Op-Ed

Continuing the Selma-to-Montgomery March

Published

9 years ago

March 16, 2015

By Marian Wright Edelman
NNPA Columnist

Fifty years ago I traveled from Mississippi to Selma, Ala. on March 21, 1965 to join Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and thousands of fellow citizens marching the 54 miles to the steps of the state’s capitol in Montgomery.

Millions of Americans now know about this march thanks to the movie “Selma” and the recent 50th anniversary celebration. Selma was the site of a courageous voting rights campaign by Black citizens that was met by brutal Southern Jim Crow law enforcement and citizen violence. The nation was shocked two weeks earlier when John Lewis and Hosea Williams set out on a nonviolent march with a group of 600 people toward Montgomery to demand their right to vote and were brutally attacked by lawless state and local law enforcement officials at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The televised images of “Bloody Sunday” and the savage beatings of the marchers – including Congressman Lewis whose skull was fractured – were a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement and in America’s struggle to become America. It provoked the thousands of us (ultimately about 25,000) who came together later to finish the march, safer thanks to U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.’s order that we had a right to peaceful protest and with federalized Alabama National Guard protection. And we were buoyed by President Johnson’s March 15, 1965 address calling on Congress to pass what became the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In that speech – “The American Promise” – President Johnson said: “This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: ‘All men are created equal’—‘government by consent of the governed’—‘give me liberty or give me death.’”

President Johnson also said: “Should we defeat every enemy, should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation.”

Fifty years later, speaking at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, President Obama echoed the same themes: “[Selma is] the manifestation of a creed written into our founding documents… These are not just words. They’re a living thing, a call to action, a roadmap for citizenship and an insistence in the capacity of free men and women to shape our own destiny.”

The first Selma march was planned not only to gain the right to vote but to protest the tragic death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old Black church deacon and Vietnam veteran killed in Marion, Ala. when he, his mother, sister, and 82-year-old grandfather attended another nonviolent voting rights demonstration where marchers were brutally attacked by racist Alabama law enforcement officials who broke it up.

Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot and beaten trying to shield his grandfather from a police nightstick. What a terrible irony that in this year of celebration of the Selma marches we are witnessing the resurgence of overt law enforcement brutality and injustice in Ferguson, Cleveland, New York City, and elsewhere, reminding us how far we still have to go.

Each of us has a responsibility to root it out and stop it in its tracks. Each American must remember and help America remember that the fellowship of human beings is more important than the fellowship of race and class and gender in a democratic society. Each of us has a personal responsibility to be decent and fair and insist that others be so in our presence.

Don’t tell, laugh at, or tolerate racial, ethnic, religious, or gender jokes—or any practices intended to demean rather than enhance another human being. Walk away from them. Stare them down. Make them unacceptable in our presence and in our institutions. Through daily moral consciousness each of us has a responsibility to counter the proliferating voices of racial and moral and ethnic and religious division that are regaining respectability over our land. Let’s face up to rather than ignore our growing racial problems that are America’s historical and future Achilles’ heel unless addressed firmly and courageously.

Let us all stand up right now to all those in our Congress, statehouses, and across our country who are trying to take away and suppress the right to vote and who are refusing to honor the sacrifice of all those who died to gain this fundamental American right. Shame on them and shame on us if we don’t act to insist that Congress renew the Voting Rights Act without a minute’s more delay.

And shame on us if we do not stand up to all those who seek to turn the clock of racial progress backwards by denying equal justice under the law for all. We still have so far to go in our march to make America America—but we must march forward and never backwards.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.

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Commentary

Commentary: Kamala’s Convention Is High Energy Show of Unity

“This is going to be a great week,” Vice President Kamala Harris declared in an unexpected early appearance that brought down the house on day one of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was already an emotional night after Jesse Jackson in a wheelchair was brought out in front of the crowd to cheers. The man who ran for president twice in the 80’s behind a rainbow coalition, didn’t speak. But his presence was all that was needed to let us know how far we’ve come.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of KamalaHarris.com

By Emil Guillermo

It was already an emotional night after Jesse Jackson in a wheelchair was brought out in front of the crowd to cheers. The man who ran for president twice in the 80’s behind a rainbow coalition, didn’t speak. But his presence was all that was needed to let us know how far we’ve come.

Harris, the country’s first Asian and Black woman ever to be vice president, by the end of the week would become the first woman to be nominated as the standard bearer for the Democratic Party.

But she knew she had to honor the man who made it possible. Jackson? No, Joe Biden.

“I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible President Joe Biden,” said Harris, who thanked the president for his leadership and lifetime of service, which includes stepping aside more than four weeks ago.

But first, Harris looked at the diverse crowd and promised them that “this November, we will come together and declare with one voice, as one people, we are moving forward with optimism, hope and faith so guided by our love of country, knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us.”

It was a mini “anti-politics of division” speech, policy be damned, give me joyful rhetoric. It set the tone for the huge convention crowd that responded with the kind of energy we haven’t seen since the Obama years.

And then we waited more than two hours for the Democrats to send out Joe Biden.

BIDEN’S FAREWELL

Was this some left-handed honor?

If political conventions are really TV shows, Joe Biden didn’t even make prime time on his own night. On the west coast maybe, but in the east, he was on after the late news.

It’s the way the last five weeks have gone for Biden, wrestling with the notion he’s past his prime.

Or maybe the lateness was intentional to show everyone, all his detractors, the ones who deftly pushed him to the side, that a Joe Biden “in full” could still go nearly 50 minutes at the top of his game.

After an emotional introduction from his daughter Ashley (“He’s still my best friend,” she said), Biden was wide awake for this moment, setting the record straight about what he’s done and what he’s yet to do.

He saved his ire for Donald Trump, the man who, as Biden said, promised infrastructure, but “never built a damn thing.”

Maybe his own ego?

And all while being the man who would destroy our nation.

“He’ll be a dictator on day one, his words,” Biden said with zeal. “This sucker means it.”

It was an energized Biden, who had a few stumbles, but no one cared. He laughed it off. We all did, unlike the last few months when each word was scrutinized through an ageist filter.

But here he was more than functional and powerful, and about to let it all go.

I’m sure it made some people wonder that if this Biden had appeared at that June 27 debate, we’d be having a totally different convention this week.

“I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you for 50 years,” Biden confessed. He recollected how he was too young to be in the Senate because he wasn’t 30 yet, but now he was “too old to stay as president.”

That got a little laugh.

“But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you,” Biden said. “I can honestly say, I’m more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States Senator.”

And with that, he made peace with his destiny.

Biden went from being “the” guy, to “the guy who kept the presidential door ajar,” so that Kamala Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman, could go forward and through.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator on race, media, culture, and politics. See his secret podcast on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. Contact: www.amok.com

Oakland Post

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California Black Media

Opinion – Kamala Harris: Imagining What Can Be, Unburdened by What Has Been

As we enter the final 90 day stretch of what will likely be the most bizarre presidential election cycle in modern American history, the two leading candidates for president of the United States have staked out very interesting communications strategies. Trump is being Trump. He remains true to his persona, with his supporters admiring his actions while his detractors only seeing flaws. On the other hand, Harris has deployed a cunning strategy of deceit and avoidance. And with the aid of her allies in the press, has been able to seamlessly shift her stance on key policy issues from immigration to healthcare without batting an eyelash.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Craig J. DeLuz. Courtesy of Craig J. DeLuz

By Craig J. DeLuz, Special to California Black Media Partners

Trump is being Trump. He remains true to his persona, with his supporters admiring his actions while his detractors only seeing flaws. On the other hand, Harris has deployed a cunning strategy of deceit and avoidance. And with the aid of her allies in the press, has been able to seamlessly shift her stance on key policy issues from immigration to healthcare without batting an eyelash.

The most striking aspect of this strategy is the campaign’s consistent mischaracterization of Donald Trump’s stances. Rather than engaging in a reputable and respectful exchange of ideas, the Harris camp has resorted to vilifying and maligning Trump, often resorting to gross exaggerations and blatant untruths. Despite Trump’s repeated assurances that he does not support cuts to social security benefits, Harris insists that he intends to slash these programs. She also fabricates claims that he seeks a nationwide abortion ban, disregarding his clear statements that he does not support such a ban and that the decision should be left to individual states. Additionally, Harris boasts about her tough stance on border security, despite over 10 million illegal crossings at the southern border during her tenure as “Border Czar” in the Biden-Harris administration

Furthermore, Harris’ deliberate avoidance of media interviews and her reluctance to answer questions is an alarming and dubious tactic. Harris’ most recent sit-down interview was nearly two months ago on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, where she discussed the Roe v. Wade anniversary. Since then, the public witnessed Joe Biden’s cognitive decline on national television, an assassination attempt on Trump’s life, the Republican National Convention, Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, and Harris’ nomination as the Democratic candidate; all newsworthy events that were seemingly unworthy of commentary. In fact, the only question she has answered recently was when she would do an interview, to which she responded, “before the end of the month.” In an era where information is easily accessible and voters demand transparency from their leaders, avoiding the media is both counterproductive and undemocratic. By limiting her interactions with the media, Harris is cherry-picking her audience and attempting to control the narrative, instead of engaging in open and honest communication with all Americans.

However, the most concerning aspect of Harris’ communications strategy is her frequent reversals on crucial issues. She was in favor of banning fracking before she was against it. Her stance on single-payer healthcare has been fluid and uncertain. And just recently, she launched a multi-state ad campaign presenting herself as an immigration hardliner, committed to securing our southern border, despite previously claiming that it was already secure. On multiple occasions, Harris has changed her position, often depending on the political climate or her audience.

Kamala Harris carefully crafted her communication strategy. Through her campaign, Kamala Harris is truly “Imagining what can be, unburdened by what has been.”

About the Author

Craig J. DeLuz has almost 30 years in public policy and advocacy. He currently hosts a daily news and commentary show called The RUNDOWN. You can follow him on X at @CraigDeLuz.

Oakland Post

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Black History

Opinion: Sha’Carri, H.E.R., and Kamala’s Olympian Dash to the Presidency

I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line. (Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts). I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Harris-Walz Campaign.

By Emil Guillermo

I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line.

(Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts).

I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.

My favorite moment — even more than the wild Stephen Curry three that nailed the gold in men’s basketball–was the Women’s 4×100 relay and Sha’Carri Richardson. Far behind, as she got the baton for the anchor leg, Richardson was magic in motion. With a phenomenal burst of speed, she made up the lost ground in seconds. But it was her glance back at the smoked competition as she crossed the finished line that got me.

Unforgettable.

To top it off was the closing ceremony that included H.E.R., singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” our country’s national anthem. It was H.E.R. representing all of us — the Asian American Filipino/African American pop star a/k/a Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson of Vallejo, Calif.

She was the face of America, welcoming the next games to our nation where in 2028, the entire country will be closer to what California already is, a minority-majority state. Seeing the multiracial singer was the extension of an ideal theme that a world where people have a love interest in one another, will get along with each other.

It’s the hope of a world at peace beyond the Olympic zone.

KAMALA IN THE BAY AREA FOR $13 MILLION

As the closing ceremonies were relayed from Paris, another biracial icon was continuing her Olympian sprint to the presidency. Kamala Harris was back in the Bay Area to share her campaign joy with rich homies.

At the Fairmount in San Francisco, the tickets ranged from $3,300 to up to $500,000 — a sliding scale for the well-heeled. Far from the $5 dollar internet pitches that end up in your inbox daily.

There were some who gladly paid at the low-end forgoing a vacation to support a historic run to save democracy. Nearly 700 attendees offering up more than $13 million were reported on the inside, including high tech folks and politicos like attorney general Rob Bonta.

Outside of the event, Harris also drew the same type of Pro-Gaza protestors who have dogged her at events in Las Vegas and Detroit. “Killer Kamala, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” was the chant, according to reports.

The protestors accuse Israel of genocide against the Palestinians but hold the Biden/Harris administration just as accountable for the tens of thousands who have died in Gaza.

Harris never saw the protestors on Nob Hill. But she saw them in Detroit, where she let the protestors have their First Amendment right, and then spoke directly them.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said to cheers from supporters who drowned out the protestors.

It was as tough and as candid as Harris has been on any issue since she began her campaign.

For now, she is the joyful, feelgood Kamala, raising millions, staying on message, and “moving forward not backward.”

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See him on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. Or at www.amok.com