March 9, 2018
The last installment of this week’s theme is dedicated to the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. Their marches in the early 60s were the catalysts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. They participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday and the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, at great risk to their physical well being, and ultimately lives.
In 2016 they received collectively a Congressional Gold Medal — the nation’s highest civilian award, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – accepted on behalf of the 3000 or so young people by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and the Rev. F.D. Reese — two giants of the civil rights movement. These were children marching, led by men who believed that G-d would grant them justice.
This came to mind because these weeks we see another group of children, young people, pouring their energy, courage and grief into a movement to curb the gun industry, undermine the nefarious goals of the NRA, and, most importantly, make our society safe against shooters with automatic weapons. Schools, clubs, concerts, and, yes, churches, are all places that should be sacrosanct against violence. I hope they will be as successful as the kids in Alabama, although that success has of course seen non-stop direct and indirect attacks since the signing of the law. Yet it was a beginning, a momentous victory. Let’s make sure March 24, 2018 mirrors that, with all of our feet on the ground.
Here is the last song of the week, from 1965, a hopeful note.
