Selma - Montgomery March 7, 1965 -

Selma to Montgomery

Demonstrators walk down a street during the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

 (Peter Pettus. 1965. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Lot 13514, no. 25.

John Lewis (on right in trench coat) and Hosea Williams (on the left) lead marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
On Sunday March 7, 1965, about six hundred people began a fifty-four mile march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery. They were demonstrating for African American voting rights and to commemorate the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, shot three weeks earlier by an state trooper while trying to protect his mother at a civil rights demonstration. On the outskirts of Selma, after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the marchers, in plain sight of photographers and journalists, were brutally assaulted by heavily armed state troopers and deputies.

One hundred years after the Civil War, in many parts of the nation, the 15th Amendment had been nullified by discriminatory laws, ordinances, intimidation, violence, and fear which kept a majority of African Americans from the polls. The situation was particularly egregious in the city of Selma, in Dallas County, Alabama, where African Americans made up more than half the population yet comprised only about 2 percent of the registered voters. As far back as 1896, when the U.S. House of Representatives adjudicated the contested results of a congressional election held in Dallas County, it was stated on the floor of Congress:
…I need only appeal to the memory of members who have served in this House for years and who have witnessed the contests that time and time again have come up from the black belt of Alabama—since 1880 there has not been an honest election in the county of Dallas…

Black History Month - Where is the Change?

The Breaking of Fredrick Douglass

When Frederick was about sixteen, he was placed under the control of Edward Covey, a small farmer reputed to have the ability to break a slave’s spirit.  Frederick was whipped repeatedly, and very nearly was “broken” in spirit until one day he fought back – defensively, not striking Covey, because that would likely have gotten him severely punished, possibly killed – but by simply fending off the farmer’s attack.  The contest lasted about two hours, when Covey called it off, and he never attempted to beat Frederick again.

Jared Ball and Ishmael Reed (discuss) Reed's book
Obama, Jim Crow Media and the Return of the Ni**er Breakers  (Click here to listen or download)

We can use more open discussions of this kind, since mass media does seem to have an agenda that doesn't include the improvement of our condition. While Mr. Reed and Mr. Ball are not always on the same page, in my opinion, they are both looking toward similar endings. Hopefully we will be able to get more input from the listening audience in discussions of this kind. Better yet, I hope this will stimulate more of us to participate in similar discussions of our own. 

found on http://www.voxunion.com/

Black History Month 2011

See Ex-slave narratives

A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas 

traces the graphic art made by Emory Douglas while he worked as minister of culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until its discontinuation in the early 1980s. Douglas's powerful visuals helped define the trademark visual style of the group's newspapers, posters, and pamphlets.

Click on each individual poster for an enlarged view and commentary.

Marion Anderson
 In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. Their race-driven refusal placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level usually only found by high profile celebrities and politicians. With the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, in 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.

Click here to see A short film about the life and career of singer Marian Anderson up through 1950.

Freeway Ricky Ross is "out and talking"

"Ricky Donnell Ross (born April 30, 1960^[1]), also known as "Freeway" Ricky Ross , is a convicted drug trafficker best known for the "drug empire" that he presided over in Los Angeles, in the early 1980s.^[2] The nickname "Freeway" came from Ross's ownership of several properties along the Harbor Freeway. His old house he grew up in is where a freeway now stands.^[3] During the height of his drug dealing, Ross claims to have made "$2 millions in one day."
In 1996, Ross was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of trying to purchase more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from a federal agent. Ross became the subject of controversy later that year when a series of articles by journalist Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News brought to light a connection between one of Ross's cocaine sources, Danilo Blandon, and the CIA as part of the Iran-Contra scandal.^[4] The decision in Ross's case was brought to a federal court of appeals where his sentence was reduced to 20 years. His sentence has since been reduced further for being a model prisoner and he was moved to a halfway house in California in March 2009, and was released on September 29, 2009.^{[5]" wikipedia}





Bush, Reagan let drugs flow free to US from Nicaragua' - says Ross.  Here he discusses his CIA connections,  he talks about why the government allowed a hard drug pipeline into the Black community. He also talks about the Taliban and Heroin from Afghanistan. Ross says our government is out of control.  Click here to go to Freeway Rick's Blog   also see http://www.freewayenterprise.com/

MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail - "A Call for Unity" (1963)

This video is over an hour long but don't let that deter you from watching it. Please take the time to view this video. Take the time to share it with with our young people, who may not be aware of its contents or the valor of those who struggled during those trying times. The struggle is not over and they will need the examples of doctor King and those of us who worked with him to hold themselves and the country accountable for the injustices that are still occuring.

"Freedom must be demanded by the oppressed."




"Justice too long delayed is justice denyed"