National

Hundreds In NYC Greet Civil Rights Legend Amelia Boynton Robinson

Published

9 years ago

June 24, 2015

Oakland Post

Amelia Boynton Robinson (center) flanked by Xavier and Annette Eikerenkoetter (Photo by Herb Boyd)

By Herb Boyd
Special to the NNPA

NEW YORK (NNPA) – At 103, Amelia Boynton Robinson may be bound and physically limited by a wheelchair, but her spirit, inspiration and memories are as fresh and rewarding as they were during the height of the Civil Rights Movement when her legend was born. For almost an hour recently at the United Palace House of Inspiration in Washington Heights, Robinson regaled an attentive audience with stories about the brutal experiences she endured when she was among those mercilessly attacked in Selma, Ala. in 1965.

Several members absorbed in her recounting of those days had seen the film “Selma” and how marvelously Lorraine Toussaint had portrayed Robinson, but to hear those moments retold by the woman who had survived the blows and to see actual film footage and stills projected on the screen behind her, the incidents conveyed a more powerful reality.

After the church’s spiritual director Xavier Eikerenkoetter, the son of the famous Rev. Ike, asked her to recall the march on Selma and “Bloody Sunday,” she began telling how she and others were beaten by the state troopers. “As I stepped aside from the troopers club, I felt a blow on my neck and my arm,” she said. “It could have injured me permanently if it had landed on my head. Another blow by a trooper as I was gasping for breath knocked me to the ground and there I lay unconscious.

“One of them shot tear gas over me, but the plastic rain cap saved my life because it had slipped down over my face and protected me from the worse fumes. One of the troopers said, ‘She’s dead.’ And they were told to drag me to the side of the road.” While she recounted the terrible scene, photos of it flashed on the screen as well as stills from the documentary Eyes on the Prize.

In one of them Robinson is seen sprawled on the ground and in the arms of a young man who had come to her rescue. “The cry went out for ambulances to come over the [Edmund Pettus] bridge and pick up the wounded and those thought to be dead, but Sheriff [Jim] Clark dared them to cross the bridge…I’m not going to call any ambulance for anybody! Let the buzzards eat ’em!”

But he finally relented, she said, after he was told that there may be a bloody retaliation and that he might be the first one. “I was told later that I was taken to the church after being given first aid on the way, but when I didn’t respond I was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital.

“When I regained consciousness I wondered where I was, but then I remembered the voice through the bullhorn, the gas being shot, and then the men with gas masks,” she related.

It took several years for her to fully recover from a beating that almost left her dead. Her once melodious voice was damaged by the gas, a voice that is no less commanding and urgent nowadays. Eikerenkoetter asked her about hatred, Sheriff Clark and why she attended his funeral in 2007.

“First of all, you can can’t be happy and have hate,” she answered. “…I went to Jim Clark’s funeral with two other friends and we were the only Blacks there. I wanted to prove to the people that I have no malice.” It was her religious background that informed her that Clark was one of God’s children and was not responsible for the hate in his heart.

“God’s love is the answer,” she repeated several times before demanding that all the young people over 18 to register and vote, something to which she had devoted much of her remarkable life. “A vote less people is a hopeless people,” she stated.

Eikerenkoetter and his associates, including a stage full of talented musicians, as they had done from the beginning of the ceremony, celebrated her with song. There were also proclamations from several political leaders, including one from Mayor Bill de Blasio cited Robinson’s tireless efforts and sacrifices for freedom and equality.

The long line of people invited to the stage to share a moment, a photograph with Robinson was indicative of the love she extended. And her additional blessings are readily available in her autobiography, Bridge Across Jordan, published by the Schiller Institute, a book that Coretta Scott King believed was “an important contribution to the history of the black freedom struggle.”

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

1 day ago

November 1, 2024

Oakland Post

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New Filing: Trump’s Attempts to Overturn 2020 Election Were Part of Private Scheme, Not Official Acts

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Jack Smith during a statement regarding the indictment of Donald J. Trump. (Wikimedia Commons)

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Special Counsel Jack Smith has delivered a powerful legal blow to former President Donald Trump, unveiling new evidence that the twice-impeached Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were part of a private scheme rather than actions taken in his official capacity as president.

In a 165-page legal brief unsealed Wednesday, Smith provided new details about Trump’s behind-the-scenes maneuvers to subvert the election, including pressure campaigns targeting key officials, attempts to create false electors, and private discussions with his vice president, Mike Pence.

The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Smith’s brief is part of a broader strategy to prove that Trump can face trial for his actions, even after a Supreme Court ruling granted him immunity for official acts as president. The special counsel argues that Trump’s efforts to enlist Pence in blocking Congress’s certification of the election results were part of a private, illegal campaign to retain power, not part of his official duties.

“At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private criminal effort,” Smith wrote in the filing. “In his capacity as a candidate, he used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

The document provides new evidence of Trump’s attempts to sway election officials in critical swing states to alter the results in his favor. The brief quotes a lawyer advising Trump, who gave an “honest assessment” that his claims of widespread fraud would not withstand scrutiny in court. Yet, Trump dismissed the warning. “The details don’t matter,” Trump said, according to the filing.

Further, the brief recounts private conversations between Trump and Pence, in which Pence urged Trump to accept defeat and consider another run in 2024. Trump, however, expressed reluctance, saying, “2024 is so far off.”

Smith’s filing depicts Trump’s actions as part of a desperate and illegal campaign to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. The brief also points to Trump’s reliance on Giuliani and other private allies in his election subversion attempts, asserting that none of these efforts fell under the scope of presidential duties.

“The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” the filing reads. “Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”

A sealed appendix to the legal brief contains FBI interviews, search warrant affidavits, and grand jury testimony that might soon become public. Smith’s filing builds on the indictment released last year, expanding the evidence and reinforcing the argument that Trump’s conduct was criminal and not shielded by presidential immunity.

Smith concluded the brief with an explicit request to the court: “The government respectfully submits that the defendant’s conduct described in this motion is not subject to presidential immunity and that he should face trial for his private acts of subversion.”

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Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men

On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13-Oakland) chides Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States for voting to strike down Affirmative Action. She is shown here speaking in front of the California Reparations Task Force in Oakland on May 6, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.

“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”

The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:

Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.

“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”

Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.

“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.

Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.

“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.