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President Biden, Civil Rights Figures Mark 58th Anniversary of “Blood Sunday” in Selma

President Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders, congressmembers, and Black Americans from across the country in Selma, Alabama on Sunday to mark the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The annual pilgrimage commemorates the events of March 7, 1965, when civil rights demonstrators attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery were met by police officers and white counter demonstrators who attacked them as they marched for voting rights.

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President Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders, congressmembers, and Black Americans from across the country in Selma, Alabama on Sunday to mark the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
President Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders, congressmembers, and Black Americans from across the country in Selma, Alabama on Sunday to mark the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

By Brandon Patterson

President Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders, congressmembers, and Black Americans from across the country in Selma, Alabama on Sunday to mark the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The annual pilgrimage commemorates the events of March 7, 1965, when civil rights demonstrators attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery were met by police officers and white counter demonstrators who attacked them as they marched for voting rights. In Selma on Sunday and throughout the weekend were civil rights figures including Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III, and Rev. Al Sharpton, congressmembers including Rep. Jim Clyburn and Rep. Maxine Waters, and many other people who traveled to Selma from elsewhere.

In remarks on Sunday, Biden decried attacks on voting rights from conservative Supreme Court justices and state legislatures while renewing his call for strengthening voting rights with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named for the late congressman who, at age 25, was among those attacked on Black Sunday. Lewis was then chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and helped plan the march, which spurred the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The right to vote — the right to vote and to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty,” said Biden, according to remarks published by the White House. “With it, anything is possible.  Without it — without that right, nothing is possible. And this fundamental right remains under assault.”

“We must remain vigilante,” he continued.

Brenda Knight, co-founder of Ladies in Red, a Bay Area organization that travels around the country with seniors to learn about important African American history, was in attendance this weekend. She told the Oakland Post the weekend included a Foot Soldiers Breakfast honoring those who marched on Blood Sunday, an awards ceremony, a film screening, and educational panels, among other events. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia received an award.

Knight shared why she attended the weekend and why she thinks commemorating Bloody Sunday and other historical events is so important. “If it wasn’t for the foot soldiers, we wouldn’t have rights. If our children understood how many people died for their rights, they would vote more. If our kids know the history. We have to stop taking our voting rights for granted.”

Knight said commemorating anniversaries like Bloody Sunday was even more important considering recent book bans and attempts to ban African American history in schools. “Our history is American history,” she said. “We have to do what we need to do to make sure our history is told. Because they’re taking the books. [So] we can’t stop talking.”

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

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Activism

‘Donald Trump Is Not a God:’ Rep. Bennie Thompson Blasts Trump’s Call to Jail Him

“Donald Trump is not a god,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

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Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Courtesy photo.
Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he not intimidated by President-elect Donald Trump, who, during an interview on “Meet the Press,” called for the congressman to be jailed for his role as chairman of the special congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Donald Trump is not a god,” Thompson told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

“He can’t prove it, nor has there been any other proof offered, which tells me that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said the 76-year-old lawmaker, who maintained that he and the bipartisan Jan. 6 Select Committee  – which referred Trump for criminal prosecution – were exercising their constitutional and legislative duties.

“When someone disagrees with you, that doesn’t make it illegal; that doesn’t even make it wrong,” Thompson said, “The greatness of this country is that everyone can have their own opinion about any subject, and so for an incoming president who disagrees with the work of Congress to say ‘because I disagree, I want them jailed,’ is absolutely unbelievable.”

When asked by The Grio if he is concerned about his physical safety amid continued public ridicule from Trump, whose supporters have already proven to be violent, Thompson said, “I think every member of Congress here has to have some degree of concern, because you just never know.”

This story is based on a report from The Grio.

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Activism

Biden’s Legacy Secured with Record-Setting Black Judicial Appointments

His record surpasses previous efforts by his predecessors. President Jimmy Carter appointed 37 Black judges, including seven Black women. In stark contrast, Donald Trump’s first term resulted in only two Black women appointed out of 234 lifetime judicial nominations. The White House said Biden’s efforts show a broader commitment to racial equity and justice.

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iStockphoto.
iStockphoto.

By Stacy M. Brown
WI Senior Writer

President Joe Biden’s commitment to diversifying the federal judiciary has culminated in a historic achievement: appointing 40 Black women to lifetime judgeships, the most of any president in U.S. history.

Biden has appointed 62 Black judges, cementing his presidency as one focused on promoting equity and representation on the federal bench.

His record surpasses previous efforts by his predecessors. President Jimmy Carter appointed 37 Black judges, including seven Black women. In stark contrast, Donald Trump’s first term resulted in only two Black women appointed out of 234 lifetime judicial nominations.

The White House said Biden’s efforts show a broader commitment to racial equity and justice.

Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to dismantle key civil rights protections, including the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“Having the Black woman’s experience on the federal bench is extremely important because there is a different kind of voice that can come from the Black female from the bench,” Delores Jones-Brown, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told reporters.

Lena Zwarensteyn of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights told reporters that these district court judges are often the first and sometimes the final arbiters in cases affecting healthcare access, education equity, fair hiring practices, and voting rights.

“Those decisions are often the very final decisions because very few cases actually get heard by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Zwarensteyn explained.

Biden’s nomination of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court further reflects his commitment to judicial diversity. Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.

Patrick McNeil, spokesperson for the Leadership Conference, pointed out that over half of Biden’s Black female judicial appointees have backgrounds as civil rights attorneys and public defenders, experience advocates consider essential for a balanced judiciary.

Meanwhile, Congress remains divided over the expansion of federal judgeships. Legislation to add 66 new judgeships—approved unanimously by the Senate in August—stalled in the GOP-controlled House until after the election. House Republicans proposed distributing the new judgeships over the next decade, giving three administrations a say in appointments. President Biden, however, signaled he would veto the bill if it reached his desk.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., argued the delay was a strategic move to benefit Trump’s potential return to office. “Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to expand the power of the presidency and giving him 25 new judges to appoint gives him one more tool at his disposal,” Nadler said.

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