Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1629 - God works in mysterious ways

  God works in mysterious ways. When I think of Selma and Dallas County, Alabama, I am comforted by this simple thought. I really need such comfort every time I think of Selma and Dallas County, Alabama. Why do I need such comfort in thinking about Selma and Dallas County? I don’t know why the need for such comfort is so great, but I do know that God works in mysterious ways.

  There was great struggle across the South and beyond to secure voting rights for African Americans. There was struggle in Mississippi. There was struggle in Georgia and Florida. There was struggle in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. There was struggle in Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. There was struggle in various other places. But Selma, Alabama was unique in the struggle for voting rights in America.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1625 - Selma and Dallas County, Lord.... Selma and Dallas County!

  In 1965, the population of Selma was 28,000. Whites were a slight majority. The population of Dallas County was 56,000. Blacks were a slight majority. Selma is the county seat of Dallas County. But these populations don’t tell us nearly enough. One side had everything. The other side had virtually nothing. But that does not tell us enough either.

  In 1965, there were tens of thousands of White registered voters in Selma/Dallas County. There were 327 Black registered voters. Every city and county elected official was White. There was not a single Black elected official in either Selma or Dallas County. Whites had everything. Backs had little or nothing.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1548: The time is upon us!

  The time is upon us. It comes every year like clockwork. It commenced February 7, 2017 this year. It will go until mid-May. The obstacle will be great. The challenges will be gigantic. The results will fall short. It’s the 2017 Alabama Regular Legislative Session.

  Even after 33 years, I can’t tell you all or most of the issues that will come before the 2017 Alabama Legislative Session. I can tell you two for certain. I can tell you others with a great degree of certainty. I can predict others, but predictions are worth very little in this legislative narrative. It’s the 2017 Legislative Session.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1498: Jimmie Lee Jackson and the tragedy that was a catalyst for change

  Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old Black man who lived in Perry County, Ala. became a central figure in voting rights history. Some say he went to a nighttime voting rights rally on February 18, 1965 in Marion, Ala. Others say he did not go to the rally but was waiting at Mack’s Café to take his mother and 82-year-old grandfather home. There is no doubt, however, that all three were in Mack’s Café.

  State troopers had busted the head of Jimmie Lee’s grandfather, Cager Lee, and blood was running down his face. Viola Jackson, his daughter, tried to help. A trooper attacked her. Jimmie Lee, who was unarmed, tried to help his mother take the 82-year-old Cager Lee to a doctor. A state trooper shot him twice in the stomach, and he started running. Other state troopers beat him as he ran. There is no doubt that these events were the forerunners of the Bloody Sunday March and the Selma to Montgomery March. There is no doubt that these events were critical catalysts on the road to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1496: Black history is critical for white Americans

  Black history is critical for White Americans. Wait! Wait! Wait! Don’t dismiss this idea out of hand. I know Black history is supposed to be for African Americans. Black history, however, is critical for White Americans because it is the flip side of White history (American history).

  We recognize that Black history started way before Columbus stumbled upon this place now called the Americas. Black history was in Egypt, Timbuktu, etc. But I want to start with slavery. I know that we don’t talk about slavery, but we must understand it. Black history is critical for White Americans because it’s the flip side of White history.

Senate Sketches #1449: How we made it over: 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

  When our children’s children ask, “What mean ye these stones? You can tell them how you made it over." These are words from the Biblical Book of Joshua. They refer to the way the children of Israel miraculously crossed over the Jordan River on dry land to enter the Promised Land. I cite this passage to ask the question, “What mean ye these happenings at the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the 1965 Voting Rights Act?” I also want to tell how we made it over.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1417: We must celebrate August 6th!

  August 6 ought to be a day of great celebration but it is not. President Jimmy Carter ought to celebrate August 6. President Bill Clinton ought to celebrate August 6. President Barack Obama ought to celebrate August 6. But they don’t.

  You and I ought to celebrate August 6. Everyone in the United States of America ought to celebrate August 6. African Americans especially ought to celebrate August 6. But we don’t.  August 6 is barely recognized, not to speak of celebrated.