The marvelous new militancy, which has engulfed the negro community, must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (about 8:27 in)

No names in that speech, just thoughts. Thoughts for everyone.

One name would have merited special consideration. One white man's name, one Southern man's name, merits special consideration today.

You cannot consider the civil rights movement in any kind of depth without considering this man.

Do not misread that, friends. I mean it fully. It is not possible to consider the movement without the man.

The man, Myles Horton, was born on July 5, 1905.

On Friday - April 25, 2008, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Mark Nolt, a Wenger Mennonite (Horse and Buggy Mennonite) dairyman, threatened for months with arrest for selling raw milk without a permit was removed from his property by state troopers.  

Jonas Stoltzfus, a friend, fellow farmer, and Church of the Brethen, was asked by Mr. Nolt to speak for him, and said of the raid yesterday - "Six state troopers and Bill Chirdon of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture trespassed onto his property, and stole $20-25,000 of his product and equipment."  

Mr. Stoltzfus explained that Mr. Nolt did not have a permit because "he chose to turn his permit back in because it did not cover all the products he was selling.  He felt he was being dishonest selling stuff that was not covered by the permit.  He is a man of great integrity."  

Do I have your attention?  Good. Because I'm burning my daily diary with nothing more than a link to this diary, The "Rosa Parks Act" in Florida, which really does talk about a proposed law.  That law would return civil rights to people convicted under segregation laws, people like Rosa Parks.  Republicans are fighting it for obvious reasons- those are just the sort of, well, uppity n*****s they don't want voting.  And in case you forget just the sort of people we're up against, and to make this a real diary, I will regale you with some appropos original cartoons on the flip.

Cross-posted from Florida Netroots

Back in December of 1955, Rosa Parks challeged a city ordinance in Montgomery, Alabama that segregated transit passengers by race in refusing to give up her seat on a bus to make room for a white passenger. This single courageous act of civil disobedience started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a seminal event in the civil rights movement.

While blatant sexism reduced the roles of women in the Civil Rights Movement, the impact of women leaders in the struggle for racial equality cannot be minimized.  Were it not for the work of many women, the Civil Rights Movement would not have been such a formidable success. Although many stand familiar in the legacy of Rosa Parks, her contribution along with that of other notable women is often pushed back into the contexts and shadows of her male peers. Would bringing more attention to the accomplishments of women activists of the Civil Rights Movement mean reducing the roles of Dr. King, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young Jr., James Farmer, and John Lewis? If so, what then do we say to the legacies of Dorothy Height, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ella Baker, and even Eleanor Roosevelt? Why are there no holidays in their name and honor?

It can be said that leaders of the Civil Rights Movement set out to overcome and reform one specific incarnation of oppression --- racism --- directing energy chiefly on racial inequality, hatred, segregation, and mitigating in hopes of eliminating institutionalized bigotry.  But, did the Civil Rights Movement set out to do more?  While formidable legislation was passed, barriers were broken down, and glass ceilings were shattered, many other matters of change went untouched and took a back seat to issues of race within this movement, including gender, and sexuality.

This one is going to be short.  Today, I tackle an old Paultard talking point.  The idea that Ron Paul thinks of Rosa Parks as a hero, and that voting against her Congressional Gold Medal was actually a good thing, because he was upholding the constitution in her name.  They also bring up the fact that Ron Paul volunteered to donate $100 of his own money, rather than charging the tax payers for it.  Unfortunately, there are a few problems with his story.

I posted this diary almost exactly one year ago.  At the time, Senator Obama had yet to declare his intentions.  I believed his candidacy was necessary to the health of America.  Someone needed to stand up, to serve as locus for all the hate and bigotry festering under the surface of American society, to expose it for all the world to see.  I believed Obama could do that.  I was right.  What I said then holds true today.  The candidacy of Senator Obama has changed America - and for the better, I think.  So - keeping that in mind - here it is, dated references and all:

Yesterday I wrote about fascism, with little optimism.  Today I'm going to write about someone who fought authority in a big way.  After she died two years ago, I wrote about Rosa Parks:

I just read tonight that Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92

I've always loved the real story behind Rosa Parks, which is a bit different than the one most of us read about in school.  The mythology runs that she was a tired lady who just got fed up with having to give up her seats one day.

This isn't quite how it happened.  Rosa Parks was an activist and she knew exactly what she was doing at the time.  The bus boycott didn't just happen spontaneously.  It was planned and executed masterfully.

More on Parks, her legacy, and what we, as activists, can learn from it, after the fold.

Peaceful demonstrators sitting in the Judiciary Chairman's office were arrested by Capitol Police and hauled out in handcuffs to cries of "Shame on  Conyers!"

The Washington Post Eugene Robinson asks the question.. The Moment for This Messenger?

Regarding Barack Obama, it's useful to start with the whole what-is-he thing. Not that there's any question in his mind. "I'm clear about my own identity," Obama said in an interview last week. "I do think that I've become a receptacle for a lot of other people's issues that they need to work out. . . . I've been living with this stuff my whole life."

more below

Dear Senator:

You have to run for President – you absolutely have to.  This goes way beyond personal ambition; or even a heartfelt desire to improve America and the lives of her people.  You have to run because of what has attached itself to merely the hint of your candidacy.  As I’m sure you are more than aware – certain commentators and so-called opinion makers have been attacking you on personal, ethnic and religious grounds.  The terminology is past offensive – scrofulous, aphoristic twaddle - better suited to back of the school-yard pre-adolescent theatrics: ‘halfrican’,or ‘half-minority’,‘Osama Obama’- questioning everything from your sexuality to your childhood and religious upbringing.  You can almost hear "nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!" as the tag line.

Before Father and I left for Iran I told myself I would not post about politics. I'm still very hesitant to do so, mostly because people will think I have 'gone native' if I do. But sometimes it's just more important to report what I see, no matter how far away it is from the Western media portrayal of Iran. In Iran's case the reality of life could not be any farther away from the American perception of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

But let's dispense with the obvious first.

more after the jump

        Here's a scary specter for Halloween; not-so-great "Michigan Civil Rights Initiative" (MCRI) pumpkins threatening the legacy of Rosa Parks. (I took a fragment of a message going the rounds, but there's enough there to say what needs to be said.) Vote on November 7! (or before)

Equality, equal rights, anti-discrimination, a color-blind society...
All terms we hear a lot nowadays.
Do we hear it just because it's politically correct, or do our leaders truly believe in these concepts?
Michigan needs to work for ALL of it's citizens, not just the privileged few.
We've heard the soundbites from Amway Guy "I accept affirmative action as an effective, albeit imperfect solution." (Michigan TurnAround Plan, Vol. 5, pg 15)
Now we follow the money trail...
And surprise, surprise - once again Tricky Dick's money and actions sure speak a lot louder than his cute little 30 second ads.

     See this Louisiana horror story, Black students ordered to give up seats to white children: Status of Red River Parish bus driver is unknown,

     "Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.

     The situation has outraged relatives of the black children who have filed a complaint with school officials.

     ...The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also is considering filing a formal charge with the U.S. Department of Justice. NAACP District Vice President James Panell, of Shreveport, said he would apprise Justice attorneys of the situation this week. ..."

     We could certainly use a Rosa Parks state (wherever you are) or national holiday(s), to remind us of the need for equality.....

"...The Feminist Majority, along with the National Organization for Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Association of University Women, oppose the weakening of Michigan's civil rights laws to allow sex-segregated public education. Such developments are reminiscent of segregation-era classrooms in which "separate but equal" was never a reality."

, was so bad (not to mention her floundering gubernatorial race, led by questionable party officials like Mich. Dem. Party chair Mark Brewer, who was almost arrested for trespassing at the headquarters of Granholm's Republican foe Dick DeVos!!), that I was tempted to put my name on the Democratic primary ballot as a write-in.

     (more below)

Dear Billmon,

I hope you don't mind me contacting you in this way, but I suspect many people feel the same way you feel.