Charleston, SC, USA- All of the news trucks have departed Charleston for the circus around the Statehouse in Columbia where the state Senate has voted to bring down the Confederate Flag by an overwhealming majority. While some legislators understand the flag has to come down because it's become a symbol of racism, others probably see throwing the flag under the bus as the cheapest available option for avoiding a real airing of the state's problems with racial and economic injustice. 3 senators held out to keep the flag up. It will undoubtedly mark them for the rest of their lives. State Senator Lee Bright's speech to keep the flag up was composed about half of material which was true and about half of a series of statements which reminded me of a drunk handling a lighted roman candle who is startled by each ball which explodes out of the tube he holds in his hands which says, "Don't hold this in your hand."
The Confederate Flag may be down by Thursday and the legislature, thank goodness, will be done for six months.
Hope & Change We Can Believe in
Meanwhile Charleston's activist community awaits the change which really matters, will the City and the State rouse itself to address the real problems of sink back into the culture of quiet acceptance that now accepts a sidewalk shooting five times a month in our area? Will we continue to have plantation style public transit, which just hauls people to and from low paying jobs? Will low wages and wage theft continue to characterize our economy? Will a school board which appointed a new Superintendent in the midst of choas and grief ever listen to the public for longer than the sixty seconds once ever six months now allowed during their public comment period. Will people step up to become involved or will our gradually shrinking cadre of aging progressive activists just squeeze more exhausted effort between doctor's appointments and taking care of grandchildren.
This morning I and my wife put Civil Rights Era activist Louise Brown and 17 other people connected with the Emmanual 9 on a bus to Washington DC with organizers from the Brady Project to attempt to pound the message that guns kill people into the wooden heads across the Potomac. We didn't have a lot of younger activists on the bus and we needed some there. Most of the people on the bus were at least 50. As I told Louise and one of her neighbor's this morning, it looks like middle aged fat people are going to have to save the world. Louise, who is quite thin and hasn't stopped marching since Martin Luther King was alive, pointed out the exercise would be good for us. If you see our friends in DC tomarrow, give them your best. We're sending what we can because we know who we are here. We understand what happened. We can place it within the context of history and we and you cannot live with a society which happens the way these shootings did. Civilization will become impossible. Community will fail. We will all live in fear.
A lot is happening in Charleston over the next few weeks. Rev. Thomas Dixon just posted this updated listing from the Bus rolling up to Washington. This still isn't everything, but it's most of what we knwo about. We do watch the door now. We do understand that every meeting and gathering we hold includes the risk that someone with killing on their mind may walk through the door. We choose to continue to try to make our community work. As the Emanual 9 know, the community of friends gathered has both high value and high price. Everyone should also know that we have undercover police at some of these events as well.
Upcoming Progressive Activist Events in Charleston
Announcements from Monday, July 6th, 2015 C.A.F.E. - Charleston, SC Meeting
Today, Tues, July 7th, 5:00 pm: Meeting to draft a resolution to restore power to the D20 Constituent Board; Burke High
Today, Tues, July 7th, 6:00 pm: Burke High School Stakeholders Meeting; Burke High Media Center
Today, Tues, July 7th, 6:00 pm: Black Lives Matter Mtg; ILA Hall (1142 Morrison Dr.)
Today, Tues, July 7th, 7:00 pm: “The Story of America: The Third Reconstruction” Screening & Discussion; Circular Congregational Church (150 Meeting Street)
Weds, July 8th, 2:30 – 4:30 pm: #RisingForCharleston with Moms Demand Action in Charleston, SC @ the Charleston Library Society (164 King Street)
Weds, July 8th, 7:30 pm: Lowcountry Peace Candlelight Vigil on the 1st anniversary of the Israeli siege on Gaza. Marion Square
EVERY Thurs, 6:00 pm: Healthcare Workers United (HWU) meets @ the ILA
Fri, July 10th, 5:30 pm: Charleston Brady Chapter Meeting; Circular Congregational Church (150 Meeting Street)
Sun, July 12th, 5-8 pm: Kickoff Party for Straphanger’s March To The Sea; King Dusko (541 King Street)
Tues, July 14th, 6 pm: Intermodal Center Public Hearing; Danny Jones Recreation Center (1455 Monitor Street, North Charleston)
Sat, July 18th, 11am - 5pm: Straphanger’s March To The Sea; Mt Pleasant Towne Centre (1218 Belk Dr., Mt Pleasant, SC)
Mon, July 20th, 6:15 pm: Lowcountry Peace Meeting; ILA (3rd Monday each month)
Mon, July 20th, 7 pm: SC Progressive Network Charleston Chap; ILA (3rd Mon each month)
Thursday- July 23, 2015, 6-8pm, Good Sharing Gathering, Main Library Auditorium at 68 Calhoun St. (Downtown)
Sat, Aug 1st, 10am - noon: Healthcare Justice March; Washington, DC
Sat, Aug 1st, 2015, 9 am: Charleston Pride Parade followed by the rally @ 10 am.
Next C.A.F.E. Charleston meeting: Monday, August 3rd, 2015, at 7:00 pm
Tues, Aug 4th: Citizen's Public Hearing on Transit in the Lowcountry. Moderator: Sen Marlon Kimpson. Public comments welcome (limited to 3 minutes)
Respectfully,
Pastor T A Dixon