On This Day, 1965

Jon S. Randal (from FB)
March 9, 2014 ·

He was a white minister. Some said he didn't have to go, he had a good life in Boston, he had a loving wife and four loving children. But, he was horrifed at the brutality he saw happening in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 7, 1965, as what is now called "Bloody Sunday." So, when Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. issued a nationwide call to the clergy, urging representatives of all denominations and faiths to journey to Alabama and stand with African Americans there for the cause of voting rights, social justice, and equality, James Reeb answered the call. Believing that to do nothing in the face of injustice is as wrong as to condone it, Reeb knew he had to go.

Those of you who know your history know what happened and know what occurred on "Bloody Sunday."  On March 9, at an integrated restaurant in Alabama, Reeb and two other ministers were confronted by several white men brandishing clubs and shouting racial slurs. One man slammed his club into Reeb’s head, knocking him to the ground. Several hours elapsed before Reeb was admitted to a Birmingham hospital where doctors performed brain surgery. He never recovered, and he died on March 11, 1965.

His murder spawned national outrage. President Lyndon B. Johnson called Reeb’s widow and father to express his condolences, and on March 15, he invoked Reeb’s memory when he delivered a draft of the Voting Rights Act to Congress. That same day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eulogized Reeb at a ceremony at Brown’s Chapel in Selma:

"James Reeb, symbolizes the forces of good will in our nation. He demonstrated the conscience of the nation. He was an attorney for the defense of the innocent in the court of world opinion. He was a witness to the truth that men of different races and classes might live, eat, and work together as brothers."

The last phone call Reeb made was to his wife at the restaurant before he was beaten. His wife would later say that Reeb believed in the aims of the civil rights movement, almost nothing could have stopped her husband from going to Selma, though he knew the risks associated with doing so.

James Reeb, January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965

Quote of the day -- I love this woman

Click on picture for easier reading.

Quote of the day

"You always know the mark of a coward. A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of freedom and defends it for others." --Henry Rollins, American spoken word artist, writer, journalist, publisher, actor, radio DJ, activist and former singer-songwriter.

Quote of the day

‎"Ignorance of each other is what has made unity impossible in the past. Therefore we need enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity. Once we have more knowledge (light) about each other, we will stop condemning each other and a United front will be brought about." --Malcolm X

A win for justice, abortion opponents and the Obama administration, all in one

Breaking news: Chen Guangcheng, Chinese Activist Who Escaped House Arrest, Arrives In U.S.

This is nothing but good news for anyone and everyone who supports fairness, justice, decency and all that is good.

Here's a man who learned of women being forced to have abortions by their own national government--in this case, Chinese--so he stood up, virtually alone, from what I understand, and did his best to fight it.

So the right thing happened here, thank goodness.

Part of the reason it happened was because of international communications. Whether it's because of the internet and all its social media or whatever, the world is no longer in the dark, so to speak, about these cases.

Thank goodness for that.

It's yet further proof of the power of the internet and social media--but of the people, too. The right thing happened here because anything else was not justice. Anything else happening in this case and to this man would have been grossly wrong and the Chinese leaders and government were overrun by it.

It's a great day.

It's a great day for justice and for what's right and for the people of the world.

It's enough to give one hope.

Here's another thing, too. It's a win, really, not just for "the people", collectively, but for the Obama administration, like it, accept it or not.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/chen-guangcheng-arrives-us_n_1530182.html

Kansas Legislators, Catholics, everyone should be screaming about the Chinse dissident

It seems anyone and everyone who has said in the past they have some issue with abortions should be speaking up at least, if not screaming bloody murder about this blind attorney Chinese dissident, Chen Guangcheng and his situation.

Here's a private citizen in China who goes up against every authority there in an effort to protest forced abortions in that country.

How much more noble can a person be? What more worthy position could a person take?

And to date, I haven't heard one word from any Catholic organization--the Vatican or any other--or any Kansas legislator--or from any other state--saying we need to support and work with this man and his family.

Sure, they can and do fight to deny women's reproductive rights in this nation but beyond their own back yard?

Not a word.

If there is a person in the world right now who needs people's support and attention, surely Mr. Guangcheng is that person.

Here's a man who not only educated himself to be an attorney but who also decided it too important not to fight his nation's government single-handedly to stop forced abortions by that same government.

Now is the time and this should be the case to speak up, offering both support for this man and his work and any help they can give in any and every form.

Links: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/chinese-dissident-offered-american-fellowship-135602884.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/world/asia/chen-guangchengs-plea-for-protection-deepens-a-crisis.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120504; http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/03/3593252/us-china-reach-deal-for-chen-guangcheng.html; http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/05/04/152002528/elegant-solution-possible-for-chinese-activist-he-may-study-abroad

Quote for the day--note to Kansas City

“But we're all in the same boat now, and we've got to learn to work together.”

--Dorothy Height