Profiles in courage: The men and women who fought for civil rights

"Did you say that President Trump wrote a book?"

The questions came from a middle-aged African-American staffer in the Martin Luther King, Jr., room at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. I had just turned away from the replica of MLK's library that lines the wall to the gallery. My collegian nephew Morgan, pushing me in a wheelchair, had spotted a book by Nixon on the library shelves. "Nixon wrote a book?" he asked.

I told him that all presidential candidates write books. They're campaign tools, a chance to outline their philosophy and goals should they rise to the highest office in the land. I pointed out a paperback copy of JFK's 1956 "Profiles in Courage." I had devoured that book in the months leading up to President Kennedy's election. I was a voracious reader at 9.

"Trump wrote a book," I replied to the question from the museum staffer."They don't always write them. Some use  ghost writers." It was an attempt to explain the inexplicable.

She seemed bemused by the concept. I was too. Trump's book, "Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again," was published in November of 2015, a year before the election that changed America for the worse. A glowering Trump adorns the cover, reflecting the ugliness that waits inside. He looks like your angry old neighbor, the same kind of person who flocks to Trump's white-power rallies.

"They just threw 200,000 people off the food stamp rolls," the staffer said as Morgan, my sister Mary and I exited.

"Can we be any more cruel?" I replied.

The answer, of course, is yes they can be more cruel. Trumpists demonstrate this every day.

We were in a museum that remembered some of the cruelest chapters in American history. The South's Jim Crow laws, lynchings, murders, sundowner ordinances, miscegenation statutes, segregation.

The exhibits remembered those outrages. And also celebrated the response of outraged Americans involved in the Civil Rights struggle. You know some of the names. Those mostly unknown faces look out from the exhibits. Freedom Riders, college students who came from all over to register black voters, priests, ministers, and rabbis who left their flocks to administer to the dispossessed and disenfranchised in the rural South. There are the murdered and the martyred. Four little girls killed when the KKK bombed a black Birmingham church. Emmett Till, tortured and killed in 1955 by redneck vigilantes for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Medgar Evers, the World War II veteran who challenged segregation at the University of Mississippi and was shot down in 1963 by a member of the White Citizens' Council.

Millions now know the names and faces of these brave people who challenged the  status quo.

The most frightening exhibit recreates the sit-ins at the Greensboro, N.C., Woolworth's. You sit on a lunch counter stool, place earphones over your head, and hands flat on the counter. For the next few minutes, you experience what those black college students went through in the name of equality. Name-calling, threats, slaps upside the head. The lunch counter stool vibrates with the kicks from racists in their jackboots. I was shaken when I stepped down. I've heard the same invective coming from 21st century racists.

On the way to the gift shop, we passed a large mural by Paula Scher that features protest posters from around the world. I really liked it so bought a few items in the shop that celebrates that work of art. Christmas is coming, after all. And I want to always remember this place. I also urge everyone I know to visit it.

During a bad weekend for equality, I ponder the Catholic Church's social justice traditions

By now, everyone has viewed the video of the Catholic school boys mocking tribal elder Nathan Phillips on the National Mall.

To review, students from the all-boys Covington (Ky.) Catholic High  School are shown mocking Phillips as he beats the drum and chants the American Indian Movement song. Phillips is a member of the Omaha tribe, a Vietnam veteran, and one of the organizers of the Standing Rock oil pipeline protests of 2017. Videos show white school boys wearing MAGA hats. They also chant Trumpisms such as "build the wall." Obnoxious brats, sons of privilege. One wonders where their clueless hatred came from. One need look no further than our clueless hate-filled president, who mocks Native Americans with terms such as "Pocahontas" and references to the Wounded Knee massacre. They heard these things on talk radio or watched them on Fox News. Maybe they heard mockery of ethnic minorities around their house, from parents who shouted similar things at Trump rallies. Some teachers may be to blame, not so much for spouting racism but by failing to nip it in the bud. Certainly social media spreads the hate, although to blame the Internet for these boys' behavior is too convenient. It takes them -- and the rest of us -- off the hook. That's part of the problem.

Some Facebook commenters have urged the school to expel these students. Too easy. This is a teaching moment. Boot the kids from school and they will head off to the local suburban public school where they will remain smug in their ignorance. The Catholic Church has many teaching tools at its disposal. The New Testament, especially the Sermon on the Mount, is a good place to start. WWJD when confronted with a situation where empathy and understanding were called for? Phillips said in an interview that he was trying to insert himself into a brawl. He then tried to escape the melee but the smug-faced teen in the MAGA hat stood in his way. Here was a test to show what true Christianity looks like. Big fail, boys from Covington Catholic High.

The MAGA crowd loves to poke fun of "social justice warriors." Some of us, me included, proudly claim the term. Where did I learn the precepts of social justice? First, at home, then through the Catholic Church during mass and at Father Lopez Catholic High School. The nuns and priests and lay people taught us well. It's fashionable to criticize the church for its many transgressions throughout its 2,000 years. In recent history, we have the scandal of priest sexual abuse. Over he years, Catholic orphanages turned "unwed" mothers into pariahs and treated their young charges like cattle. The church loved its crusades and its bloody Inquisition. Spain and Portugal sent its men to the New World to convert the heathen and kill any who resisted. Nathan Phillips may be a product of one of many Catholic boarding schools, where youngsters were ripped away from their families and bullied into becoming good Catholics. The Catholic Church was a major player in the horror show of history.

It also offers me solace. Not lately, as I quit going to church. I used to find peace in the ritual of the mass. In adulthood, when sinking in the swamp pf depression, I found as much relief in prayer as I did from therapy and meds. I still pray. The main thing that turned me away from the church is what I sometimes refer to as its deal with the devil. The devil is represented by the evangelicals and their handmaidens, the Republican Party. The church decided decades ago that the war against abortion was more important than the spiritual health of its millions of members in the U.S. They allied themselves with the fundamentalists to impose a litmus test on its members. There are only a few questions on the test, I guess you can call it a quiz if you want. You are in the in-crowd if you oppose abortion, birth control, sex outside of marriage, women in leadership roles (including priests), and LGBT rights. This makes you a fellow traveler with the Evangelical Right Wing, a group whose roots are in anti-Catholic bigotry. Of course, Catholics did their own Protestant-bashing. When I was a kid, I was told it was a sin to go to a Protestant church service. I've sinned repeatedly in my adulthood.

So I'm a Cultural Catholic. My roots are in Catholicism but my present is not. I can't ignore memory. My final thoughts may be of a snippet of Latin from the old mass. My Irish grandfather and his rosary beads. Sister Norbert winding up to whack one of us misbehaving boys. Thankfully, I won't be thinking of how I hated Native Americans, Hispanic immigrants, Jews, Liberals, Obama, the transgender kid who just wants to use the bathroom, and all those other people who might look or think differently from me. I won't make others feel small so I can look big. That's a blessing right there.

LATER: Just returned from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Tie Banquet at the Red Lion Inn. Full house. Sat at the Laramie County Democrats' table with Chris and Dem friends. Saw so many people I've met over the years, people I've met through the NAACP, Juneteenth and the arts. All of us were celebrating Dr. King. Guest Speaker was Dr. Olenda E. Johnson, Ph.D., a Cheyenne native who was the first African-American full professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Uplifting speech from an uplifting person. She talked about the late Wyoming State Senator Liz Byrd of Cheyenne who brought up the King holiday in the legislature nine times before it was finally adopted by that body's white majority. Talk about persistence and dedication. Now I'm home and realizing how wonderful it is to get out to meet people who make a difference day by day by day. Another blessing...

Wyoming Republicans look to the future with Dick Cheney as keynote speaker

Watching the inauguration festivities on Monday in D.C. made me feel old and out of it. A wonderful African-American First Family with their two beautiful daughters and Richard Blanco reciting a poem celebrating the 21st century in America and a huge crowd of people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds and origins. This is the future and this old guy wants to be a part of it as long as possible. The Republicans, on the other hand, have proved themselves to be the political party of old ideas and old ways and selfishness. There may be hope to Repubs in the likes of Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal and those who look ahead instead of back into the previous century. Even some of the young leaders are burdened with the hatreds and prejudices that were born in the pre-Civil Rights era, back when I was a kid growing up in the American South. Nothing says outdated and old like having a remnant of the latest Repub administration as the keynote speaker at your annual banquet. Here's news from the Wyoming Republicans:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney will be the guest speaker at a Wyoming Republican Party dinner next month.  

Cheney will speak Feb. 9 at the dinner being held at the Little America Hotel in Cheyenne. The party says the event is open to the public. 

Tickets are available by contacting the party's office in Casper at 307-234-9166.

UW Days of Dialogue features screening of film about civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Days of Dialogue at the University of Wyoming in Laramie features a full slate of events Jan. 21-25. On Tuesday, Jan. 22, 6:30 p.m., there will be a screening of the film, "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin." It will be followed by a reception with the Cheyenne NAACP. Location: Wyoming Union West Ballroom. FMI: http://www.mlkdod.com/

New UW speaker series honors contributions of Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd

Sen. Liz Byrd looks on as Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan signs law authorizing Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day at a 1990 ceremony in the State Capitol.

On Monday, we commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday with events around the country. The one held in Cheyenne featured a march by several hundred people from Depot Plaza to the State Capitol. Leading the parade were African-American leaders accompanied by Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and his wife Carol, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen.

Love & Charity Club organized the day’s events. The club’s Rita Watson was emcee. She introduced the state’s elected officials who made non-memorable speeches. They are all Republicans. On a daily basis, their policies seek to undo gains in social justice made by Dr. King and others in the Civil Rights movement. Inside the Capitol, Republican legislators were celebrating MLK/Equality Day by drafting legislation to roll back pensions of state workers, curtail social programs, destroy public education, and gerrymander voting districts to dilute the state’s minority vote which tends to be urban and Democratic. “Urban” you say? Wyoming is rural! “Minority” you say? Wyoming is white!

Take a look at the current redistricting maps and tell me why they look so funny. Why are the votes of city dwellers being watered down by the votes of dispersed rural populations. Cities tend to be more moderate and even liberal. There does seem to be an exception, and that’s Casper. What’s the matter with Casper? But overall, this holds true. Show me a Democrat in the state legislature who isn’t from a city or the Wind River Reservation and I’ll eat my hat.

Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day march in Cheyenne.

On Monday, Rita Watson mentioned the contributions of Harriet Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd, former state senator who was ill and couldn’t attend the festivities. Liz Byrd worked for almost a decade to pass legislation for a Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Seems odd that it would take a decade for The Equality State to honor a champion of equality such as Dr. King. In the end, the legislature named the holiday “Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day. We have a hyphenated holiday. But we do have a holiday for Dr. King, just like the rest of the states.

Liz Byrd has deeper Wyoming roots than most of us. She went away to college and returned to find that teaching jobs with the Laramie County School District were closed to blacks. So she taught the children at F.E. Warren AFB. Remember that Republican Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower oversaw the end of segregation in the armed forces (and its schools). Sen. Byrd could enter the gates of our local military base and find a job. Not acceptance from everyone, but her value as a human being and a teacher were duly noted by the U.S. Government.

It’s gratifying to see that Sen. Byrd’s contributions are being celebrated by the University of Wyoming this week. UW’s African American and Diaspora Studies office has created the Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd Speaker Series.

Here’s info from a UW press release:

To recognize her many contributions to Wyoming, both as an educator and legislator, UW . AADS is working to raise $25,000 to endow the series, which will bring minority educators and speakers to UW and serve to honor the woman who sponsored legislation that, in 1990, established Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day as a state holiday. 

"I can't think of a better person to represent the University of Wyoming," says AADS Director Tracey O. Patton. "She's emblematic of what we all hope to accomplish in life. I think every person on this planet would like to affect positive change for the world. Very few of us get to do that but she did. She has made lives better in the state of Wyoming."

Find out more about Liz Byrd at http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/extras/liz-byrd.html

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen speaks at the State Capitol Building on Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events celebrate diversity & equality across The Equality State

From Dan Neal at the Equality State Policy Center:

State residents will celebrate Martin Luther King Day with in communities across Wyoming including in Riverton where Rez Action, a group working with the Equality State Policy Center, plans a march and speeches by three leaders of the Wind River tribes. 

“We invite all those who want to celebrate equality to march with us to honor the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” a news release from the organizers says. “We march in celebration of equality and Dr. King’s vision of ‘that all of us will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.’” 

Other events are planned in Laramie and Casper. 

Tribal members Micah Lott and Molly Holt are two of the Rez Action members staging Monday’s “Embrace Equality Celebrate Diversity” event in Riverton. Participants will rendezvous at 1 p.m. at City Park for the march to City Hall. State Rep. Patrick Goggles, the House minority leader who represents HD33, will speak as well as former state representative Scott Ratliff, now an special assistant on Native American issues to U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, Northern Arapaho tribal liaison Gary Collins, and Riverton activist Cody Green. 

For information, please contact Micah Lott at 307-851-1344 or micah.lott93@gmail.com. Rez Action members describe the group as an organization of “dedicated activists who fight social injustice, discrimination, and advocate for a healthy environment.” 

The Casper NAACP will host the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March and Rally starting at 11 a.m. at Casper’s City Park at Center and 7th streets. Marchers will walk to the United Methodist Church downtown. Eastern Shoshone Tribal elder Ivan Posey will speak. Members of the Wind River Unity Youth Council will participate as dancers with the Scout River Drum Group. Following a soup lunch at the church, the Unity group will conduct a workshop at 1 p.m. In Casper, contact Nurieh Glasgow at 234-3428 or Janet de Vries at 268-2446 for more information. 

A third march is planned on Jan. 16 in Laramie. Marchers will walk from the Albany County Courthouse to the University of Wyoming Student Union starting at 4 p.m. followed by a supper in the union ballroom. As part of its Martin Luther King Jr./Days of Dialogue, actor Hill Harper will speak at 1 pm. Jan 18 at the Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. A full schedule of events is available here. 

In Cheyenne, a march is planned at Noon from the old Union Pacific Railroad Depot up Capitol Avenue to the state Capitol. Gov. Matt Mead and Mayor Rick Kaysen will speak along with State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and State Supt. of Public Instruction Cindy Hill. The march is being organized by the Love and Charity Club. Contact moderator Rita Watson at 307-632-2338 for more information.

UPDATE: Occupy Cheyenne's plan for Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march

Here's an update on the Martin Luther King Day Jr. Day march in Cheyenne.

On Wednesday, after taking our cause to Monday's NAACP meeting, I advised Occupy Cheyenne people not to bring signs to Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march in downtown Cheyenne. My advice was a bit premature -- my hummingbirdminds' impulsivity took over. Yesterday I heard from Gloradene Stevenson, president of Love & Charity Club, organizer of the march. She was out of town. Gloradene said that Love & Charity has no problem with us bring respectful signs to the march.

So bring your signs. Participate in the march and accompanying MLK Day events.

Attention Occupy Cheyenne: Here's the plan for Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march

This is a copy of the status update I sent to my fellow occupiers on Occupy Cheyenne:

My wife Chris and I attended the local NAACP meeting Monday night at the Laramie County Public Library. Chris chairs the planning committee for Juneteenth, the annual summer celebration held in Cheyenne’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Park. Rev. McDowell gave up 15 minutes in the NAACP agenda so I could talk to the membership about Occupy Cheyenne.

I spoke about our street actions and protests. I talked about our General Assemblies and the work we did on the declaration. I read the first two paragraphs of the declaration. As I read, I thought that there was little in the declaration that Dr. King would disagree with.

I then told the group about our plans to participate in Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (known in Wyoming as “Equality Day”) march from the Depot Plaza to the Capitol. I told them that our plans were to bring signs that were respectful to Dr. King but also carried a message from Occupy Cheyenne.

Several members spoke out against the sign idea. They felt it would distract from the commemoration. Rev. McDowell, president of the local NAACP chapter, suggested we talk to the actual organizers of the march, Love & Charity, about our plans. I plan to do that before the march.

My suggestion is that we forget about the signs and attend the march. How many of you have participated in the local MLK Day march? It’s well attended but the numbers could be better. Rev. McDowell and others spoke last night about the crucial nature of the 2012 elections. Equality is threatened on all fronts, but especially in Wyoming with its Tea Party Republican-dominated Legislature. Unnecessary cuts will be made to programs crucial to the 99% while legislators will busily be turning over the store to their benefactors in the energy industry.

The NAACP members support our goals. They were interested in hearing about our actions. They were very interested in participating in the action we plan for the first day of the Legislature, although I had few details.

On Occupy Cheyenne's Dec. 10 action, we were allied with union members in Wyoming AFL-CIO affiliates. As far as I can tell, we’re one of the few Occupy movements in WY and CO that have done this. Other alliances would be welcomed. Attend the MLK Day march, meet some of your fellow marchers, introduce yourself as a member of Occupy Cheyenne, attend the soup and crackers luncheon after the march at the Allen AME Chapel, attend the “Youth Salute” to Dr. King at 4 p.m., at the Second Baptist Church. And there’s also a full slate of events this weekend.

See you Monday at noon for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Equality Day march.

Cheyenne NAACP and Occupy Cheyenne search for common ground

The next meeting of the NAACP Unit #4108 is scheduled for Monday, January 9, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in the Sunflower Room of the Laramie County Public Library in downtown Cheyenne.  The meeting will focus on finalizing events and activities for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16 and February’s Black History Month.


NAACP members are invited to General Assembly meeting sponsored by Occupy Cheyenne on Thursday, Jan. 5, 5:30-7 p.m., at the Paramount Cafe, 1607 Capitol Ave., in downtown Cheyenne. We have common ground in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, philosophy of nonviolent protests against the powers and principalities that join forces to keep us all down. More info at Occupy Cheyenne on Facebook.

UW hosts largest Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration in Wyoming Jan. 16-20

The University of Wyoming in Laramie sponsors the annual Martin Luther King, Jr./Days of Dialogue and March Jan. 16-20. This year's timely theme is "Building Unity Through Community: Local to Global." This week-long celebration of King's legacy of peace and justice is the largest in Wyoming, possibly the region.  

The week's schedule:

Monday, Jan. 16
10 a.m.-4 p.m.: National Service Day

4 p.m.: Martin Luther King, Jr. March beginning at Albany County Courthouse
4:45 p.m.- Willena Stanford Supper at UW Wyoming Union Ballroom. Entertainment provided by WASA and the ARK

Tuesday, Jan. 17
12 noon-1:30 p.m.: ECTL Book Discussion, "On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman’s Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti" by Margaret Trost. Registration required at www.uwyo.edu/ctl. At Coe Library, Rm 506. Lunch provided.

12:15-1:30 p.m.: "The Face of Discrimination" panel discussion, Union Family Room
4-6 p.m.: "Build 2020 w/ Molina Speaks" -- hip-hop workshop and performance with Adrian Molina, Union Family Room

Wednesday, Jan. 18
11 a.m.-1 p.m.: "Local to Global" photo exhibit opening, Union Art Gallery 234
3 p.m.: Opening for the "Tunnel of Oppression," Union East Ballroom
8 p.m.: The Players Club – step performance, SAC Event - A & S Auditorium

Thursday, Jan. 19
12:15-1:30 p.m.: "Art Imitates Life" panel discussion, Union West Ballroom
3:30-5 p.m.: Chad Hymas, motivational speaker, Union West Ballroom
7 p.m.: Hill Harper, keynote address, A & S Auditorium

Friday, Jan. 20
12 noon-1 p.m.: Poetry Slam Workshop with Slam Nuba, Union West Ballroom, sponsored by Residence Life & Dining Services
1:15-2:30 p.m.: Poetry Slam Open Mic with Slam Nuba, Union Skylight Lounge, sponsored by Residence Life & Dining Services
6:30 p.m.: "Shadow Ball" movie with talk-back session, Union Family Room, sponsored by Wyoming PBS
9-11:30 p.m.: FNF Movie: "Circumstance," Union Family Room
8:30 p.m.: Lupe Fiasco, hip-hop artist, C&C Event in the A & S Auditorium. Doors open at 8 p.m. UW Student Tickets: $20, non-UW student tickets: $30

More info at http://mlkdod.wordpress.com/

Cheyenne marks the 25th anniversary of King holiday

Today we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Many speeches will be delivered, many of the man's quotes will be requoted. The holiday this year comes on the heels of the violence in Tucson. Violence, of course, is "as American as apple pie," said sixties Black Power activist H. Rap Brown. His original quote mentioned cherry pie. Apparently, that didn't seem American enough. But you get the picture. The U.S. has a history of violence that can't be denied, no matter how many whitewashed texts are written by ultra-conservative revisionists (Lynne Cheney, Glenn Beck, Texas, etc.).

But Americans haven't yet cornered the market on violence. Protesters in Tunisia were gunned down this week. Coalition soldiers continue to be blown up with IEDs planted by Afghanis angry that their relatives were blown up in a U.S. drone attack. Knifings and shootings and beatings and torture are a fact of life worldwide.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a proponent of nonviolence. He died by the gun, but he didn't promote the gun. Just the opposite. Some black activists did take up guns, although their numbers were wildly exaggerated at the time. But not MLK.

Dr. King gave thousands of speeches that promoted peace and nonviolence. Her actively campaigned against the war against black people in the South. He also opposed the Vietnam War and the Cold War. As he said often, notably in "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community:"

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Chaos or community? Have to wonder if those are the only choices we have. We're not exactly at the chaos point, but closing in on it. Community was much in evidence in Tucson last week, as we all came together for a brief time to honor the dead.

Author and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley makes a great point in AP story about Dr. King. If we don't create a nation that's serious about nonviolence, Dr. King's legacy may fade away. In 50 years, all that we may be left with is a day off to go buy more trinkets at Wal-Mart.

"The holiday brought the freedom struggle into the main narrative," Brinkley said. "The day is meant to be a moment of reflection against racism, poverty and war. It's not just an African-American holiday. The idea of that day is to try to understand the experience of people who had to overcome racism but in the end are part and parcel of the American quilt."

Two years ago this week, I walked in Tucson's King march. I walked with my son Kevin from the University of Arizona campus to a city park. Nice January Arizona day. The marchers were white and black and Hispanic and Asian, a representative mix of Tucson's population. Many, such as my son, were younger than King was when he was gunned down in 1968. They are aware of his struggle but might not know the full weight of his commitment to nonviolence.

Two years later, some of these same people will march again. They also were out last week at vigils and memorials and funerals for Arizona's dead. Yesterday, hundreds of Tucsonans staged a march from McCormick Park to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords office. Today, many will be volunteering during a "Day of Service" for the King holiday.

Returning from my 2009 trip to Tucson, I watched most of Pres. Obama's inauguration from the Phoenix airport. I thought to myself: "A new America begins today." I jumped the gun a bit was a bit premature with my forecast. Change has begun, but so has a violent reaction to it. We can make progress as long as we don't succumb to fear and hate. We'd do well to keep Dr. King's words of nonviolence in our minds and in our hearts.

Today's Cheyenne march for Dr. King begins at noon at the Depot Plaza downtown. It concludes at the Capitol Building. Following the event, Love & Charity Inc. will serve chicken noodle soup at Allen Chapel, 917 W. 21st. Weather forecast: This morning's weird torrential rains have given way to sunshine. Wind still blowing, but what else is new?

Juneteenth in Cheyenne

Juneteenth committee member, community organizer, YMCA maven (and loving spouse) Chris Shay serves as emcee at Cheyenne event.

Rep. Jim Byrd introduces Juneteenth

Democratic Rep. Jim Byrd speaks about the history of Juneteenth during the celebration at Martin Luther King, Jr., Park in Cheyenne.

The hits just keep on coming

My Feedjit feed (see sidebar) keeps logging in hits for a two-year old post based on William Faulkner's quote: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” In it, I talk about the racism I experienced in 1960s Florida and what I saw during Obama's 2008 campaign in Wyoming. Racism is alive and well, I said in the summary.

I was wondering why it was showing up with such regularity. Then I recalled Martin Scorcese's acceptance speech tonight at the Golden Globes. He wrapped it up with the Faulkner quote. Since my post has been online for so long, it's at the top of the Google hit list. Near the top, anyway.

The post is especially relevant on the eve of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday.

To read the original: http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/for-faulkner-and-obama-past-isnt-past.html

Marching for Martin 2009

"Bring Back the WPA" sign in the background. Extra credit for those of you who know what WPA means and what bearing it has on the present crisis.

Tucson MLK march from University of Arizona campus to Reid Park.

President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law in November 1983 and the first official Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday was observed on the third Monday of January 1986.

At the time, only 27 states and Washington, D.C., honored the holiday. Most famously, all three Arizona House Republicans including current Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain, voted against the bill in '83. Arizona didn't vote to recognize the holiday until 1992. It wasn't the only state openly contemptuous of federal law. In 2000, 17 years after the law's official passage and the same year it pulled the Confederate flag down from its statehouse dome, South Carolina became the last state to sign a bill recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.