Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the Washington Post, Transcript of Obama’s speech (excerpts):

Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not
just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native
Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with
disabilities.

America changed for you and for me.

And the
entire world drew strength from that example, whether it be young people
who watched from the other side of an Iron Curtain and would eventually
tear down that wall, or the young people inside South Africa who would
eventually end the scourge of apartheid. (Applause.) Those are the
victories they won, with iron wills and hope in their hearts. That is
the transformation that they wrought with each step of their well-worn
shoes. That's the depth that I and millions of Americans owe those
maids, those laborers, those porters, those secretaries — folks who
could have run a company, maybe, if they had ever had a chance; those
white students who put themselves in harm's way even though they didn't
have to — (applause) — those Japanese- Americans who recalled their
own interment, those Jewish Americans who had survived the Holocaust,
people who could have given up and given in but kept on keeping on,
knowing that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the
morning — (cheers, applause) — on the battlefield of justice, men and
women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all, in
ways that our children now take for granted as people of all colors and
creeds live together and learn together and walk together, and fight
alongside one another and love one another, and judge one another by the
content of our character in this greatest nation on Earth.

To
dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest, as some sometimes
do, that little has changed — that dishonors the courage and the
sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years.
(Applause.) Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael
Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr., they did not die in vain. (Applause.)
Their victory was great.

(Video below the fold.)

By Tom Prezelski

Re-blogged from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

In retrospect, inducting Martin Luther King Jr. into the Pantheon of
American Heroes may have been a mistake and a disservice to what he
fought for.

Back during the late 1980s and early 1990s, one of the
big arguments here in Arizona was about the Martin Luther King Holiday.
It was debated on the floor of the legislature, was an issue in
political campaigns, and prompted marches and public demonstrations
across the state. Everybody in public life, even Alice Cooper, was asked
their opinion about the issue.

Opposition to the holiday was an
article of faith on the right. Their argument was that King was a
radical left winger, perhaps even a socialist, and a figure this
controversial was not the sort of person who should be honored with a
holiday.

The response of holiday supporters was to say that this
was laughable bunk. King was no radical, they said, just a very nice man
who wanted everyone to hold hands and sing, or something like that.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce and cosponsors:

More events and contact information below the fold.