Memorial Day 2015, just like Memorial Day 2014. Same Stuff, Different Year

 The Memorial Day History Forgot.

Medgar Evers survived WWII, only to be murdered fighting for democracy and human rights when he returned to the U.S.  Evers fought for voting rights and investigated/exposed the murders of African Americans such as Emmett Till, Clinton Melton, and many more. To honor his memory and sustain his legacy, teach about Megar Evers and the many other war veterans who were killed when they returned, most often for trying to vote.

The simple white marble headstones lined up in rows across Arlington National Cemetery are arranged without regard to rank, gender, branch of military or race. The cemetery however began in a time of slavery, through segregation and discrimination. Many of the men and women buried in Arlington National Cemetery broke through barriers and boundaries to become the first of their race to reach certain military accomplishments. - See more at: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/black-history-of-arlington-national-cemetery/#sthash.H4jeJ5Nm.dpuf

Fast forward to #MemorialDay2015:  Cleveland Police arrest African American protesters for protesting.

The protesters had largely been orderly as they marched around downtown and into several nearby neighborhoods after the acquittal of Police Officer Michael Brelo was announced this morning.
As police drove the protesters away from the East Fourth area, people cheered the officers from the Euclid Avenue sidewalks, many recording the action.

So this is the land of the free and the home of the brave....

 When you celebrate Memorial Day, raise a fist for John Sims. Thank him for speaking his mind and expressing his beliefs. The Confederate flag is a symbol of white supremacy and the years of suffering of black people, and that lingering hope of some that we will return to toiling in the cotton fields, and swinging from the poplar trees if we get too uppity. This is the N-word on a pole. If America had its own version of the Nazi swastika, this would be it.

Happy Memorial  Day.  It's like Deja Vu all over again.

I write this post in honor and in memory of my paternal grand father who fought overseas in World War 2  then returned to the Jim Crow south to teach at what was known then as the Veterans Continuation School (pre GI Bill), a federal program designed for veterans returning home from the war to continue their education. He and my paternal grandmother taught classes at night and received a stipend. One of the classes they taught was how to pass the Literacy test. My grandparents were exempt from paying the $2.00 poll tax and allowed to vote because they were teachers at the school. So you see, even though my paternal grandfather was a WW2 veteran he didn't have the full rights and privileges he'd risked life and limb fighting for overseas.

 RedEye

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Medgar Evers

 

Once Upon a Time in America

Fifty years ago today Medgar Evers was gunned down by a white supremacist. His crime? 

Bit by bit, Evers cultivated community resistance against inequity. He made bumper stickers, led protests and investigated vigilante violence, such as the murder of Emmett Till.
As Evers’ accomplishments grew, so did the determination of white supremacists to stop him. On the night of June 12, a member of the White Citizens’ Council shot Evers in the back as he walked from his car to his home. The murder took place just hours after President Kennedy had given a powerful speech supporting civil rights.
Evers’ death was but one violent act among many committed by segregationists who were set on stopping the movement. Community organizers acknowledged the danger, but continued to build the movement at the local level. In so doing, they ultimately overcame this violent opposition. Their individual courage made universal change possible.

Ironically the Roberts Court is poised to strike down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act Evers and others lost their lives fighting for  any day now.  Even more ironic is the fact the case was bought before the court on  behalf of  Shelby County Alabama  ,which happens to be represented by none other than Alabama State  Senator Scott (Aborigines) Beason.

Shelby County is involved in a United States Supreme Court case in the current session challenging the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Shelby County’s argument is one, essentially, of equal protection. While emphasizing the progress the South has made, they further the argument that if every district is not covered by Section Five’s preclearance requirement, none can be. Mr. Rein, the attorney for Shelby County, argues that the formula of the 1965 VRA deciding which States to cover is not tailored to today’s situation—that it was a formula made for 1965, and should therefore not be applied today. Essentially, that Shelby County should be left alone to do run their elections however they wish in their own backyard.

Well, we all know how that will turn out .

Well, I’m going to be real honest with you: The Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9 to 1 for Democrats.

 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and others are planning a caravan across Alabama on June 14 to encourage the U.S. Supreme Court to save a major portion of the Voting Rights Act.

Black History Links I Love

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to give the beginning of Black History Month the time and attention it deserves, so grab your favorite beverage and settle down for some Little Known (and some known) Black History.

Fifty Years ago, Mississippi Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers was gunned down in his driveway in Jackson Mississippi.  His crime?  Registering black people to vote.  Over thirty years later, his killer was finally bought to justice.  

Today is the 10 anniversary of the Space Shuttle Colombia disaster that claimed the lives Astronaut Michael P. Anderson, Laurel Clark, IIan Ramon, Rick Husband, Kaplana Chawla, William McCool, and David M. Brown.

Meet Senator Mo Cowan (D. MA),  the second black senator to serve the state since Senator Edward William Brooks (R. MA).

Thanks to the mainstream media, Reverend Jeremiah Wright is known as President Obama's former pastor,   famous for saying God Damn America.  Before he was President Obama's pastor he was active in the Civil Rights movement.
 
Must See Lifetime Television Betty and Coretta "They may have killed our husbands Betty but they didn't kill their ideas."

 Focusing on the extraordinary women behind the two men who would change history, "Betty & Coretta" tells the similar true stories of Coretta Scott King (Angela Bassett), wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Malik Yoba), and Dr. Betty Shabazz (Mary J. Blige), wife of Malcolm X (Lindsay Owen Pierre). When their husbands were tragically assassinated, these two women not only inherited the mantle of the civil rights movement in America, each also found herself to be a single mother who had to find a way to raise and support her children with no husband or father, resulting in a relationship like no other that spanned more than three decades.

Let us March on until Victory is won

"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!

Why we must fight like hell to protect the right to vote today.

 

H/T Ivan Ivanovich Renko via Jack and Jill Politics

Getting a check cashed is not a right.
Driving a car is not a right.
Getting into the club is not a right.
Buying a mojito is not a right.

When there appears to be the very least chance of interference with their 2nd amendment rights, wingnuts go pluperfect crazy.  Why the hell shouldn't we raise hell to protect our more fundamental rights--THE fundamental rights--of citizens of this republic?

This is why we must fight to protect our vote today.

This is why we must fight to protect our vote tomorrow.

This is why we must protect the right to vote forever!

Today's Must Read

The right to vote today.  The right to vote tomorrow.  The right to vote forever.