A Race-Hustling, We Shall Go!

Via Billy

 

AL
VERBATIM

Thanks to those who raise their voices for justice and dignity

President Obama, in spite of his impeccable academic and moral credentials, has been called "ignorant," "a thug," "lazy" and a "dope feign." Sounds familiar? It sounds like the description assigned to Trayvon and a million other men of his hue. The Zimmerman Jury revealed the cancer of white supremacy that continues to cripple American democracy. Zimmerman put a bullet in the heart of Trayvon Martin. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the words of Congressman John Lewis, "put a dagger in the heart of the Voting Rights Act."

The election of President Obama, our first African American President, ushered in a wave of naked and blatant racism that is painfully reminiscent of the violent era of southern American History.

Millions of people have voiced their outrage! Some of these voices were raised here in Selma. It is time to say "thank you" to the people who have raised their voices for justice and dignity! This editorial is long overdue. I write it because it has not been written. I write to thank local people who had the courage to join voice of reason, justice and democracy.

Selma's Alecha Irby and her twin sister Carnesha Irby are amazing young women. They organized three demonstrations to protest the Zimmerman verdict. The nation watched thousands of people respond to Reverend Al Sharpton's call for protest last Saturday. The local media refused to acknowledge the protests in Selma, organized by Alecha. While on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, she stopped a woman from committing suicide and called 911. Thank you Alecha. We also thank the people who followed your courageous leadership.

We also thank the African American City Council officials who passed resolutions in support of justice for Trayvon and the Voting Rights Act. They also stopped Cecil, Susan, and Bjelke's efforts to give the Daughters of the Confederacy an acre of land to place a monument of a white supremacist on public land. Placing a monument to the first grand wizard of of the Klan would gives credence to white supremacy and the ungodly nature of the Klan and the "Wrong Wing". Thank you Crenshaw, Bowie, Randolph, Johnson and Benjamin for standing up for justice, dignity and righteousness. For the first time in years, I feel that justice can live in Selma!

I would also like to thank Dr. James Mitchell, president of the local community college named after a man that created an atmosphere of hate culminating in the deaths of four girls inside Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and two boys outside the church. As we commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of these acts of domestic terror, it's good to have a man named James Mitchell using excellence and vision transforming a college bearing the name of George Wallace. Last week, Dr. Shabaz of the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Joyce King of the University of Georgia, and Dr. Robert White of Alabama State University lead two days of workshops that inspired and informed area teachers to infuse black history into the subjects they teach. The Tuskegee Ensemble Theater performed the musical, "Tuskegee Rising" which teared-up many in the auditorium. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell, for bringing these events to your campus!

Thank you people of Selma and the Black Belt who continue to fight for justice and democracy for all of us! Hopefully, Susan Keith, Greg Bjelke, Benny Tucker, and Cecil Williamson will one day see the light that reveals the real meaning of the Declaration of Independence!   

Faya Toure
Selma