Ive been thinking so much about my sister and mother during this commemoration of Freedom Summer. My sister interviewed for Freedom Summer and then couldnt go if she wanted to continue her college education (my grandparents threatened to cut off her tuition payments). She had stories of the intensity of the training, of having people spit in their faces to train them not to react. When she was arrested in Erie, my mother was so proud of her. My father and the rest of our extended family were horrified by her actions (and her politics). When my mother was asked why she allowed her daughter to be arrested in a civil rights demonstration, she replied that if she hadnt had to take care of her five other kids, she would have been arrested with her. In 2008 during the presidential election, I was running a team of about 50 people who were conducting voter registration in the inner city. I asked the brother of slain civil rights worker Mickey Schwermer to come and talk to them about voter registration. Mickeys family didnt want him to go to Mississippi either. What was a routine job took on new meaning for many of those people gathering voter registrations. Whenever I start to doubt that voting has much impact, I think about the fact that fewer than 7% of Blacks were registered to vote in Mississippi in 1964, that white racists willingly killed people to stop Blacks from voting, and that my sister risked her ability to go to college to fight for this right for others. Look at where the powers that be push back and resist- thats the indicator as to where we need to put our efforts. And lets keep that in mind when they talk about redistricting and tampering with early voting hours. Its all part of the same cloth.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 01:55:04 +0000