the White House with Mr. Clinton, three Black Caucus members who had voted against bringing the $33 billion measure up for final House vote last week announced that they had succumbed to his appeals to save not only the crime bill but perhaps his presidency.

"He was selling his presidency, the party and the fact that we will not get a better bill than this," said Rep. Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who found Mr. Clinton persuasive. "Every step forward in a positive way renews the confidence the people have in the president."

Now that the Angry White Primaries are over it's time for the Angry Black Primary, and believe me Black folks are mad as hell.  We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.  It's going to take more than soundbites, photo ops,  coat tails, and endorsements, to earn our vote this time.  We are not going to be a firewall , nor will our votes be taken for granted, for either democratic candidate.  That said, either candidate is better than the alternative, but neither will be the democratic nominee without the black vote.

The fight over the African-American vote is central to any Democratic candidate getting elected,” said Todd Shaw, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina.
Though polls show Clinton has the overwhelming majority of the state’s black voters, Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said after New Hampshire, she needs a big win to sustain the notion that she has a wider appeal than Sanders.

Which brings me to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations', not to be confused with the Congressional Black Caucus, endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  Words matter.  The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is not the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is an American educational foundation. It conducts research on issues affecting African Americans, publishes a yearly report on key legislation, and sponsors issue forums, leadership seminars and scholarships. Although linked with theCongressional Black Caucus (CBC), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is a separate nonprofit group that runs programs in education, healthcare and economic development.
Established in 1976 by members of the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) began as a non-partisan research institute. Today, the Foundation is organized as a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy, research and educational institute with an office located near Dupont Circle inWashington, D.C., as well as a Board of Directors and two Advisory Councils. R. Donahue Peebles is the Chairperson of CBCF and A. Shuanise Washington is its president and chief executive officer.
Fundraising events and corporate partners support CBCF programs. The CBCF funds many of its activities by hosting an Annual Legislative Conference each September.[1] The Foundation often works with the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses, a group of wives and husbands of the African American members of the United States Congress.

The headline should read;   The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation endorses Hillary Clinton. See it's media enabled, GOP style stuff (for lack of a better word) like this, that turns me off.  That, and the fact the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation doesn't speak for the masses as is implies.

A New York Times article that investigated the caucus’s connections to corporate interests reported that from 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions.[2]
The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.[2]
In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records showed.[2]
The Dallas Morning News reported in August 2010 that congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson had awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children using foundation funds. The recipients were ineligible under anti-nepotism rules of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provided the money, and all of the awards violated a foundation requirement that scholarship winners live or study in a caucus member's district.[3]
The foundation's former chairman, Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said that neither the foundation nor the Congressional Black Caucus "will allow unethical behavior in the awarding of scholarships or any programs that are designed to benefit the community." [4]

Another reason the distinction is important is because member of the CBC PAC and some (not to be confused with all) black leaders who support Hillary Clinton slam Bernie Sanders on race issues. Implying Bernie Sanders didn't start supporting black folks until he wanted to be the President.  Well that's not factually correct.  Bernie Sanders filibustered the Sugar Coated Satan Sandwich, aka The Debt Ceiling  Compromise, and the Congressional Black Caucus, not to be confused with the Black Caucus Foundation, joined him.  

"You can call what I am doing today whatever you want, you it [sic] call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech," said Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. "I'm not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides."

"We are simply here to say that we want a fair deal," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.). "You know, there was the New Deal under Roosevelt, and then there was a Fair Deal under Truman. Every new deal is not necessarily fair, and we see this new deal as not necessarily fair."
Payne was joined by other members of the Congressional Black Caucus - considered President Obama's most loyal backers - who announced that the "vast majority" of caucus members would oppose the plan as it is currently drafted.

So no, EYE am not impressed, or moved, by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC's endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  As a matter of fact it's a turn off.   EYE am still undecided which candidate will get my vote in the democratic primary, but EYE will support the democratic nominee, because the alternative is terrifying.

Currently Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in Sweet Home Alabama, to be honest,  that worries me. How can a self described democratic socialist be leading in red, republican, Alabama?  EYE think it's more about hating Hillary than supporting Bernie.  If Bernie is the winner and carries Alabama, it will prove me wrong. If Hillary is the winner, and Alabama remains solidly conservative, it will prove me right.  Pun intended.

#BlackHistoryMonth2016


RedEye

#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.

"Republicans say no fixes need be made in gutted Voting Rights Act", so let's go to #Selma for Photo Op with President Obama

H/T The Progressive Cynic

Let's recap:

In the summer of 2013, in a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requiring that several whole states and parts of several others "pre-clear" any changes in their voting laws.

Let's go back to  Bloody Sunday

On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. They got only as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away, where state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma.

The events of “Bloody Sunday,”  led Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).

The voting rights bill was passed in the U.S. Senate by a 77-19 vote on May 26, 1965. After debating the bill for more than a month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 333-85 on July 9. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders present at the ceremony.
The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections (in 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections; poll taxes in state elections were banned in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme Court).

Fast forward to the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Rep. John Lewis said this year's 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march should reflect the dignity of the original event, which is why he arranged for President Obama to visit the day before local officials in Alabama hold their commemoration.
The result will be two marches in Selma — one on Saturday, March 7, with Obama, Lewis and a record number of congressional lawmakers, and one on Sunday, March 8, run by local leaders.
Local Alabama politicians have objected. They say the anniversary has always been held on a Sunday because March 7, 1965, when protesters marching for voting rights for blacks were clubbed and tear gassed by police, is known as Bloody Sunday.

Compromise Complete?

Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, one of the key proponents of the annual Selma events, said groups involved in planning the 50th anniversary of the historic day have agreed there would be one march this year and it would begin on the day it is traditionally held, Sunday.
Sanders said his initial concern was that there would be a march on Saturday or other competing marches.
"What I was trying to do was make sure the march on Sunday was sacred and that it is going on," said Sanders, who along with several other public officials raised the concerns in a State House news conference a month ago.

So what brings George W. Bush, and the GOP to #Selma after they've done everything they can do to keep minorities and women from voting?

Republicans have been working hard to drum up attendees for the Selma march. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. are not attending. Rep. Martha Roby, R-AL, said she is working to get more of the GOP to join her at the commemoration.
"My motivation is my love for the state and the importance and significance of this anniversary," Roby said in a recent interview. "I want as many of my colleagues (as possible) to be a part of that. The civil rights movement belongs to everybody. It's not a Republican or Democratic issue."

Mission Accomplished thanks to President Barack Obama and Representatives Terri Sewell and John Lewis.

Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham and GOP Rep. Martha Roby of Montgomery, are co-hosting the pilgrimage and helped recruit members to attend. Leaders in the Senate include Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tim Scott, R-S.C.
The organization's annual trip to Alabama is led by Alabama native and Democratic congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who was among those beaten during the 1965 march.
Lewis, in a recent interview, said he was happy to see greater interest from Republicans this year.

This bill will strike down restrictions to voting in all elections, federal, state and local, which have been used to deny Negroes the right to vote.

This bill will establish a simple, uniform standard which cannot be used, however ingenious the effort, to flout our Constitution. It will provide for citizens to be registered by officials of the United States Government, if the state officials refuse to register them. It will eliminate tedious, unnecessary lawsuits which delay the right to vote. Finally, this legislation will insure that properly registered individuals are not prohibited from voting. I will welcome the suggestions from all the members of Congress--I have no doubt - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/1965-president-lyndon-baines-johnson-voting-rights-act#sthash.76dsg6Zy.dpuf

 What a difference three years makes in Sweet Home Alabama.

This bill will strike down restrictions to voting in all elections, federal, state and local, which have been used to deny Negroes the right to vote.

This bill will establish a simple, uniform standard which cannot be used, however ingenious the effort, to flout our Constitution. It will provide for citizens to be registered by officials of the United States Government, if the state officials refuse to register them. It will eliminate tedious, unnecessary lawsuits which delay the right to vote. Finally, this legislation will insure that properly registered individuals are not prohibited from voting. I will welcome the suggestions from all the members of Congress--I have no doubt that I will get some--on ways and means to strengthen this law and to make it effective. - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/1965-president-lyndon-baines-johnson-voting-rights-act#sthash.76dsg6Zy.dpuf

Plans for Two Separate #Selma Bloody Sunday Marches Cancelled as Groups Unify! Mission Accomplished!

Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said Friday he had hoped President Barack Obama would move his planned visit to Selma from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 8 to better accommodate local commemorations of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Sanders was joined by (left to right) Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery; Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery; Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery and Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed.(Photo: Brian Lyman/Advertiser)

Hallelujah!  Organizers of the annual  Bridge Crossing Jubilee in #Selma, AL prevailed against an attempt by the largely White-run, Faith and Politics group, enabled by Rep. John Lewis (D. GA), to hijack Bloody Sunday for their own  partisan political gain.

The annual march, usually held on a Sunday in the first week of March, has been planned by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and others annually since the 1970s. Sanders and other leaders said they were blindsided by Obama's announcement -- made in conjunction with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. -- that the president would march on the anniversary date: March 7.

, and the largely White-run The Faith & Politics Institute, - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.S0qzrYOZ.dpuf

and the largely White-run The Faith & Politics Institute, - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.S0qzrYOZ.dpuf

Alabama's Black leaders and march organizers were right to be upset.

Sanders said there is a very specific reason for a Sunday march -- to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," that day on March 7, 1965, when state police beat marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.
The marchers were stopped on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and driven back. The incident was recently captured in the Paramount film, "Selma."
Sanders said it has always been especially poignant that the civil rights marchers were beaten on a Sunday.
The 1965 march, which was eventually successful later in March 1965, was seen as helping pass the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which invalidated state laws designed to keep blacks from voting.
Sanders said any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.

Ya think?  The end result, President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, but there will be no march.  The one and only march will take place on SUNDAY, March 8, 2015.

 “Senator Barack Obama came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday when he was seeking to be President. President Bill Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday on March 5, 2000, on the 35^th Anniversary. Vice President Joe Biden came to Selma in 2013 and marched on Bloody Sunday. Attorney General Eric Holder came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. They and so many others all recognized the sacredness of Bloody Sunday in their pilgrimages to Selma. Many leaders, civil rights and otherwise, have come to Bloody Sunday every single year for decades. Bloody Sunday is sacred. The Bloody Sunday March is sacred and cannot be aborted or redirected. It must be commemorated. It must be reenacted. It must be respected. It must be lifted. And it will on Sunday, March 8^th,” said Sen. Sanders.

The Bloody Sunday march is about something far greater than a presidential visit, rescheduling the observance to fit the schedule of a dignitary is unreasonable. State Sen. Hank Sanders, Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford and others who have stood firm on the scheduling should be commended.

Consider this your commendation.



One day when the Glory comes it will be ours....

The end result is that President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, the actual anniversary of the Bloody Sunday, but there will be no march in Selma that Saturday or in Montgomery on Sunday. - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.dpuf

Monday Morning Meltdown: #AlabamaMarriage #Selma #BloodySunday #BrianWilliams #WakeUpAmerica

#nerdland  Talking About Brian Williams Lying About His Iraq War, Let's Talk About LIARS!! THAT STARTED!! THE WAR!  pic.twitter.com/ewk5z0f3cr
— Larry  (@crazylary51) February 8, 2015

The media that enabled Bush and Dick to send our troops to war based on dead wrong intelligence to look for WMD that was NOT there, without body armor or an exit plan are furious at Brian Williams lies?  Oh. OK.

Politicians in Alabama never learn. It's Deja Voodoo all over again.

In the fight against gay marriage, Gov. Bentley, Attorney General Luther Strange and Chief Justice Roy Moore are a farce to be reckoned with.
Alabama's most powerful, brave and cuddly men are representing Alabama's best interests and fears by making a three-way stand in the courthouse door on an equal rights issue. What could go wrong?

 What's that you say?  President Obama's visit to Selma sparks division?  I'm shocked!  Shocked I tell you!  Not.

Sanders, who said he's marched on the front line only once in all the years he's helped organize the event, said he's happy Obama and the congressional delegation are coming to Selma.
"But if they couldn't have the entire front line to themselves and they decided to hold a separate march on Saturday, then there is something wrong with that," he said.

Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) Wetumpka Tea Party

The plot thickens.

Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, both Republicans, are busily recruiting colleagues to join the Faith and Politics Institute's pilgrimage to Alabama in March.
This week's march-related events in Washington include a Capitol Hill reception and a screening of the movie Selma exclusively for members of Congress. Lawmakers will receive personal, hand-delivered invitations to the march anniversary.

 It's the mainstream media, telling us what they want us to know instead of what we need to know to make informed decisions.  I wonder why?

After spending five months in the Shelby County Jail--I don't think I previously had even a speeding ticket on my record--I know about the dangers of taking on difficult stories.~Legal Schnauzer

Meltdown Complete.  For now.

This isn't the first time President Obama's used #Selma to divide us *Sigh*

H/T Media Matters for America

Let's recap.

The White House announced President Obama would be coming to Selma for a photo op, I mean to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday on Friday instead of Sunday, blindsiding march organizers, black elected officials, community activist, and foot soldiers.

Black elected officials called a press conference asking President Obama to participate in the annual Sunday march because any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.   Ya think?

Let's go back in time to SUNDAY (not to be confused with Saturday) March 4, 2007, and the infamous battle for the hearts and minds of black voters at the annual Bridge Crossing.

SELMA, Alabama (CNN) -- The top two Democratic presidential contenders fought Sunday for the support of African-American voters in a place infamous for a bloody clash between voting rights protesters and police.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spoke at events marking the 42nd anniversary of the 1965 Selma voting rights march, a turning point in the civil rights movement that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

How well I remember having to choose between standing in a mile long line to hear Hillary Clinton, or, standing in an even longer line to hear  Barack Obama, give dueling speeches at two churches just a block apart.

 Selma officials say they cannot remember a time where competing presidential candidates showed up at the same time for the event. The presence of both candidates shows just how competitive the race has gotten when it comes to the African-American vote — a key Democratic constituency.

So, candidate Obama came to Alabama on Bloody Sunday, but President Obama is coming to Selma on Saturday?  I wonder why?  I'm just speculating, but I think THIS is the reason President Obama chose not to participate in the Bloody SUNDAY march.

Alabama black leaders invited the Rev. Jesse Jackson to speak out regarding Bloody Sunday during today's press conference, as he was in town discussing voting rights.
Jackson said the Voting Rights Act is eroding in the South since the Supreme Court struck down Section 4.
This section of the act required Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia to get clearance from the federal government or federal court before changing its voting laws.
"The Voting Rights Act is under assault," he said.
That's why the 50^th anniversary of Bloody Sunday -- the march from Selma to Montgomery that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act -- can't be seen as just a celebration, but as a protest for the unprotected, Jackson said.

Again, I'm speculating, but it seems like to me our President wants to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody SUNDAY on Saturday with style, not substance.  We can't have the first African American President of the United States marching in a protest for the unprotected can we?  Snark

Right on cue, every time black elected officials dare criticize President Obama's actions, the media can be counted on to find a black face (yes I said it) to co-sign the division. 

While some black leaders in Alabama are speaking out against President Barack Obama's plans to visit on the actual anniversary date of the Bloody Sunday march, others are simply excited about his return to Selma, no matter the day.
"The President is coming to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this historic event and we are excited that he is coming to this area," Senate Minority Leader Quinton T. Ross Jr. (D-Montgomery) said in a written statement.

I don't know who the unnamed others are, but the majority of Alabamians agree with Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma) .  There is also the rumor the group Faith and Politics unilaterally decided to move the Bloody SUNDAY commemoration from Saturday to Sunday in order to have a celebration on Sunday in Montgomery at the same time the Bloody Sunday event takes place. 

unilaterally decided to move the Bloody Sunday commemoration from Sunday to Saturday in order to have a celebration in Montgomery on Sunday at the time the Bloody Sunday March always takes place. - See more at: http://www.blackpressusa.com/an-open-letter-to-president-barack-obama-from-alabama-state-senator-hank-sanders/#sthash.PcJr3rlr.dpuf

President Obama, the moment was sacred because blood was shed. The moment was sacred because the blood was shed on Sunday, a holy day for so many. The moment was sacred because the day, the blood and the struggle came together in that time and space. Bloody Sunday is sacred. - See more at: http://www.blackpressusa.com/an-open-letter-to-president-barack-obama-from-alabama-state-senator-hank-sanders/#sthash.PcJr3rlr.dpuf

President Obama, the moment was sacred because blood was shed. The moment was sacred because the blood was shed on Sunday, a holy day for so many. The moment was sacred because the day, the blood and the struggle came together in that time and space. Bloody Sunday is sacred. - See more at: http://www.blackpressusa.com/an-open-letter-to-president-barack-obama-from-alabama-state-senator-hank-sanders/#sthash.PcJr3rlr.dpuf

Don't get me wrong, I love President Obama, but it's not about him, it's about the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice of the men, women, and children who were on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody SUNDAY.

Candidate Obama came to Selma on Bloody SUNDAY.

President Obama should come to Selma on Bloody SUNDAY too.

Organizers of the annual Bridge Crossing in #Selma are upset President Obama is having a seperate but equal march on Friday to commemorate Bloody Sunday

Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said Friday he had hoped President Barack Obama would move his planned visit to Selma from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 8 to better accommodate local commemorations of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Sanders was joined by (left to right) Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery; Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery; Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery and Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed.(Photo: Brian Lyman/Advertiser)

 Let's recap.

The White House announced President Obama plans to visit #Selma on March 7, 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted under his administration, but I digress.  There is just one little problem....the organizers of the annual event are upset President Obama decided to come to #Selma on Friday, March 7, instead of  Sunday, March 8.  As a matter of fact, organizers didn't even know the President was planning to attend until they heard about it from via the media.  That's a nice way of saying he invited himself, which is fine, he is the President of the United States of America, but it seems like he's making it about politics and not about the substance of the annual occasion.

The annual march, usually held on a Sunday in the first week of March, has been planned by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and others annually since the 1970s. Sanders and other leaders said they were blindsided by Obama's announcement -- made in conjunction with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. -- that the president would march on the anniversary date: March 7.
Sanders said there is a very specific reason for a Sunday march -- to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," that day on March 7, 1965, when state police beat marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.
The marchers were stopped on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and driven back. The incident was recently captured in the Paramount film, "Selma."
Sanders said it has always been especially poignant that the civil rights marchers were beaten on a Sunday.
The 1965 march, which was eventually successful later in March 1965, was seen as helping pass the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which invalidated state laws designed to keep blacks from voting.
Sanders said any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.

You think?  I agree with what Hank Sanders said:

"We are always glad when the president comes, but the Bloody Sunday march is sacred," said Sanders, joined at the podium by Democratic Montgomery representatives Alvin Holmes, John Knight and Thad McClammy; Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed and Tuskegee mayor Johnny Ford. "It's sacred of that blood that was spilled on that Sunday . . . it's sacred because it's been commemorated every year, for 40-some years, and we intend that sacredness shall be preserved."

That's a nice way of saying you are hurting and not helping Mr. President Obama, Sir.

The anniversary date is something Sanders said the march organizers never focused on in their decades of commemoration. Instead, the march organizers focused on a Sunday march near the date of March 7.
And it's that tradition that people have planned around for the last year, Sanders said -- targeting March 8 for the 50th anniversary march. Sanders said Obama's announcement has thrown things into a state of confusion, and that people from all over the nation -- people with plans, reservations and travel schedules -- have been calling local organizers with questions.

Bloody Sunday is not about celebrating President Obama, it's about remembering the blood, sweat, tears, and personal sacrifice of those who suffered  and died so an African American could someday be elected President of the United States.  Selma is not about a photo op.  It's about HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in.

Now if President Obama is coming to Selma on Friday to pardon for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman that's another story....

I wonder why some white Alabamians are having a hard time separating fact from fiction in #Selma the movie?

No, I have not seen #Selma yet.  Am I going to see the movie?  I haven't decided.  As someone who lived through those dark difficult days I'm not anxious to relive them.  Yes, I know it's fiction based on factual history, but I don't know If I can relive the horror, the fear, the terrorism, the injustice, and the brutality all over again.  It's just to painful, and I don't want to be bitter, for lack of a better word. 

Evidently some (not to be confused with all) white Alabamians are finding the movie hard to watch too.  Poor George Wallace Jr., and Cecil Williamson, Selma City Council Vice-President are in a state of denial and can't separate fact from fiction.  According them the movie is full of inaccuracies and Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt needlessly changed history in order to tell what was an already compelling story in "Selma."

What inaccuracies are they talking about?  They are the ones, enabled by the white male dominated media,  trying to rewrite history. 

Here is a reminder of the shock and shame of Alabama history for those who were there, and a lesson for those who weren't there. Watch, read, listen, and learn.

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it"  Edmund Burke

#Ferguson: "These people want a lynching"

@wewillnotbebeat @RedEyesPage @mechtild5 @GovJayNixon @Watchdogsniffer #Ferguson @OpFerguson pic.twitter.com/oBrOyBumrB
— INLady-Dem (@INLadyDem) November 21, 2014

Fox Nation Readers Want to Kill Ferguson Protestors

Fox Nation editor and O’Reilly Factor producer Jesse Watters has some ‘splaining to do about the racist, murderous comments we found on Fox Nation about Ferguson protesters. And then tell us again about how black people complaining about racism is “old, tired rhetoric.”
Aria found 42 extremely disturbing comments earlier this week. 
Some were on this thread with the inflammatory title, "Rep. John Lewis Calls for 'Massive, Non-Violent Protests' Nationwide if Wilson Isn't Indicted." This is the same John Lewis that Bill O'Reilly and Bernard Goldberg recently chided for being too civil rights-y.

Psst President Obama, protestors aren't the ones using Ferguson as an excuse for violence, Sir.  

The protests have been peaceful and the fact is civilians aren't the ones perched atop armored vehicles with military rifles, clad in riot gear firing rubber coated bullets and making violent arrests -- that's law enforcement.

If you believe that federal officials must protect peaceful protestors from local, county and state law enforcement then take action and demand that President Barack Obama and A.G. Eric Holder do everything in their power to keep peaceful protesters safe from a militarized crackdown following the indictment decision: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/mikebrownpresobama/

And so we wait to see if The United States of America is the the land of the free and the home of the brave, or the land of the suppressed and the oppressed.

Here we go again, It must have been "the tone and tenor" of something I said.

 

First I was banned from the AL.com forum because I opposed George W. Bush's policies, especially the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Then I was banned from Left in Alabama because I didn't support Artur Davis for Governor of Alabama.

 Next I was banned from The Attack Machine for defending the feckless leader of a failed party.  Now I've been "un" friended (yes I know that's not a word)  by a friend on face book and removed from their Yahoo group because I stood up for Dr. Joe Reed and Nancy Worley. Sigh

The funny thing is it's OK for them to attack  Reed and Worley and accuse them of corruption, racism,  bigotry and everything else under the sun, but when I defend or rebut the charges  made against them I'm attacking democrats and being divisive.

There is a lot of misinformation being spread that needs to be cleared up.  The Alabama Democratic Party isn't in debt because Joe Reed is borrowing and spending money like there is no tomorrow.  Most of the debt stemmed from elections before Kennedy’s tenure and from former Gov. Don Siegelman’s failed drive for a state lottery in 1999.

It's not true no one wants to lead the Alabama Democratic Party because they don't want to bow down to Joe Reed.

 Birmingham attorney Ed Gentle had sought the chairmanship, but Worley said Gentle decided not to take the post on a judge’s advice because of his work as a special master in a couple of cases involving politics.

It's not true  donors won't contribute to the ADP as long as Joe Reed is in control with no accountability.

“I can tell you we are broke, but today I’ll remove two of the brokes,” Worley said.
Worley said some donors stepped up "to keep the doors open for the party" and the rent is now paid through June at the party headquarters in Montgomery.
“We are working the bills down as we can get money,” Worley said.
Worley said about half of the party's $500,000 debt dates back to the 1999 lottery referendum when the party spent considerable funds on get out the vote efforts.

I could care less about being banned from the AL.com forum and The Attack Machine because I expect them to close their eyes, ears, and mind, to people who don't agree with them, and you would think I would learn by now real  friends respect each others opinions and treat them as  equals. 

 I've discovered a disturbing pattern in all of this...don't like what I'm saying, ,on't  want to heari it.........shut me out   and maybe I will go away.  If that doesn't work.....  shut you down, or worse. 

I still believe we should test the theory that all will magically be right (pun intended) and white men will flock back to the party, a new generation of leaders will emerge, candidates will run for office, and donors will dig deep into their pockets  if the Alabama Democratic Party got rid of Joe Reed and his bunch.

While the ADP is destroying it's on the Roberts Court is poised to strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. I'm going to say as an African American I feel like I'm under attack not only by the republicans, but the democrats too.   Republicans don't want us to vote,  and some democrats (not confused with all) don't want us to have any power.  What to do and where to go?

In any event I'm through with the ADP vs ADM psycho drama and moving on to something important.
Black leaders plan caravan in support of Voting Rights Act.

The National Coalition of Leaders to Save Section 5 announced on Tuesday that Farrakhan would join them for a June 14 caravan and pilgrimage that will stop at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, at the Shelby County courthouse in Columbiana, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and conclude with a 4 p.m. event at the state Capitol in Montgomery.

The caravan will start at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama  where four little girls were killed when a bomb exploded during Sunday school class, in the state where their killer died after serving 6 months in prison, and the 85 year old father of one of those girls is serving time in prison convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 2007 for his role in the Jefferson County sewer scandal.

I wouldn't want to see/hear/think about stuff like this either.

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to 'Comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable' one blog post at a time.

 

Free-Don Siegelman Sunday

U.S. Representative John Lewis (left) and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth lead a group on a tour of Kelly Ingram Park. Congress members toured the park in Birmingham during the annual civil rights event on March 8, 2003. (Jeremy Bales/The Birmingham News)

"Don't give up. Don't give out. Don't give in." Congressman John Lewis, in Huntsville today, reflecting on 50 years of the Civil Rights Movement.~Fist dap JB

Troy Alabama native, and Civil Rights hero, Congressman John Lewis (D. GA) came to town last weekend as part of the  Huntsville/Madison County Public Library Black History Program.  If you were unable to attend the event as I was and you  had to depend on The Huntsville Times for information, you would learn he was introduced by the Mayor, presented a key to city, Lewis said "We're one people; one family",  received a standing ovation, and everyone joined hands to sing We Shall Overcome Someday.

Supporters of former Governor Don Siegelman aren't giving out, giving in, or giving up. Following the event, activist Pam Miles,  and Siegleman's son Joseph approached Congressman Lewis with a folder of letters written on Governor Siegleman's behalf  which the Congressman promised to deliver to the President, in addition to writing one of his own.  I have renewed hope, wrote Miles.

Daughter Dana Siegelman is not giving out, giving in, or giving up either, she is Mobilizing for Freedom, inviting people to join them on March 3, in Selma Alabama in commemoration of Bloody Sunday, where Congressman Lewis had his head bashed by Alabama State Troopers,  one of the Civil Rights Movement's most extraordinary examples of perseverance and not giving up on freedom.

Former Governor Don Siegelman is not giving out, giving in, or giving up despite being in prison for over 400 days for being too Liberal for Alabama.

He is strong; he is charismatic; he is positive, but he is extremely disappointed. It is not the separation, which hurts him, for he is closer to his family than ever. It is not the lack of freedom, which causes him grief, for he cherishes the time he has to work on his book, coach the young men around him, read, and grow spiritually. He is not crippled by the fact that he has spent more than a year in prison, he is burdened by the greater injustice that surrounds him - the use of the justice system as a political weapon, concealed, quiet, and effective. He wants change.

Justice delayed is Justice Denied.

Today's Black History Must Read

 On this day, 45 years ago, three men were killed and 27 were wounded on the campus of South Carolina State College in a violent series of events that would become known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

"Ain't gonna let nobody turn us around" Voting Rights Photo Blog

Young students march for voter rights and are placed under arrest in Selma Alabama 

In a discussion with my favorite Righty's about the republican plan to steal the 2012 election I posed the following question:

 What do republicans think is going to happen on election day when voters show up at the polls to vote for President of the United States of America and are told they can't vote this time because they don't have a government issued Photo ID card?  Do they expect them to say Oh OK and turn around and go home like good little boys and girls?

I don't think so.

What will our government do on election day when all hell breaks lose because millions of Americans are told they won't be allowed to vote for the President of the United States of America because they don't have a government issued Photo ID card?

Call the police?

Yep, that will look real good on televisions sets around the world, the United States of America, that beacon of freedom and democracy beating, jailing and possibly killing it's own people for trying to vote for President of the United States of America.

That sounds like something an evil dictator would do. Snark

The RIGHT to vote is sacred to African Americans.  It is steeped in the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice of Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Viola Luizzio, Jimmie Lee Jackson, John Lewis, Denise McNair,CaroleRobertson,  and countless unsung Heroes and Sheroes.  

If the Grand Old Party thinks they are going to turn us around, and the struggle we went through to get those rights be in vain, as the young people say...... "They better ask somebody".  

We ain't going to let NOBODY turn around our RIGHT to vote around.  Note all the violence is being perpetrated by whites against blacks, not the other way around, so don't get it twisted and try and paint the the Civil Rights Movement or the "rhetoric" as violent.

Our troops fought died and were maimed for life so the Iraqi people could have fair and free elections, remember?  If the Iraqi people don't need a photo ID to vote why do we, the American people, who  sacrificed our blood and treasure for them need one?

I sure do miss the good old days when we had Fair and Free Elections in America too!