Celebrating Selma and John Lewis

Next weekend, March 5-7, the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Al., will be celebrated virtually and for the first time John Lewis will be missing from the front row of marchers. I have compiled some writing on my experiences in Selma and share it here. But let's all be clear. As history from 56 years ago and the fight for voting rights is celebrated, over two hundred laws suppressing the right to vote are being proposed and passed in State Legislatures across the country. How far we haven't come since those bloody days in Selma.

SELMA, ALABAMA 1965 - By Jim Wilson 2/2021

 "Selma,  Alabama became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it. There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March 25, 1965 - Montgomery, Alabama

In March of 1965, I was a college student at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, NH, famous for Presidential Debates even in those years. But how I got there is worth some time and explanation. I had come to St. Anselm's from Maryknoll Seminary in Glen Ellyn, Ill. I had left the seminary the previous year, wasn't sure what I should be doing but chose St. Anselm's partly because my brother was in the Benedictine Monastery associated with the College. Maryknoll was and is a religious missionary order known for its association with social justice issues. Part of why I left the seminary was because it just didn't seem that I could get involved in those social issues quickly enough. It would be eight years before being ordained to the priesthood and before being sent on a mission to some developing nation. In Chicago, farmworkers and others were protesting and demonstrating against Campbell Soup Co.. Priests and seminarians from Maryknoll got involved but it wasn't enough for me. Of course my grades weren't that hot either. So I left in the middle of my Sophomore year, took the summer off and hit St Anselm's running the following fall.

I very quickly found like minded students and professors at St. Anselm's. People concerned about poverty, peace and justice. There was a small, tight group that became involved in the Young Christian Students movement. The organization was involved in various social issues that were facing our world at the time. Lots of things were going on - the war in Vietnam, the draft, the civil rights movement, and much more. Our group got together, discussed issues and got involved in demonstrations and other political action in Boston, Mass.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Council were asked to join other groups that were already working on voter rights demonstrations and issues In Selma, Alabama in late 1964. An injunction had been put in place making it illegal to even talk to two or more people at one time about civil rights or voter registration issues in that city. Dr. King spoke to a mass meeting at Brown Chapel in January of 1965, directly defying the injunction. On February 18, 1965, an Alabama State Trooper shot a young man named Jimmie Lee Jackson as he tried to protect his mother and grandfather in a cafe where they fled while participating in a night time civil rights demonstration in Marion, Alabama. Jackson died 8 days later. On Sunday March 7th, in response to the shooting, about 600 people marched east out of Selma.  Governor George Wallace denounced the march and declared he would take whatever measures necessary to prevent it. The march was led by John Lewis and the Rev. Hosea Williams. They made it only as far as the other side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a mere six blocks from Brown Chapel. There, State Troopers and Dallas County Sheriff's and deputized citizens, some mounted on horseback, waited for the marchers. Then in the presence of the news media, the lawmen attacked the peaceful demonstrators with billy clubs, tear gas and whips. As people watched horrified on the TV news, the event quickly became known as 'Bloody Sunday'.

My friends and I, along with millions of other people watched those newscasts taking place on TV. We were shocked and outraged at what we saw and as enthusiastic and probably a bit naive young people, we determined that something had to be done to right this wrong. We began to make arrangements to fly to Selma as soon as possible. We were going to go as a group of 10 or 12 students. At the same time, Martin Luther King, Jr. put out a call for religious leaders and people from the north to head to Selma. He was planning another march on that Tuesday, March, 9th. He sought a court order to prohibit the police from interfering with the march. Instead of a court order, the federal judge issued a restraining order preventing the march until he could review documents and issue an opinion. So, as Dr. King was planning his second march, students from St. Anselm's were planning their trip and arrival in Selma.

Plane schedules and tickets were gotten; people began packing small bags and getting ready for the trip to the airport. As I was cleaning up in the dorm bathroom and showers, my group of friends all came in with long faces. I asked what was wrong and one of them spoke up and said they couldn't go. I said "what do you mean you can't go?" One of the fellows volunteered that they had all called their parents and were told they couldn't go to such a dangerous place. I laughed and asked "why did you call your parents? Of course they'd say no." Right or wrong I had no intention of calling my parents. I had my tickets and planned on making the trip. The rest of the group, along with one of our Benedictine professors drove me later that night to Boston for the long trip to Alabama. I would arrive on Tuesday, alone and scared to death.

So there I was on a small plane to Alabama. Basically I was AWOL from college and later learned I was to be expelled for leaving campus without permission. That changed once it was recognized that St. Anselm's was one of the first colleges represented in Selma.

Dr. King was facing his own political issues as he and the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Council along with the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee were planning the second march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was decided that they would walk across the bridge, kneel and pray and then turn around and return to Brown Chapel. This action wouldn't violate the injunction that had been placed on the march by a sympathetic judge, who in the end, King believed would support the march to Montgomery. But King didn't tell the 2500 marchers who had traveled to Selma about his plans and many became angry and frustrated at what became known as the turnaround march. People had come great distances to be there and to show their support. Dr. King asked people to stay. He explained that another march would take place once the injunction was lifted but many people left.

I landed in Montgomery and was immediately met by a white volunteer who took me to an airport exit and quickly pushed me into a waiting car driven by a young black man. Both of us in our early twenties on an unknown adventure. We exchanged a few words. He thanked me for being there. He told me that he would be driving me to Brown Chapel in Selma. It was beginning to get dark and he warned me that if there were any cars behind us or cars coming toward us that I should duck down and not be seen. When I asked why he told me that Ku Klux Klan members and others knew that local blacks were transporting people from the north to Selma and that they were prepared to beat or kill both drivers and passengers. Suddenly the reality of my trip began to sink in. The fear that I felt that evening stayed with me the whole time I was in Selma.

While I was on that drive there was a murder. One of the ministers who had traveled from the north was beaten while walking the streets of Selma. James Reeb, a Unitarian minister had come to town from Boston just days before. He and some friends had gone out to dinner that night. As they walked past a local hang out they were attacked with clubs and baseball bats. Selma's public hospital refused to treat Reeb and he had to be transported two hours to Birmingham where he died two days later. Reeb's beating and eventual death caused outrage around the country and that in itself created more controversy for Dr. King. Many in the local black community as well as members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee were angry that Jimmie Lee Jackson's death didn't receive the same notoriety or level of concern. They resented the fact that it took the death of a white preacher to get real attention.

I found myself at the picket line on the street in front of Brown Chapel for the next week or so, day and night, singing and praying with the children of Selma. Most of the adults were inside the Chapel. There was a line of protesters and a line of police facing each other. Every time they gave an inch, we took an inch. At a certain point Sheriff Jim Clark and Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor tied up a clothesline rope and said if anyone crossed that line they'd pay the consequences. That rope became a symbol of confrontation and was dubbed the 'Berlin Wall'. Myself and a few others began singing to the tune of the Battle of Jericho:

They've got a rope that's the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall, Berlin Wall.

They've got a rope that's the Berlin Wall

In Selma, Alabama.

Hate is the thing that built that wall

Built that wall, built that wall.

Love is the thing that will make it fall

In Selma, Alabama.

On Friday, King asked authorities that marchers be able to go a few blocks to the courthouse steps in Selma to hold a memorial service for Rev. Reeb. His request was refused. On Saturday, small groups of protesters were brought into Brown Chapel, 5 or 6 at a time. Andrew Young, one of King's colleagues who later became UN Ambassador and the Mayor of Atlanta, Ga. explained our next action. Demonstrators outside would try to hold the attention of the police by shouting, singing and going from one end of the street to the other causing the police to change their positions. Basically cause a raucous and raise hell.  He was looking for volunteers to try to continue to fool the police by going out one at a time with a local black companion to make a run for the steps of the courthouse at the same time that all of this was going on. Those who made it would hold the memorial service. I volunteered. My partner was a boy not older than 12. People began going out a side door. People were moving fast. Our time came and we ran like hell across the street, through the projects and through the woods. Branches from trees cut across my face and I was panting hard. In the distance I heard sirens. Jim Clark and his men had discovered our plan. My young partner yelled for me to hurry up and keep running. I realized at that point that we were both a little crazy. We arrived at the courthouse at the same time as the Sheriff and his men. There were others from our group already walking in a tight circle close to the courthouse steps and we joined them. There was always more safety in numbers. Local whites spat on us, swore at us and threatened us physically while deputies laughed and played with their clubs. We were ordered to walk back to Brown Chapel and we did so in a double line to give the impression of a march. Locals jeered us all along the way, spitting in our faces. A small price considering.

At this point, Dr. King was spending a lot of time shuttling between Selma and Montgomery trying to negotiate both the injunction and the court order. More and more people were arriving in Selma as a result of Rev. Reeb's death. There was little housing or shelter other than Brown Chapel, tarps and the projects across the street where black families opened their doors to strangers. Some of us stayed outside in the street. All night and all day. Singing and praying. I eventually got very sick and had to leave for home before the final march from Selma to Montgomery but some of my friends from St. Anselm's eventually got their parents permission and made it. I ended up in the hospital with pleurisy and a collapsed lung.

Eventually 25,000 people including celebrities, students and clergy from all over the country ended up on the capitol steps in Montgomery, protected by the US Army, the National Guard and the FBI. That evening, March 25th, Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five from Detroit was assassinated by KKK members while she was driving marchers back to Selma from Montgomery. An FBI informant was among the Klansman in the car from which the shots were fired.

Those days and nights in Selma seemed longer than they actually were. It was barely spring. The nights were cool and the rain came for days at a time. What sleep there was, came on a pew in Brown Chapel or on the floor in the apartment of a local black family with other demonstrators. There was no time or place for showers. I had brought the basics with me. When I left Manchester, NH, I really had no idea if I'd be gone for a day or for weeks. The clothes on my back were pretty much what I had - a black suit, white shirt, a black tie, shoes and socks, a black raincoat and a couple of extra pair of underwear. That was pretty much it along with a shaving kit. All of this was basically my uniform from my days in the seminary, black and more black. Intentional or not I looked like a young clergyman from the north. That perception may have saved me once or twice or endangered me more often then I imagine.

Brown Chapel like so many other churches in the south had become the headquarters and center of the demonstrations in Selma. The street in front of Brown Chapel had intersections at both ends and the church was approximately in the center of the block. The street had been barricaded at both ends by the police. The clothesline at the one end had become a symbol rather then a real barrier so the wooden barricades became necessary. In effect, anyone who came to demonstrate became confined in that one block space. There were ways to escape the area. People could find ways to leave a few at a time through the back and on to the streets of Selma. The first Sunday that I was there, myself and two others went to the Catholic Church located in another part of town to attend Mass. We arrived early, went in and met the priest who was preparing for the service. He welcomed us, knew we were civil rights demonstrators and told us as long as no blacks were with us everything would be fine. The church was segregated, I couldn't believe it. I decided not to attend Mass that morning and headed back to Brown Chapel. I didn't really question my religion at the time but I certainly began questioning the people in it.

During the day the block filled with demonstrators singing, chanting and pressing to be allowed to march, a simple symbol of their freedom and rights - denied every day. At this point, a march to the courthouse for a memorial service for Rev. Reeb had become the simple focus. If that could happen, the march to Montgomery would surely follow. During that early period, the crowd of demonstrators was probably 75' deep with other people either in Brown Chapel or milling around in the street. Police presence was always greater at the end of the street where the protesters gathered. Every now and then as part of an organized plan, protesters would move quickly to the other end of the street. Police sirens would wail and cars and horses would ride down a parallel street to meet everyone at the new location at the other end of the block. Frustrations grew and at one point there was talk of meeting force with force but that never happened mainly due to the leadership of Rev. Hosea Williams, Andrew Young and John Lewis.

Mass meetings were held at night inside of Brown Chapel. Songs were sung, speeches given and strategies developed. News of Dr. King's negotiations with the federal government were relayed and recounted. I personally enjoyed taking the night shift outside. The crowd was smaller and we were just really making sure there was a presence continually at the barricade during these times. Most of my partners during those evening and nighttime hours were youngsters. They had beautiful voices and enthusiasm. Sometimes there were 10-15 of us standing there singing to police in helmets and riot gear. It was a time when both sides could look each other in the eye and even converse. There were plenty of mean men but there were also those who pleaded with us to come to our senses and stop what they considered the madness. They told us violence would occur and they didn't want to hurt anyone. They themselves were learning about the power of nonviolence and were uncomfortable with the potential orders they would have to follow. It rained and it poured one night. A tarp was set up and it effectively caught water that eventually would overflow and come down on our heads and necks. A fire burned nearby and we would warm ourselves for short periods. Food and coffee were brought to us from neighbors living along the street. These were the sights and sounds of Selma in 1965 as I remember them now.

What did I feel, learn and see in Selma? Here are a few words and concepts that remind me the most of Selma. Fear - absolute and real; Music and its importance for body and soul; Spirituality - the spirituality of the black people of the south in particular; The children of Selma - children, 7 or 8 to 15 or 16 and all ages in between. They were fearless and offered leadership to their parents and visitors from the north; the seniors of Selma - the elders who had seen it all and who knew things had to change; the hatred of the white community, my race; The absolute authority and abuse of power by the police.

So we know that Selma helped to change our country and civil rights, but how did it change me? What impact did it have on my life - then and in the future? It certainly matured me at least from an experience standpoint. I saw things I had never seen, felt things I had never felt and met people with tremendous passion and leadership qualities. Selma really did help to define me and to define my beliefs about many things. It helped me begin to study the world and people differently. Selma was my introduction to the philosophy of nonviolence. When I went, I knew a little about non-violence but mostly as a tactic. I didn't have any real experience with it. Arriving in this place where violence and intimidation were acceptable when blacks tried to do something as basic as register to vote or to speak up about it, I began to realize that non-violence was much bigger. I became more curious because of what I saw and what I witnessed. Selma opened my eyes to the likes of Gandhi and Dorothy Day and to pacifism as a belief and way of life. It certainly didn't happen overnight, but my mind was opened to writings and ideas that spread the word not just of peace but also about conscience and acts of conscience, civil disobedience and activism. Selma set me off in a new direction and it really was the first time I realized the power and importance of conscience. I would be arrested numerous times for acts of conscience in the future. I would be a part of other movements against violence and injustice and it really all came from that short but important experience in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

Socialism or Capitalism? Neither One Seems To Work In A Pandemic!

We all know the debate. It was started most recently by the former President and his followers in the fascist wing of the GOP.  Socialism is terrible, the road to communism and State control. Capitalism is wonderful. It encourages competition, individual success and a market driven economy. Or from progressives, Capitalism leaves out those on the bottom and just leads to a smaller and smaller group of people who are in power. Socialism will solve all of our problems, everyone will be treated equally.

Well it turns out that all we need is a pandemic and a mass vaccination program to prove that neither of these systems seem to work. That's right, the Covid vaccine implementation response in the US is pretty clear proof that no one has very many answers to protecting citizens in the US and that should scare the hell out of everyone.

Operation Warp Speed may have been fast in the development of vaccines, partly by eliminating regulatory hoops for FDA approval, but that's about it. Getting shots into arms has been a disaster. Public Health has failed, federal, state and local governments have failed and so has the private sector through a network of pharmacies. In all of these cases, the incompetence relative to information technology is absolutely stunning. People all over our country are chasing their tails, jumping lines, finding out who they know, trying to help parents or grandparents and driving themselves crazy from early morning to late at night, attempting to get that elusive vaccine appointment.

It's a shambles, from approving more eligible categories than the supply can accommodate, to sending mixed messages about where appointments can be made. Yes, it is and it will get better but it never should have happened this way. People should never have been put through the maze and stress that we've seen up until now. Information technology exists that would have allowed people to fill out a form once, become pre-registered and placed on a wait list tone contacted when their turn came. There are systems we use everyday that would allow the kind of straight forward management necessary. Did anyone ever think of the fact that information on people over 65 is already captured through Medicare? That's just one example. Did anyone realize that the pharmacies being contracted with would all set up their own separate registration processes leaving people to navigate three or four different systems?

Let it sink in. These are the people who are responsible for other agencies that supposedly build fail safe systems for nuclear war or who are able to land a vehicle on Mars. Organized government can accomplish great things but it can certainly also be responsible for great failures and irresponsible behavior. There are over 500,000 souls and 500,000 families that can attest to that. There's no excuse for the failures we've seen and yes, we should expect more.

Ineffectiveness and Hypocrisy of Congress

Here we are, in the middle of a pandemic, with a change in power and massive needs of our populace. Businesses are hurting, people are struggling and parents are just trying to cope. On top of all of that, a mob of thousands attempted to use force to change a democratic election. You would think that such times and issues would be a call to action, quick and deliberate action, by our elected officials in Congress. 

No - we have quickly settled into the ineffectiveness and hypocrisy that Congress and other levels of government are known for. Both major political parties are to blame. Finger pointing and obstruction, self serving back patting and showmanship, all of these things are on full display in this "new" Congress.

Imagine, a new President, legitimately elected by the majority of voters, has to struggle to get a Cabinet appointed. What are the objections and concerns? After four years of someone bashing everyone on a daily basis on Twitter, the concern now by Republicans and Joe Manchin is "mean tweets" by a nominee for a Cabinet post. Hypocrites. Or, the people who confirmed someone as unqualified as Betsy DeVos are now super concerned about competency in specific fields.

Both parties seem to have two speeds when it comes to getting anything done - slow and slower. First things first for them - three or four days of work every week and vacations and breaks before and after vacations. Very efficient. Then there's the committee structure or "lets gum up the works asap". Yes, there are public hearings where Senators and House Members play to cameras, make speeches instead of asking meaningful questions and where they always go over a silly five minute per speaker rule. Every once in awhile a Chairperson comes up with a radical idea to give everyone eight minutes. True hearings would allow trained and competent legal staff from each side the ability to ask the needed questions.

The Democrats have a one vote majority with the Vice President voting, except they don't really because Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are pretty much always a question on important issues. So, they can't get rid of the filibuster, can't get some nominees approved and have to tip toe around lots of issues. 

Covid relief should have been passed already. The John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act has been hanging out there and should have been passed already, along with The For the People Act, first introduced and passed in the House in 2019 to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering, etc. But no, they sit in the Senate waiting, waiting while states like Georgia pass new Jim Crow laws preventing people of color from voting. Thirty five states or more now have voter suppression laws pending or being drafted while the Senate waits. Yes, there are over 200 laws to suppress votes currently in state legislatures.

People want to argue about bipartisanship. These are the same people who pushed through judicial appointments and traded them for many of the 500,000 Covid deaths that have occurred  The same people who held up all sorts of legislation and voted over and over again to do away with the Affordable Healthcare Act. Interesting that now bipartisanship is so, so very important. The county's support for change should be the measure of bipartisanship, not the whims of old white men who mostly have been in office too long.

Attacks on Andrew Cuomo are the latest example of hypocrisy, both on his part and on the part of the people attacking him. Everyone has known for years what his management and personal style are like. He is a bully who holds grudges and pays people back for any lack of loyalty. Again, these are known facts. People have kowtowed to him forever. Now suddenly, everyone is appalled at his style of governing? Pretty disingenuous to me. He's the latest though to fill the vacuum left by the last bully in chief.

In the end, pressure has to be put on Congress and government on all levels to move more deliberately and swiftly. The inability of government officials to act in the interest of people is an embarrassment to everyone.

Remembering Some History - Selma & The Right To Vote

A few weeks ago I received an invite from Anna Suranyi, a History Professor at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. The purpose was to give a talk about my experiences in Selma, Al. back in 1965. 

A few years back I had given a similar talk to another one of Professor Suranyi’s class but in that case it was a live, in-person event. This time would be different. Due to the pandemic, the plan this time would be to do the presentation via Zoom. I had my original slide show and I felt good about doing something like this again. For the past year, like so many of you, I’ve been pretty much quarantined in my house. Of course it’s not just the pandemic. My current health status and the need for supplemental oxygen have restricted my mobility.

Of course there were other reasons to do this. February is Black History Month and it seemed both fitting and important to be able to offer something like this to students during that period. We’re also just a few weeks away from the 56th Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee that will be held on March 5-7th. This will be the first year in recent memory without John Lewis, the civil rights icon and leader of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in ‘65. The reenactment is another victim of the pandemic and will be held virtually this year. Information on the event can be found at Selma Jubilee. So like I said, plenty of good reasons to agree to the invite.

On Feb. 18th, 2021, I logged onto Zoom and spent a little over an hour showing my slides, sharing experiences and telling stories about that time so long ago. I’ve written a lot about Selma over the years and I’m also in the process of putting a number of other personal historical documents together for posterity, so I didn’t really need much preparation. But of course, nerves are nerves so there were a few hours of wondering if I really could do justice to the topic and to the students. My goal was to not come across as an old man from the 60’s (which of course I am) talking about how great everything was and how we changed the world back then (which we didn’t). I wanted these young people to know that I was basically like them at that point in time. I was 21, trying to figure out who I was, where I fit in and how I could make a difference. I was growing, learning and experimenting with ideas, politics and personal values. I was in that state of rebellion that parents know so well. In my taIk, i also wanted to verbalize my frustration about what I thought had been accomplished in that moment in history and where we are now.

I wanted the students to relate the struggle to obtain the right to vote in the south in 1965 to the movement toward voter suppression that we have today. Here we are in 2021 with the Voting Rights Act virtually gutted, while there are at least 165 bills in state legislatures putting more restrictions on people’s ability to vote, especially people of color. Wrap tour head around that. None of us can feel cocky or complacent with that reality. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act’s passage is imperative along with the For The People Act. Both of these need to be a priority for Congress and our country. 

In the end, I think the presentation went well. There was clearly interest and the students made all the connections themselves. Time for a few questions and comments at the end that made me realize that we have to share oral and written history all the time so people can put their own times in context.

The Republic May Not Survive

Can a Republic survive with such a weakened two party system? I'm not sure that it can. In America, the GOP has gone into a total downward spiral and it doesn't look like it can recover. The silence of GOP Senators, the closing of their eyes and ears in reaction to an attempt to hold Donald Trump accountable is amazing. What's on display is the selfishness of GOP elected officials. Their only concern is what personal impact any of this has on them. Will they be reelected? How will they be viewed? Were they quoted accurately in any reports about the insurrection. They are not loyal to any democratic values or at least they don't seem to be. They do not seem to be committed to any sense of justice. All of these things are what makes me think the Republic may not be able to survive. It also makes me realize that the Republican party has left a lot of people and it will suffer. But so will all of us.

Watching the Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump also points out how dark things really are in terms of people's beliefs. People who may look normal when you meet them on the street or in the coffee shop. We have to think about what made people believe absolute and clear lies about the 2020 election? What has caused people to hate so much? Why were people prepared to assassinate elected officials on January 6th? How could people who cloak themselves as patriots, feel that they had or have a right to overthrow a government? There is no question that these people believed the lies they were fed and they were totally loyal to Donald Trump but why so dark, so destructive?

I have no answers. I just know that we're in a very bad place. A demagogue and autocrat may have helped  get us here but our troubles go much deeper. People of goodwill need to work at and find solutions.