Choosing the Hard Path

Choosing the Hard Path, A Personal History and Memoir, my book, is published. It isn't just a story, it's a series of stories, one right after the other. It's the story of a young family in New Jersey looking for a better life, one different than the previous generation of immigrants and working class folks who had to fight for every inch of recognition and success. 

It's the story of those immigrants and early Americans from places like Ireland, Scotland and Germany. They were butchers and farmers, seamstresses, and bakers, working and living hard in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Michigan. 

It's the story of the 60s where change was coming at high speed. Where parents scratched their heads at new music, new fashion and new ideas. The cars were faster and sleeker. Polaroid cameras gave people what they considered near instant pictures and tape recorders and high fidelity record players were things every one wanted.

It's the story of the civil rights movement. White liberals and religious groups got involved in things like Freedom Summer, Selma and Freedom Rides.

It's the story of a young man looking for his place, his vocation, his calling and all of the people he met.

Along the way and woven through these stories, one gets a sense of conflicts and choices needing to be made by lots of people, lots of players. Families struggled to understand each other. Political movements and leaders learned about and utilized new tactics to bring about change.

John Lewis, Dorothy Day, Dan and Phil Berrigan are a few of the people you'll meet but there are so many more.

Writing this book has been exciting for me. There are people who needed to be written about and that has been a joy. There are records and stories that needed to be set straight or clarified. I hope it offers something to historians and inquiring minds. Perhaps to people who are faced with their own hard paths and choices.

So, go to Amazon.com, books and search for Choosing the Hard Path: A Personal History and Memoir by Jim Wilson. The book is $16.95 + shipping and handling. Enjoy!

 

Followup & Return Trips To Selma

As you read below, please remember there are now 253 bills in 43 states to restrict voting access. Voter suppression is alive and well.....And this weekend the 56th reenactment of the march will take place virtually. Find out more at www.selmajubilee.com

Return Trips

In February of 2003 I got a phone call from a journalist friend. I'll always be grateful to her for that call. She told me that during a regularly scheduled conference call with the press, Congressman Amo Houghton who represented the Southern Tier region of NYS, had mentioned a trip he was taking with Congressman John Lewis to Selma, Alabama in March for the reenactment of the bridge crossing that had happened there many years before. Gwen mentioned to the Congressman that she knew someone in the district who had participated in the original march. Within days of that call I was contacted by Congressman Houghton's office and invited to participate in the pilgrimage back to Selma.

It turns out that the trip was much more then a trip to Selma. John Lewis and Amo Houghton had been working together for a number of years with an organization called the Faith and Politics Institute. At that time the organization was led by Doug Tanner. Lewis and Houghton were trying to work on the principle of civility in congress. They were true brothers in that effort. They were from completely different backgrounds but they had found common ground and were committed to working together. The pilgrimage had been going on for a number of years and continues to this day. During the pilgrimage, Lewis and other leaders of the civil rights movement take a large group of Senators and Congressman, along with guests to the historical landmarks of the civil rights movement - Montgomery, Birmingham and finally on Sunday to Selma and the crossing of the Edmond Pettus Bridge. But it is different than it was in 1965. On Sunday and throughout their trip they are escorted by black and white troopers and sheriffs. Throughout the trip, John Lewis told stories in only the way he can, about the experiences of black America in the 60's and before.

But let me tell you about my experience returning on that March in 2003. I drove to Washington, DC and met Congressman Houghton at the Capitol on the morning we were to leave. I got on the bus that we were taking from the Capitol to the airport and sat down with elected officials of the United States Congress along with people like Jack Kemp, former Congressman and football great from Buffalo. A police escort with sirens blaring took us through Washington and to the airport. I was mesmerized and a bit confused, out of sorts, out of body perhaps. Things didn't seem right. This was all very legal. I don't think anyone, including myself realized what a shock all of this was going to be to me. I was literally dumbfounded.

We visited all of the important places that honor the civil rights movement and its leaders and foot soldiers. Here are a few pictures of that trip. The first is of Congressman John Lewis and myself. John Lewis is a personal hero of mine. He was beaten to the ground in 1965 at the front of the march along with Rev. Hosea Williams. The second is a picture of the Mayor of Selma, James Perkins, myself and Congressman Amo Houghton at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

As Amo Houghton and I walked toward the bridge in Selma, we drifted toward the back of the crowd away from the media crunch that always seems to be following the folks up front. We chatted as we walked and eventually were joined by a man to our left. It turned out to be James Perkins, Jr. the first black Mayor elected in Selma in 2000. We told our stories. Perkins was 10 when the original march took place. He could have been one of those youngsters who inspired me so many years ago with their song and spirit - fearless young leaders. He could have been my co-conspirator and partner running through the woods to the courthouse through the public housing pictured below across from Brown Chapel. As we neared the bridge, he put his hand on my shoulder, took my hand and said, "You know the only reason I'm the Mayor of this city is because of you and people like you." We hugged. It was an emotional moment for both of us.

Fast forward to 2010. That was the year I decided I was going to go back to Selma again but on my own. I was going to get in my car and make my own pilgrimage and I did. Only it wasn't on my own. I invited my older brother and oldest son, both living in New Jersey to join me. Again, these trips are emotional for me and this time we were able to see more of Selma and the poverty that is a part of the landscape today. But we also met good people both black and white who understand their history better than us. We were a bit lost one day and my son asked two bike patrol officers for some directions and information. We ended up seeing these officers over and over and suddenly came to the realization that the city was pretty small and directions pretty simple. At one of these encounters one of the young officers came over and engaged me in some conversation. He asked if I was one of the original marchers? I answered in the affirmative. He was white and his partner was black, both in their late twenties or early thirties. What he said next was another one of those emotional surprises. He apologized to me for the actions of law enforcement officers in 1965 and he meant it. He was ashamed of their actions and the way people were treated. I thanked him for his kind words.

I went back for the 50th celebration and reenactment in Selma in 2015. I shared that time with my youngest son Brian and my wife Jeannette. The tradition and experience should go on. Make the trip.

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.

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.

Understand The Outrage

The fact is, there are people who don't understand the outrage people are feeling from the latest justice failure in Louisville, Kentucky. All of us, yes all of us, should step back for a moment and understand the reality of why people are outraged.

Breonna Taylor was a young Black woman who's life was erased by the Kentucky Attorney General and the Grand Jury that looked at the incident leading to her death. She isn't the first Black woman or the only Black person whose life has been erased by various Police Departments, States, and Grand Jurys. Think about that. Her life was literally erased from the incident that occurred in her apartment so many months ago. Her name didn't seem to appear anywhere in the indictment that was issued by the Grand Jury. People dwelling in other apartments at the time of the incident were named, but Breonna Taylor, shot as a bystander was not mentioned. 

That in itself is a major part of the outrage. The pain that Breonna's family must feel is incomprehensible to me. A young woman, an EMT and first responder in her community, shot six times and killed in an incident where the actual facts of the warrant and process continue to be under investigation. Yet her name, her person and her being are erased from the entire affair. 

So yes, we can condemn violence and condemn looting but in the end that will make little difference if we don't begin to understand the injustice of a judicial and investigative process that erases people from receiving any justice. This is why we have to say her name - Breonna Taylor - over and over, until more people associated with administering what is supposed to be equal justice begin to understand. The justice system has to change. There has to be transparency when police officers are involved in the death of citizens. Until we have those kind of changes, there will continue to be righteous outrage and anger and people will continue to say her name - Breonna Taylor......Breonna Taylor shot and killed as a bystander with no justice.

"Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation" John R. Lewis

Everyone should read the last words published by John Lewis. You can read them here. They are powerful words for all of us but especially for the young people involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. John Lewis is speaking clearly to a younger generation, offering them a hand  to rise up onto his shoulders. He understood the need and passion for change better than most. He understood the costs and the pain. That's why he offered his support and wisdom. He's warning us that it won't be easy. It never has been. But he's offering leadership and support that is so lacking from others.

Don't be afraid to speak up and speak out. Don't be afraid of the consequences. Depend on each other. Build bridges within movements, not walls. When you see injustice, don't let it stand, do something about it.

Let's all remember what a radical he was. He wasn't always loved. He certainly wasn't loved when he sat down in the well of the House of Representatives and led other Congresspeople in a sit in there. Also always remember that he was radical in his nonviolent resistance throughout his life. He knew and understood nonviolence. He understood its political power and its ability to force his antagonists to face their own hatred and anger. 

We owe John Lewis a great deal but he already knew that and he accepted what we gave back to him humbly. The real challenge now though is to read those words he wrote and not just today but many times as battles ahead are faced. Finally, let's celebrate the leader that he was with the wisdom to reach out to the young people who are in the streets today and tomorrow. 

Prophets and Saints Among Us - John R. Lewis

I first met John Lewis in 1965. He wasn't famous. He wasn't a big shot of any kind. I had gone down to Selma, Al. just days after the nation watched on TV as a mob of deputies beat and pushed back 600 peaceful marchers. Over the next few weeks I was in Selma, either in Brown Chapel or outside on the street trying to march from the area where police had effectively penned us all in. I was 21, a college student and pretty naive. John Lewis was 25, already a leader and very smart. 

There was a lot going on in that time and place. Much of it I've only learned about years later by reading books and talking to others who participated. While I stood facing a rope that sheriff deputies had put up to fence us in and singing protest songs with local youngsters, John Lewis, Hosea Williams, Andrew Young and James Bevel among others were fine tuning and organizing behind the scenes. Martin Luther King,  Jr. and Ralph Abernathy were away from Selma negotiating with a federal judge about the march to Montgomery. The others were left behind to keep things moving and organized. There were tensions between younger generation protesters represented by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Council (SNCC) and the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC). There were philosophical minefields and some things had to be threaded through the eye of a needle to keep everyone focused on the same mission. This tends to happen in political movements of any type but resolution here was critical.

The nights were cold and rainy. I remember John Lewis huddled with others around a fire in a 55 gallon drum. Some people were mad and arguing about outsiders taking over their protest, their movement. Lewis would go back and forth between the fire and the Chapel and relay messages and feelings from the younger folks to the older (over 30) leaders of SCLC. That's how I remember it anyway, even though I wasn't any part of the conversations. I just knew there was tension and some of us were just supposed to keep the police focused and distracted by our presence at the rope and barricades. 

So that was my first encounter with John Lewis. We probably drank coffee from the same pot and may have shared a sandwich from the boxes that were made by people in the neighborhood. I do know we shared the warmth of that fire in the drum on a few cold nights.

I met John again in 2003. By that time most everybody knew who the Congressman from Georgia was, including me and I was in awe. I had been invited by my then Congressman Amo Houghton to go along with him on the annual Faith & Politics Institute's Congressional Pilgrimage to Alabama. At that time the Institute was Co-Chaired by Lewis and Houghton, a bit of an odd couple but they had grown to be very close, an attribute John Lewis was famous for. When Amo introduced me to John it was as "this is the fellow I told you about who was with you in Selma." John Lewis' reaction was immediate. He took my hand, pulled me toward him and we embraced while he patted me on the shoulder. "Good to see you. We'll talk along the way" he said and we did. We caught up as they say.

That trip included plane flights, bus trips, hotel stops and meals as well as stops at major civil rights historical sites. John did what he did best. He shared the stories of his past and about those sites, the good times and the bad times, the victories and the dreams not yet met. Along the way, I told John about my history after my experience in Selma. How I had gone to the Catholic Worker in NYC, met and worked with Dorothy Day, opposed the war in Vietnam, refused induction and went to federal prison. He knew of Dorothy, the Worker, her work for nonviolence and peace. He told me he was proud of the action I took against the war and thanked me for it.

His passing is hard. He was like a beacon. I'm glad he got to see that Black Lives Matter painted on the street in Washington D.C.  To look down on it and to stand on the letters. He made that and so much more happen. John Lewis was someone you could believe in. Justice and peace and reconciliation were the things he stood for but that didn't mean he couldn't get angry or raise hell when he had to. The world is a better place because of John Lewis. He knew how to laugh and sing and dance after the hard work was done. He was just one of the prophets and saints among us and we were lucky to have him. Rest in Power John Lewis.

The Culture of Policing and What We Can and Must Change

There has been much talk since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, about changing policing in America. Change is necessary and long overdue as we continue to see more examples of inappropriate use of force on a daily basis. But while we change it, we need to understand this culture that all of us have helped to create.

Policing is really about power, authority, domination and control. It's also about who's in control. We know it, we just don't talk about it very clearly or often enough. The power and control spills over into other jobs and institutions like prisons, mental health facilities, group homes, homeless shelters, schools and health care facilities. Anywhere that one group of people is deemed in control and more powerful than another group. In this process, the kept become less human than their keepers and all of the rules change. We are no longer all equal under the law. Not all of the keepers are bad people but they have to fight every day to continue to see the humanity of people placed under their control. They face peer pressure as well as supervisory and administrative pressure to meet their mission of control and order and economic bottom lines.

Unless we understand that this is what we do to each other and what we expect others to do for us, we will never be able to change all of the systems that need to be changed. The intimidation of a prison guard, being able to control when you eat, if you shower, or what you read, is not that much different than a bad policeman, teacher, clerk in an office and so on. Power over others seems to be addictive and it can spread within institutional thinking. Policies, training and protections have to be in place to control it. Treating people with dignity and respect is a basic value that should drive any organization. It becomes much, much worse when we add racism to the equation. Yes, when people in power are mostly white, when the people they represent are mostly white, should we be surprised at how racism creeps into this system of power and control. People of color are treated differently with every interaction and we should all know it by now.

We add to the problem when we model our police after the military or worse a militia. It starts with uniforms, insignias, badges and titles like Chief, Lieutenant and Sargent. It moves forward more clearly with weapons, guns and military grade equipment. Crowd control demands more oppressive items like shields, three foot batons, tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The weaponry and guns of the police have increased in a similar way as the nuclear arms race. As guns and the use of guns have increased in the US, police agencies have felt the need to keep up to try to stay on equal footing with criminals. Law enforcement, municipalities and legislators just can't seem to connect the dots between more guns equaling more guns. Yes, we've continued to militarize the police. All of these things have seemed appropriate at one time or another, unless of course your head was clubbed or your son or daughter was gassed while protesting.

The black experience with law enforcement is brutal and immoral. The fact that we as a society have allowed and condoned people to be shot while running from an officer with no weapon or to be beaten and choked for crimes where a white person would be reasoned with and ultimately given a mere warning for similar instances should help us understand. But does it? Or, are we all so much a part of the problem, that we haven't seen our own responsibility for inappropriate policing? 

People are beginning to understand that there are some really basic changes that need to happen. Things like licensing and professionalizing people we call policeman. Looking seriously at who is being hired for policing positions. Ongoing training in deescalation and calming techniques. Real oversight of complaints and tracking of inappropriate citizen encounters or the use of force. Reallocation of policing dollars to community programs that will help to reduce or change interactions with the police. Demilitarization of police agencies including a review of who should actually be carrying weapons. Make unions and their members in law enforcement accountable for their representation and defense of bad and dangerous behavior. End the use of chokeholds. Require intervention when police see other police violating policies or civil rights. Reimagine law enforcement itself, its language, its dress, its purpose.

Black lives certainly do matter. People who are black should not be treated any differently than anyone else in terms of any police intervention. Equal justice under the law. Enough is enough. Help bring about change now. Protest, meet with local officials, write letters, donate to organizations fighting for change and hold elected officials accountable.

Outside Agitation vs Dismantling Institutional Racism

I preface this article by letting people know that I detest violence. I've fought against it most of my life. Having said that, I have also seen the establishment, almost always, blame the consequences of public demonstrations on outside agitators and anarchists. Fairly seldom has any blame been placed on segregationists, homophobes, or sexists or white nationalists. Usually, the accusers also have very little knowledge about the political philosophy of anarchism or personalism but what they know is that throwing out the term anarchism can produce visceral reactions. That is a topic though for another article.

The recent events in Minneapolis have caused lots of feelings, actions and reactions. Government officials responding to property destruction are moving in a direction of militarism, strong physical containment, and purportedly some questionable citizen electronic surveillance. There has always been a tendency to blame others when a crisis shows up. Blaming victims of injustice is an easy but incorrect response.

The fact is that it's much easier to ratchet up and blame outside agitators than it is to analyze, discuss and bring about the systemic changes that end racism in society, government culture & operations, policing, or criminal justice. Throughout history there have always been righteous outsiders & agitators. The list could go on and on. They showed up in Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall. Some of that list includes names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez.

The first step right now is to understand the pent up anger and frustration with systems that never change. People have been here before. Communities of color and poor people understand the past better than most of us. The list of deaths, arrests, beatings and unfair treatment are long and old. Demonstrations and marches have taken place before and nothing changes. America is a tinder box. We have a President who tweets hatred and lies to the masses. We have white men and women showing up at state capitols with military grade weapons and no consequences. We have a criminal justice system hidden from society unless you have to contend with it yourself. We have prison populations made up of the poor and people of color. There are police and police agencies who treat the black community differently and many times brutally. Government officials and community leaders would be better off discussing and solving these issues, short term and long term.

There always have been provocateurs and probably always will be. They include the left, the right, undercover police, undercover intelligence agencies, militia members, etc. This fight though is about justice. It includes policing, housing, jobs, economic fairness. None of this is about one city at a time. This is about our entire country and we need to recognize it quickly. 

So let's not have issues of who's marching, who's protesting and which group needs to be surveilled take over the conversation, the activities, or the hard work of systemic change. We need to keep our eyes on the prize and fight for true justice for all, in the street, in the council room and in the board room.

Racism in America Is Very White

Racism in America is real and blatant and until white America recognizes it and does something about it, it will continue, mostly unchecked. George Floyd's arrest and murder is just the latest high profile example of this unbridled racism and of racist actions by public police authorities.

We have to accept that racism in America is baked into the daily routines and actions by those in authority and that this is being done in our names as white Americans. We've seen it enough. The examples are all over the place and they continue every day. But it all comes from someplace. Belief in superiority, inferiority, threats to or against women as property, manhood.

Think about what we've seen in the past few weeks. A young, black jogger,  tracked, followed, challenged, harassed and shot in a white neighborhood. Then a white woman in Central Park being asked to leash her dog in an area where leashing is required. The person making the request was a black man, following every social norm imaginable. The woman's response was to threaten him, using her whiteness and his blackness in a call to 911, and she does just that, believing it would bring the weight of authoritarianism down on this man. A black man threatening a white woman, the basis for so much historical racism. All of this followed by George Floyd being stopped, arrested and killed by a police knee on his neck while he pleaded for a breath.

Mr. Floyd's death is criminal and the racism that led to it is criminal. My eyes and brain are in fact the judge and jury because our justice system continues to fail black Americans. Please be honest with yourselves. If you had passed a $20 counterfeit bill in your hometown or even if you were traveling out of town, would multiple police cars show up? Would you be dragged and put against a wall while you protested? Would you end up on the ground with a knee on your neck and a police officer taunting you, threatening you to get up or resist more? You know the answer as well as I do. No, this is racism in America today and it doesn't happen to you or me.

The fact that these officers, who caused Mr. Floyd's death, have not been arrested is another example of the racism and police authority that continues to threaten our country and our people. The lack of police accountability is blamed on union contracts, poorly written policies and procedures or the need for never ending investigations. What is wrong with municipal leaders, police chiefs and district attorneys along with rank and file police officers? Are they blind or are they just fulfilling a long accepted practice of making excuses for authoritarian racism? And yes, people had to force justice's hand in every other case through videos and/or eyewitness accounts.

Until white Americans speak out and do something about these practices and incidences of racism that take place every day in our names, all of this will continue. We have a responsibility to force the change that needs to happen. You know it's there. You know it's happening. Speak up whenever and wherever you can.

An Anniversary - 55 Years After Selma

This weekend, many people will be remembering and celebrating what has become known as 'Bloody Sunday' in Selma, Alabama. Yes, 55 years since a young John Lewis along with 200 other marchers were beaten back by local police and a posse of men with horses, clubs, baseball bats and tear gas. People were brutalized as a nation watched on TV. These folks were marching for something very basic, the right to vote. Thousands of people heard Martin Luther King, Jr.'s plea for support from people in the north and from all over the country to come to Selma to assist in standing up to the injustice that was being witnessed. Men and women of faith, students and just plain good people showed up in the following days in solidarity with King, Lewis and the people of Selma.  Today, we all face new threats against the right to vote in this country. Instead of making it easier, people are trying to make it more difficult to register and to cast a ballot. I have placed four links below that will take you to a four part series on this history. These are my personal account of the events in Selma. They have been published here in the past but deserve a retelling on this 55th anniversary. This is not nostalgia. This is history and a reminder that we must all be vigilant at a time when our country has moved to a place that we may have thought was gone forever.

Part 1 - Selma, Alabama

Part 2 - Selma, Alabama

Part 3 - Selma, Alabama

Part 4 - Selma, Alabama

Celebrating MLK's Birthday Shouldn't Be Easy

Martin Luther King, Jr was a preacher, an organizer, a radical and a troublemaker. He was also a teacher, a husband and a father. He became a leader and like many before him, he didn't ask for that leadership role. It was thrust upon him by the times he lived in, by those who needed him and in the end by his conscience. Today, many find it easy to sing his praises, to raise him as a hero and to quote his many words of love and nonviolence.

How real is the praise? Some of it is and some of it isn't. Some of it comes from people who have no real sense of who he was, what he believed in and fought for or the positions he took. There is no better time than the celebration of his birthday to think hard about this man, his work and his message. Yes, a reality check is in order every once in awhile.

We should remember that Martin Luther King, Jr. was not loved for his actions or beliefs by the vast majority of Americans in all parts of the country during his life. He was viewed as a troublemaker, an outsider, a communist and as someone who just didn't know his place. He wasn't well liked by politicians or the media. Even liberals and progressives argued and questioned his motives and actions. We should remember and reflect on why he had to write that letter from a Birmingham Jail. Yes, why did he have to shake the conscience of fellow preachers and clergy to think about and speak up about injustice that stared them in the face each day?

Dr. King encouraged nonviolent confrontation that led to hundreds of people being beaten, water hosed and jailed. He spoke out about the power structure of white society and the unfair economic system that placed millions in constant poverty. He spoke out about the immorality of nuclear arms.
After being influenced by many young people and his own reflections, he spoke out against the war in Vietnam. He wouldn't have supported our current wars, our drones or our weapons of mass destruction. He wouldn't have supported the privilege of a few over the 99%.

Here are some reflections on the eve of his birthday. We need to remember, we are a country that separates families and places children in cells/cages. We are a country that suppresses the votes of people of color. We are a country where people need to worry about their homes and their healthcare.

No, if we look at his history, our history and our present, celebrating Dr. King's birthday shouldn't be easy at all.

Let Me Sing You a Song: Tribute to Pete Seeger by Joe Jencks

54 Years Since Selma's Bloody Sunday

Today marks 54 years since Bloody Sunday in Selma, Al. John Lewis and 40 other Congressional Representatives and their guests are commemorating and reenacting the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Lewis does this every year to try to bring folks together around the issues of racial and social justice as well as the concept of nonviolent resistance. There are visits to various civil rights museum, famous churches and historical sites, talks and songs about the importance of those times and the efforts of so many people. 

As I follow along on on social media it looks like the Congressional group is not as politically diverse this year which is too bad. There seem to be less Republican participants but that could just be me looking at the group. It is also extremely sad that while they were visiting and discussing sites and inclusive history yesterday, Donald Trump was making his remarks to CPAC about immigrants and so many other issues. 

There is much work for Congress to do, to try to move the country forward and it's not just laws that need to be passed. Hate is being celebrated on too many fronts and people are feeling threatened and scared. More and more, people are questioning civility and nonviolence. Confrontation is being promoted and becoming more acceptable. We need reminders that these are really not the solutions that are needed right now. Hate and confrontational reactions to hate just lead to a never ending cycle of hate. Sticking together, standing strong and working toward peace and justice are really what's needed in today's environment. Take your lessons from the history of nonviolent direct action as we all move forward.

Jakelin Caal Maquin

Jakelin Caal Maquin is dead......and Boarder Patrol agents dump water left for migrants.....and seeking asylum is a universal human right......and DHS says the trip is dangerous......and people are kept away from ports of entry......and people are met with tear gas at other points of entry......and politicians of every stripe fumble around pointing fingers, blaming each other and planning their Christmas get away......and this 7 year old girl is dead. I'm ashamed.

Yes, I am ashamed. We should be better than this. We should know right from wrong. We should demand more of our leaders and people who work for us. We should understand human rights and the dignity of life. We should expect people to find humane solutions to problems. Sadly, this is only one tragedy added to the list of tragedies around the world. We have to do better.

Crimes Against Humanity - The Shame of Separating and Imprisoning Children

What do we as Americans stand for, a flag or principled values? We are in a terrible state in this country - for some a state of denial, for some a state of shock and for others a state of perceived resistance. But the worst among us are those who are in a state of obedience to crimes being committed against young children and families in the name of their government, deterrence and nationalism.

Many of my friends know that I spent a substantial amount of time in prison in the mid 60's opposing conscription and speaking out against the Vietnam war. The thoughts I'm putting to paper here are influenced greatly by that experience. The experience included detention centers, maximum security walled penitentiaries and toward the end a farm prison camp with no walls but fences that could be climbed. I have listened recently to pundits referencing immigrant camps, refurbished Walmarts, cages, dormitories and on and on. They are all however, talking about very young children as well as teenagers, being separated, at times brutally from their parents, clearly as an act of punishment. This is abusive and criminal. None of us would sit quietly by if it happened to us. Legislators wouldn't allow it if it was their children or grandchildren. White House staff wouldn't allow it if it was their children or grandchildren.

We should all be ashamed and we should all speak up.

Let me be very clear as we see, read and hear about these children and families. Prison is prison, is prison, is prison. Let's call it what it is. This is what we do in our prisons. We control people's ability to leave a variety of geographical or physical locations. We control who people talk to or who they have as visitors. We control mail. We control where people sleep, toilet themselves, eat and spend leisure time. We use a bureaucracy of insulting rules to control large groups of people being held in involuntarily settings because someone tells us it's ok and the right thing to do. Most of these rules are meant to intimidate and frighten potential resisters and rule breakers. Sometimes we do these things in the name of rehabilitation (name only in most cases), sometimes we're more honest and do it in the name of punishment and deterrence. Guess why we're doing it to children and families today seeking asylum in America? Clearly punishment, control and deterrence. Yes laws and policies need to be changed but people can and should be treated humanely in this process.

People need to understand that peoples lives, relationships, mental health and future interactions with families and society are influenced by all of these types of actions. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, reaction to authority and violence, as well as general attitudes toward peers and society are incubated in these settings. Some ,if not most lives, will be changed forever

I have known people destroyed to the core by prisons, mental health facilities or any institutional setting that tries to destroy individualism. I have also met and known heroes, saints and great people who knew how to beat the dehumanization, yet it was always a chore and steep prices that were paid.

But here we are today as a country, accepting and promoting  the separation of babies and youngsters from mothers and fathers and placing them in tents, buildings, dormitories and cages or cells. It is wrong. It is illegal. It is abusive and it has to stop as quickly as possible.

In the end though, we all create our own prisons. Sometimes the cages and cells, fences and walls  don't matter. The reality is that there can be prisons created out of big White Houses, where people and families live and work in their own isolation. Prisons can be created in huge domed buildings in Capitols where mostly old white men in crumpled suits look at each other with blank looks or smirks. Imprisoned by their friends, their money and donations. In their self importance, they try to punch their way out of paper bags all day long and they fail.

As you lay down your head to rest and as you rise in the morning, please think of these youngsters and families and in the end speak up for them. We have to. We really have to.

Martin We Hardly Knew You!

It will soon be 50 years ago to the minute that Martin Luther King, Jr was taken down by an assassin's bullet. Memories fade and facts are sometimes changed by well intentioned memory keepers. There are those who hold the truth and others who think they hold the truth.

It is certainly not a bad thing that Martin Luther King, Jr has become a hero to so many. He has become a person to emulate and believe in. He is both real and a symbol to many in the black and white communities. All of this is good.

But 50 years later we have to understand that many really hardly knew him or what he stood for. Few have understood his faith, his nonviolence, and how both became connected to poverty, poor people and social action. In addition, the revisionists make us think all was well in the end when it never really was. Martin Luther King, Jr was hated by whites in the north and the south. He was assassinated by a bullet and gun fed by hate. Martin Luther King, Jr was hated before he came out against the war in Vietnam. He was pressed hard by the left and the right.

I had the privalige of seeing and hearing Martin Luther King, Jr once while I was in Selma many years ago. It was by no means a close or personal meeting. No, it was listening with hundreds of others outside of Brown Chapel, looking to a leader who wasn't afraid to talk about the hate and his fears. I watched him walk to the front of a crowd confronting more symbols and weapons of hate carried by white men in uniforms. This was the uppity black communist who was followed and harassed by the FBI and others in the establishment.

His faith was about politics. He believed in the Jesus who walked the streets, who reached out to the beggars and the unclean. The Jesus who knew that economics was behind someones struggle with injustice. Martin knew that poor men fought rich men's wars, always. He knew that some people looked up and others looked down on those who suffered. He also knew the fear some people lived under because he lived there too.

Like all men and women, Martin Luther King, Jr grew and evolved. He was speaking out in the north, He was speaking out about Vietnam and war, he was speaking out about poverty and poor wages. And let's be real clear. It wasn't going over well and he knew it. But sadly, his life was cut short in Memphis that night 50 years ago. He had so much more to say. More to say that would make many squirm and more to say that would anger those in power. And then he was gone and over the years love for him grew. Yes, that's good but we all need to know the fact is - Martin we hardly knew you.

Hate Remembered - 1965 Selma Al

Every year at about this time I reflect back on a short period that I spent in Selma, Al in 1965, as a foot soldier demonstrating and trying to cross a famous bridge to march to Montgomery, Al. Next weekend, marks 52 years since that march and those demonstrations that were held for the most basic of American rights, the right to vote.

But this year is different. Other times I have been able to reflect on how far we've come and how proud I was to be a part of the movement for social change and civil rights. This year I remember and reflect on the hate that I saw in Selma. It was real and it was deep. It was reflected in white faces, young and old. White haters who spat, cursed, pushed, shoved and hit demonstrators. There were people killed in Selma and Montgomery and small towns in between. I could taste and feel the hate.

I feel sad and depressed this year because the hate has been allowed to appear again, to raise its head with the blessing of an elected leader and his spokespeople and team. There may be denials. There may be tamp downs. But the reality is that hatred has been given a very big and very bright green light. It has become acceptable to spew hate, to divide and to demean.

I know there are good and decent people but there are also the sons and daughters of those haters who I saw in Selma 52 years ago. It was wrong then and it's wrong now. I was naive. I thought it was over. But now I know - it's a constant battle this fight against hate. Give it a breath of air and it comes back. Give it a leader who allows it to come back and it will.

For those who may not have ever experienced this kind of hate, get ready. It is ugly and dangerous and it will pit people against each other. I'm tired, I'm getting old but I know this. I, we, have to stand up another time. We have to speak up and speak out against this hate and division. Lets do it together.