Today we started class acting we were at a baptists church in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. I acted as an usher and greeted people in my class to their seats. Then we started with at song by the name of "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On Freedom." It's a wonderful song and it gives you the feeling of how African-American people felt during the time and they stayed focused.
After that we watched a movie called "Eyes On The Prize" volume 5, it was about Mississippi and how they tried to get voting rights. It was a very interesting,moving, and very informative.
I didn't know that African-Americans weren't allowed in democratic conventions and many people fought for it like protested in front of the convention. A lady by the name of Ms.Fannie Lou Hammer was the leader of the protest and she really made her voice be heard. You could tell how passionate she was about her work.
The second part of class we watched the Will.i.am" Yes We Can" video and we talked about how it affected us and what made him do the video. I read a interview that he did about the video and he said that he did it to inspire and not to make a profit about it.
from,
Tiffany
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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Tiffany,
President Lyndon Johnson told friends and colleagues at the time that by singing the Civil Rights bills during the mid 60's that that would be the end of Democratic domination of the South.
Even though the Democratic party has long been seen as the protector of civil rights for minorities, there were millions of Democrats in the South who felt that civil rights for minorities were a good idea as long as they didn't apply to the Negroes in their own communities. Allowing "colored" people to eat at the same restaurants as "good white folk", riding in the same buses and allowing them to vote just like "regular" people was crossing that unspoken of line.
There's a lot of truth to what he said back then. From that point on the South has been a stronghold of the Republican Party. There's plenty of finger pointing to go around but the issue of civil rights and equal rights is a battle that is being fought even today.
Look at how states like Oklahoma and Texas voted in the last Presidential election and try to argue that they're accepting of our new President--not based on his ideas or beliefs but based on the color of his skin.
I just got back from San Antonio and it was difficult to discuss anything of national importance while there because President Obama wasn't THEIR President.
The way we've treated minorities and the way we've treated women throughout our history is a national shame. We take great pride in being the home of the brave and the land of the free but we jailed women for sedition who held picket signs in front of The White House suggesting that women should be allowed to vote. Our government tried hundreds of soldiers at a time during WWII for treason because they refused to be treated as second class citizens while at an Army base. When black sailors at Port Chicago complained that the way the Navy was having them load and unload bombs onto ships was unsafe, they were threatened with prison terms for mutiny if they didn't continue to perform their tasks (tasks that non-blacks were not assigned). [320 died when the explosion took place. 50 were tried and given long prison sentences.]
Pay attention to this class, Tiffany, and you'll come away much better informed.
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