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 #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 #1612: Rev. Dr. F.D. Reese has marched his last march

  Rev. Doctor Frederick Douglas Reese marched his last march on April 5, 2018. He marched from the Earthly Realm into the Upper Realm. He joyfully joined other members of the Courageous Eight. They had already marched their last march.

  I want to lift Rev. Dr. F.D. Reese. I want to also lift the Courageous Eight as I lift Dr. Reese. First, let me tell you about the Courageous Eight. Their names, in alphabetical order, are Ulysses Blackmon, Amelia Boynton-Robinson, Ernest Doyle, Marie Foster, James Gildersleeve, J.D. Hunter, F.D. Reese, and Henry Shannon. Names are important but do not tell us nearly enough. All eight marched for freedom. All eight fought for justice. All eight have marched their last march.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1473: A giant passed our way

  Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson passed on the night of August 25, 2015. She was 110 years of age. I saw her driver’s license when I visited her just three days before she passed. It read DOB August 18, 1905. I saw the 1910 U.S. Census report showing her as 4 years of age. She was 110 although many perceived her as 104. She was a giant in the struggle for voting rights in particular and human rights in general.