Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march

  This Sunday, leaders from throughout Alabama and the entire country will commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March and the infamous Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was a momentous occasion and needs memorializing. 

Sketches #1962: We must remember Jimmie Lee Jackson

  We must remember Jimmie Lee Jackson. He is a critical force in our history. He is a key reason we celebrate and commemorate the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. Let me tell you about Jimmie Lee Jackson. We must remember Jimmie Lee.

  It was February 18, 1965. Rev. James of Orange of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was in the Perry County Jail in Marion, Alabama. The word was out that the Ku Klux Klan intended to get him out of jail late at night and murder him. The local voting rights movement leaders called a night mass meeting and a rare night march. Marches were very dangerous in the daytime and even more dangerous at night. We must remember Jimmie Lee.

Hank Sanders: Sketches #1707 - They said it could not be done, but we continue to do it

  They said it could not be done, but we did it. It was 1964, and the Civil Rights Act had just been enacted by Congress and signed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders were thankful, but they were still pressing for legislation to ensure voting rights for Black people. Voting was the last legal right being clearly denied to Black people in the United States of America. The highest political officials and others said that no such legislation could possibly pass Congress on the heels of the most comprehensive civil rights legislation ever. They said it could not be done, but we did it.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1608: Our children are more powerful and smarter than we know

  Our children are powerful. Our children are far more powerful than we know. They can go where we cannot go. They can do what we cannot do. They can unleash explosive energies that seemed securely bound. They can move those of us who know we need to move but can’t move. Our children are more powerful than we know.

  The power of our children was on full display with the March for Our Lives. There were more than eight hundred thousand participants at just one march in Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol. And there were more than eight hundred other marches around the world with hundreds of thousands of marchers. That’s great power. But the power of our children did not start with the children of today. It started a long time ago. I can’t go that far back, but I can personally go back more than half a century.

Jason Fernandes: The quiet attacks on your rights you probably haven’t heard about

  Last Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a plan to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Their proposal would allow internet service providers to charge consumers more for higher streaming speeds or for access to certain websites, effectively opening a legal route to deny people access to a free and open internet based on their ability to pay. This came just a week after the FCC voted to roll back Lifeline, a program that helps low-income Americans pay for phone and broadband service.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1570: The power of July 2nd and the power of the human spirit

  Some dates reflect power. It seems that powerful things happen on the same date over and over down through generations. These happenings sometimes change countries, sometimes change a people, and sometimes change the world. July 2nd is one such date.

  I want to share just three critical events that happened on July 2nd that changed the world. The spirit of each is connected to the spirit of the other. One happened in 1776. Another happened in 1839. The third happened in 1964. The connecting circumstances involved human oppression. The connecting spirit was a will to liberty.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1487: The poisonous roots of violence in America

  The contrasts were great. Non-violence taught, but violence implemented. History of violence shunned, but current violence shared widely. Symbols of non-violence known all over the world, but the massive reality of violence unknown. The contrasts were so great.

  This week led up to the 150th anniversary of the end of chattel slavery in the United States of America. This slavery was the world’s most violent and inhumane. The Selma Center for Non-Violence, Truth and Reconciliation was holding a Week of History and Healing commemorating the end of slavery. But the media was full of violence in San Bernadino, Calif. where 14 human beings were murdered and 21 injured. The contrasts were so great.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1451: Answering the question, "Why did you go to Selma?"

  Why did you go to Selma? How did you end up in Selma? What made you go to Selma? I have been asked various forms of these question many times. My wife, Faya Rose Toure’, formerly known as Rose M. Sanders, has also been asked these questions numerous times. Leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March, we were asked these questions even more. Last week we were again asked these questions during a joint documentary interview with Black Entertainment Television, better known as BET. These questions got me to thinking.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1448: A Taste of Jubilee!

  A taste of Jubilee. A taste of the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery March, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and much much more. This Bridge Crossing Jubilee was a once in a lifetime experience. Decades from now, people will say, “I was there for the 50th.” There were more than 50 events so I cannot begin to touch on all or even most. I could take one or two events and perhaps do them some justice, but I choose to share a taste of various Jubilee events. Next week I hope to write about the meaning of the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1446: Harnessing history to stand on a stronger foundation

  History is powerful. Black History is powerful. If we know our history, we harness its power to stand on a stronger foundation, reaching higher and seeing farther. If we don’t know our history, the power of history stands on us, weighing down our minds, our emotions, our hearts, our spirits, our lives. History is powerful.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Defying the federal government hasn't paid off for Alabama

  As the legislature and governor prepare for the upcoming initial legislative session of the quadrennium, they are facing ominous and obvious problems. The General Fund is in dire straits, primarily due to the escalating costs of Medicaid and prisons.

  The problems in the prison system may be even more acute than with Medicaid. The reason is that our prison population is well in excess of what federal courts have determined is constitutional. There are federal judicial standards of humane care for prisoners and we currently are not within these guidelines. Therefore, we are on thin ice and shaky ground if our prison problems come before a federal judge.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1439: When we know our history

  When we know our history! When we know our history! When we know our history! This thought exploded over and over in my mind, impacting my emotions and spirits as I participated in the 152nd Annual Emancipation Proclamation Program in Selma on New Year’s Day.

Morris Dees: The Promise of the Civil Rights Act

  I can vividly remember the moment, 50 years ago this month, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.

  His speech that day was a call to action at a time when our nation was deeply divided – and his words resonate even today.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Echoes of George Wallace in Shelby County

  The 1960s was a tumultuous time in southern politics. Race, segregation and voting rights were the paramount issues.

  George Wallace came on the scene and won the governor’s office with the most anti-integration rhetoric in history. He threw down the gauntlet with his January 1963 inaugural speech declaring, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.” White Alabamians shouted their approval.