Dear Friends, Today is the tenth day of the New Year. Something is happening in our world... These are words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What was he referring to? Read on. When you see the movie Selma and if you have participated in demonstrations protesting the senseless deaths of young black men in America, including Kendall Green in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or Eric Garner in New York City, what is often not noted in the media is that these demonstrations are multi-racial. Something is happening in our world, Dr. King had the unique ability to reach across racial, religious and economic lines and develop a coalition of conscience. He understood and got other people to understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Too often right-wingers attempt to reduce issues of racial and economic inequality to black and white, rather than right and wrong. I have taken the time to research some of those whites, who have literally given their lives for the liberation of black people. They understood long before the popular slogan, Black Lives Matter were uttered the universal appeal of Dr. King. Here is the name of a white Marylander, that few people have every heard of, William Lewis Moore was a white Baltimore mail man, who in April 1963 went to Mississippi to protest the treatment of African-Americans. He never returned. He was murdered on a dusty dowse road in Attala, Mississippi. His murderers were never brought to justice. When you see the movie Selma,(hopefully this weekend) you will note the whites who are murdered for taking part in these demonstrations. Yet, if you research American history, there were always a small, yet, committed and dedicated group of whites who stood in solidarity with people of color. The Quakers, Abolitionist and the white man that Malcolm X said he most admired, John Brown who gave his life and the lives of his sons, at Harpers Ferry because black lives matter. In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, I think of the white people, who were willing to stand up and speak out against racial injustice. They included among others the late Morris H. Blum, Alderman James Stillwell, Alderwoman Ruth Gray, Councilwoman Ann Stockett, Marion Satterwaite, Frank Dunbar, Carol Gerson Higgs, Barbara Hale, Dimitri Sfakiyanudis, Judge Warren B. Duckett, Jr., Ted Ovaitt, Alan H. Legum, Esq. and the former Annapolis Mayor Roger W. Moyer, Sr. In America the names of white martyrs that many reading this post will have never heard of include Juliette Hampton Morgan, Reverend James Reeb, Viola Liuzzo, Paul Guihard, Andrew Goodman, James Schwerner, William Lewis Moore, Reverend Bruce Klunder, and Jonathan Daniels. These individuals and individuals like them helped to close the racial divide and made America better. In some ways these white martyrs who gave their lives and voices for a cause bigger than themselves stand in sharp contrast to those blacks, who stood in silence and acceptance of their oppression. Every movement for social equality and racial justice in America has been multi-racial. The Peace Movement, Free South Africa movement, Free Angela Davis, Free Huey Newton, and now the Justice for Kendall Green movement, all racially inclusive. Something is happening in our world, Dr. King would be proud to know that almost a half-century after his death, they are still white brothers and sisters marching together in solidarity to end racial injustice. Next week, we will honor some of them. On Friday, January 16th the 27th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Dinner will take place at the La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie, Maryland, beginning at 5:00 P.M. with a VIP Reception followed by a 6:00 P.M. Awards Dinner. Tickets may be obtained by telephoning 410-760-4115 extension 0. Something is happening in our world and that something is good. They are still people black and white, young and old, determined and dedicated to the proposition that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Keep marching, dont let them break your spirit. A united people can never be defeated. Information is power. Justice is indivisible. Truth is revealing and freedom must never be abandoned. A Luta Continua!
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 11:02:04 +0000