Nov. 24, 2013

Kennedy Died, But the Haters Did Not Win
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Fifty years ago, on a cold day in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. To my mind, what is extraordinary about the Kennedy assassination is that the haters did not win. Instead, crucifixion led to resurrection.

As a result, for decades, African-American homes across the nation featured pictures of three people: Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. JFK was a cautious, pragmatic and stylish politician. He was a moderate in temperament and politics.

His focus, to a large extent, was on the Cold War, and America’s leadership in the world. His most imaginative domestic initiative was a commitment to go to the moon, in large part to answer the Soviet success with Sputnik. Although he came from wealth, Kennedy was still an outsider.He was a Catholic, in those days a stigma for someone seeking national office.

He was not a leader on civil rights during his one term in the Senate, voting against a weak civil rights bill in 1957. But at the 1960 Democratic convention that nominated him for president, he lobbied forcefully for a strong civil rights plank in the platform, in the face of angry opposition from Southern Democrats.

The African-American vote swung strongly for Kennedy after his famous phone call to Coretta Scott King during the campaign, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was clapped in jail after a sit-in protest. When Kennedy became president, segregationist Southern Democrats dominated the committee chairs in both houses of Congress, and blocked any movement on civil rights.

But the Civil Rights Movement was forcing America to face the immorality of segregation. Kennedy sent troops to the University of Mississippi when James Meredith’s life was threatened as he integrated the school. After the horrors of Birmingham, when the country saw women and children beaten and gassed by brutal white police, Dr. King wrote his prophetic letter from the Birmingham jail.

On June 11, 1963, Kennedy responded with a major civil rights address. “We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution,” he said, calling for a civil rights act to end discrimination in employment and public accommodations. He met with congressional leaders in October to press for legislation, despite the opposition of the Southern barons.

Not surprisingly, the haters loathed Kennedy. When he traveled to Dallas on the fateful day, the Dallas Morning News featured a hateful ad paid for by a group led by Dallas oil executive Nelson Bunker Hunt, accusing Kennedy of being a “pawn of communists.” The John Birch Society distributed a pamphlet saying JFK was “wanted for treason,” accusing him of giving “support and encouragement to communist-inspired racial riots.”

But Kennedy’s assassination shot him to immortality. In his first address to a joint session of the Congress five days after the assassination, Lyndon Johnson rallied members to act: “No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long.” As a Southerner and former Senate Majority leader, Johnson had the capacity to grasp the moment and drive through the legislation.

It passed only after overcoming a Senate filibuster of over 50 days, the first civil rights legislation ever to survive a cloture vote. In death, Kennedy ascended in popular memory and regard. Now, hilariously, conservatives even vie to claim him as their own. But don’t be misled.

The right-wing haters who now accuse Obama of treason and call him a Muslim were indicting Kennedy as a communist handing the government to the pope 50 years ago. Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who refuses even to allow a vote on comprehensive immigration reform, is no different from Democratic House Rules Committee Chair Howard Smith, who kept civil rights legislation from the floor 50 years ago.

And today as then, only powerful citizen movements that open up space for courageous leaders will overcome that hatred and prejudice. 

Rev. Jesse Jackson is President/CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Nov. 24, 2013

To Be Equal 
12 Years a Slave: A Harsh Truth We Dare Not Forget

By Marc H. Morial

“I read ’Twelve Years a Slave’ and thought, this is the Anne Frank diary of America.” Steve McQueen, Director of the movie, 12 Years a Slave.

(TriceEdneywire.com) - There have been a handful of books recounting the first-hand experiences of 17th and 18th century North American slaves.  These include, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an Autobiography,” first published in 1845; “The Kidnapped Prince, the Life of Olaudah Equiano,” 1789; and “The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave,” 1849.  While not a first-person account, I would add to that list Alex Haley’s ground-breaking 1977 historical novel, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.” 

All of these books offer personal accounts of the immoral capture, selling, enslavement and mistreatment of human beings of African ancestry here in America.  But, a recently re-discovered autobiography, “Twelve Years a Slave,” by Solomon Northup describes a particularly heinous aspect of the slave-trade – the 1841 kidnapping and selling into captivity of Northup, a free black man who had been living with his wife and children in relative comfort in New York.   The book has become a highly-acclaimed movie that has left both audiences and critics shaken by its unflinching depiction of the physical and psychological cruelties of slavery. 

I saw the movie during a premiere screening (during which several people were so disturbed that they walked out of the theater), was similarly moved and feel compelled to offer some thoughts on both the historical and present-day relevance of the film.

Many may feel that there is no longer a need to revisit a time in our history that was so full of brutal hatred.  But by looking the viciousness of slavery squarely in the eye, “12 Years a Slave” reveals much about the legacy it left behind and the resilience and humanity of the black and white heirs of this awful crime against humanity.

For example, is it not possible that sub-standard schools as well as the achievement gaps that persist in so many minority communities can be traced in part to the fact, as depicted in the movie, that for centuries American slaves were forbidden to read or write, punishable by beatings and worse – or that for another century after slavery ended, legislated segregation fostered a separate and unequal society?   Could it be that some of the fear of slave rebellions that overseers and plantation owners had in the time of Solomon Northup laid the foundation for a lingering fear of Blacks held by some throughout our nation’s history? 

Is that fear at the root of racial profiling or police brutality against black males?  Is that fear behind the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin or the November 2 killing of 19-year-old Renisha McBride, who was shot in the face by a white Detroit homeowner after she knocked on his door late at night seeking help after a car crash? This attack against Renisha McBride recalls the heart-breaking indignities endured by black women slaves as shown in the movie, from routine rapes and beatings at the hands of their “masters” to auction-block separations from their children.

The brilliance of the filmmakers is that they made no attempt to spin or varnish the harsh truth.  Just as “The Diary of Anne Frank” has become must-reading for generations seeking an authentic look at the daily life of a Jewish fugitive during the reign of Nazi Germany, “12 Years a Slave” is a raw and real depiction of what life was like for American slaves.  It is a brutal and uncomfortable, yet necessary, look at a part of our nation's history that has had an incalculable impact on our socialization as a country.  Students, journalists and anyone seriously interested in American history should see this movie.

Nov. 24, 2013

War on Black Women
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - My good friend Dick Gregory says that when America suffers an "economic cold," Black folks suffer economic pneumonia.  So it is in every major facet of life here in our country.

We’ve heard a great deal about the "War on Women."  This conflict features government intrusion in the affairs of women and their doctors, such as legislated invasive medical procedures, pay-inequality and a host of other inequalities that tilt the scales of fairness against women.

The facts of this war are irrefutable.  I don't minimize the impact of this violent campaign on my white sisters, but think of how much greater the impact of this war has on Black women.  Too often, despite our best efforts, the good we do goes unrecognized, and the negative things we experience from society are often trivialized.  We are rarely seen as the victims of wrongdoing.

In recent weeks we’ve had dramatic examples of the War on Black Women that transcend any harshness meted out on white women or discussed on local news.

In Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Renisha McBride had an automobile accident and, in her desperation, sought help. She was profiled as a threat and, for no acceptable reason, was shot in her face.  Similar to the Trayvon Martin murder, Renisha's murderer was not arrested for several days, and then only after a major public outcry.

Marissa Alexander, an "on the record" victim of spousal abuse, attempted to protect herself from physical harm and the stated threat to murder her.  Instead of taking the life of her abuser, she fired a warning shot into the ceiling that ended the assault.  For the compassion shown by her to her abuser, she was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison!

In contrast, Mary Winkler, a white woman who killed her abuser by shooting him in the back, only served a few months. She’s out. Marissa who injured no one has been in prison 3 years, had her case overturned by a Court of Appeals, and is still in prison!

Suffering in their grief for the unjust killing of their sons are the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.  Sabrina Fulton has had to watch the psychotic bully who killed her son escape punishment and, then, proceed to flaunt his perceived invincibility while violating laws and abusing others. Jordan Davis' mom, Lucy McBath, has not yet seen the murderer of her son have his day in court. Sadly, no outcome will return their sons to them.

Some acts in this war are so egregious that even mainstream media criticize them! Oriana Farrell in New Mexico fled to escape the fury of the police, yet for a simple traffic stop, fell victim to officers threatening her family, savagely breaking out her car window and firing shots at her car endangering her children.  Since airing the dash-cam video, all law enforcement consultants have criticized the impropriety of this act.  I’ve not seen the lives of a white mother and her children endangered in such a callous manner.

In DC, without the benefit of due process, JC Hayward was denied an opportunity to practice her craft by WUSA-9.  Instead of being able to demonstrate her expertise developed in a distinguished 40+year TV career, WUSA-9 has allowed rumor and innuendo to serve as the basis for her absence from the airwaves.

Black women come out strongly in favor of our party’s candidates every election, but others get credit for the victories--with a rare mention that it was the strong support of Black women who help candidates cross the finish line.

What do we have to do to end this war and receive justice?  We must never give up—never stop fighting until victory is finally won.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.  202/678-6788.  www.nationalcongressbw.org)