NNPA NEWSWIRE — Dozens of state legislatures introduced bills to restrict the practice of voting by mail. Other states have begun aggressively removing voters from the rolls and re-drawing Congressional maps blatantly designed to silence the Black vote.
“The 1619 Project,” an expansion of the book created by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine, premiered as a six-part limited docu-series on Hulu, on Thursday, January 26. That evening, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, esteemed actors, journalists, industry executives and a host of other public figures gathered for the red carpet event. The first episode, “Democracy,” was screened, and a discussion led by Oprah Winfrey followed, along with a special rooftop reception to celebrate the premiere.
September 22, 2020, will mark the 92nd Birthday of a statesman who, since the 1950s, continues to be actively involved in training countless men and women on nonviolent resistance to achieve social justice. He has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Northridge, and countless other educational institutions–and even in retirement continues to travel across the country to teach nonviolence.
As a boy, John listened through the door after bedtime as his father’s friends complained about the Klan. One Sunday as a teenager, he heard Dr. King preach on the radio. As a college student in Tennessee, he signed up for Jim Lawson’s workshops on the tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. John Lewis was getting something inside his head, an idea he couldn’t shake that took hold of him – that nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience were the means to change laws, but also change hearts, and change minds, and change nations, and change the world.
The civil rights leaders led his life my example that fighting for justice is the only option.
“At each significant turning point in my life, when I was introduced to the world of progressive political activism, anti-racist prison abolition struggles, when I myself was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List and ended up spending two years in jail and on trial, when I became involved in many international solidarity efforts, intersectional feminist movements, I’ve always been one of many,” Davis said during her induction speech. “My own consciousness has always been enabled by shared endeavors and collective consciousness.”
I have to believe that no matter how much hate may be in the atmosphere love trumps hate every day.
On this day, May 16, 1966, Stokely Carmichael replaced John Lewis as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Brought to you by the Black365 Calendar. For more information visit www.Black365.US
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama has rescinded its decision to honor political activist and scholar Angela Davis following unspecified complaints.
People familiar with the 2013 graphic novel “March” and its two sequels already know that Lewis’ illustrated history of his role in the civil rights movement became a sensation. Despite critics who thought a “comic book” was too pulpy for an elder statesman’s story, it triumphed on the New York Times best-seller list. The third installation went on to win the National Book Award, a first for a graphic novel.
Bernard Lafayette was all smiles as he watched his civil rights comrade John Lewis commandeer the floor of the U.S. House for an old-fashioned, marathon sit-in over gun legislation.