UNION SQUARE — Hours after the decision of a Florida jury was released, clearing neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of manslaughter and murder charges in the 2012 shooting death of the unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, hundreds of protesters amassed in Times Square to decry the verdict.
There comes a time in each generation where something happens that is so grievous and horrendous that all people of decency and good-will are issued a clarion call to action.
The not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial is such a moment. The gauntlet has been thrown down to the Black sons and daughters of Marcus, Martin and Malcolm; Harriet, Ida and Fannie to act now to raise the level of struggle.
In cities across the country, protests have taken shape in reaction to George Zimmerman’s acquittal of all murder charges in his second degree murder trial for the death of Trayvon Martin.
By Ariel Edwards-Levy
Americans have mixed feelings about the Supreme Court’s latest rulings, with a majority disapproving of its opinion on the Voting Rights Act, but in favor of two pro-gay marriage opinions, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.
On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked them, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?”
On February 18, 1965, a civil-rights worker named James Orange was arrested in Marion, Alabama, on charges of disorderly conduct and contributing to the delinquency of minors, and was thrown into the local jail.
By Julian Bond
The racial picture in America has improved remarkably in my lifetime, so much so that a black man has been elected and re-elected President of the United States — an unthinkable development just a few years ago.
But paradoxically, Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 convinced many that all racial barriers and restrictions had been vanquished and we had entered racial nirvana across the land.
By Greg Kaufmann
“[African-Americans] must march from the rat-infested, overcrowded ghettos to decent, wholesome, unrestricted residential areas disbursed throughout our cities…. They must march from the play areas in crowded and unsafe streets to the newly opened areas in the parks and recreational centers,” said Whitney Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League.
By Richard Eskow
Our democracy was under siege even before the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday on the Voting Rights Act. This decision caps the Court’s clean sweep on behalf of the United States Chamber of Commerce and is part of a concerted effort to seize democracy on behalf of moneyed interests.
The Supreme Court Decisions of the past two days severely narrowing the application of “race” in achieving “diversity” at colleges and universities and the gutting of Section 4 of the historic…
Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, will deliver the opening keynote address at George Fraser’s annual Power Networking Conference to be held this year in Dallas, June 27-29. (http://powernetworkingconference.com/agenda/).
Dr. Daniels’s speech is entitled “Declaration of Intent to Heal Black Families and Communities.” At the closing ceremony of the conference, Dr. Daniels will be presented with the “Living Legend” award.
(Chicago, IL) Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. gives this analysis on SCOTUS Voting Rights Act decision……The 1965 Voting Rights Act was the implementing legislation in fulfillment of the 15th Amendment – 95 years later.