Politics

What Made Loretta Lynch’s Father See Red

Published

10 years ago

April 24, 2015

Lorenzo Lynch (left) died at the age of 51 due to complications from diabetes. Pictured is the Lynch family in a portrait from 1980 also showing Lorine, Loretta, Lorenzo Sr. and Leonzo in their Durham, N.C., home. (Courtesy of the Lynch family)

Pictured is the Lynch family in a portrait from 1980 also showing Lorine, Loretta, Lorenzo Sr. and Leonzo in their Durham, N.C., home. (Courtesy of the Lynch family)

(Politico) – It took a long ride through the night to get here. They’d started out in Durham, at 1 a.m., Thursday, driving six hours, all so the Rev. Lorenzo Lynch (83 on Tuesday) could sit in the back row of the visitors’ gallery above the U.S. Senate floor, his dapper yellow straw hat in his lap, and watch history — part of it his own personal history — unfold.

“I like this,” he said in his high whispery voice as senators ambled back and forth and chatted, seemingly oblivious of the import of the vote. “It shows the vigor of our system. In America, certain forces have led, and others have kicked back. Seven steps forward, three steps back. It started with slavery. There were good people then too. It’s still going on. We’re not done.”

Finally, at a little before 2 in the afternoon, it was over. By a surprisingly comfortable 56-43 vote, Lorenzo’s daughter, Loretta Lynch, was confirmed as the first black female attorney general. Lorenzo Lynch’s creased face and slightly sunken eyes registered no change as the tally was announced and a group of black congresswomen who had come to watch broke into furtive applause (which is not allowed in the Senate chamber). How did he feel? “Fine,” Lynch said. A pause, then a hint of a smile, and his always-ready humor. “The good guys won.”

Among the good guys, it turned out, were a few Republicans who jumped over to Lynch’s side at the last minute, including Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and even Mitch McConnell, the majority leader. But the Lynch supporters did not include Lorenzo and Loretta’s two home-state senators, Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, Republicans both, despite sometimes tearful personal pleading from Loretta Lynch supporters across the state. Burr, a pastor’s son from a progressive Presbyterian church in Winston-Salem, “should have known better,“ said Lorenzo Lynch.

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

5 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

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In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.