Tag: civil rights

Congressman and Iconic Civil Rights Leader John Lewis Dies at 80

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The nation mourns the tragic loss of veteran congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis.

Please enjoy this documentary about John Lewis’s life and achievements, as a tribute to his contributions and heroism.

But first, a heart-felt word from Face Activities’ Gill:

Yesterday we lost two icons of the civil rights movement: revolutionary figures John Robert Lewis and C.T. Vivian. It is a great loss for our country as a whole. 

They started the movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and endured much pain and sacrifice in order to eradicate segregation, and establish basic human rights, not only for black Americans, but for all whose rights were violated based on race, gender, or ethnicity, including blacks, whites and Native Americans.

Their work is not finished. The movement must continue until we secure proper human rights and dignity for all. 

Our eyes were full of tears when we heard of the passing of John Lewis. But many didn’t know that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer six months ago. There are double standards in our media, Television, newspapers, and so on.

It’s good that TV stations right now are celebrating their lives, but it would have been nice if we got more news about his illness and condition, right along. 

We know that making money from ads is a major goal for television news, but it should not be so important that reporters and anchors regularly ignore the delivery of basic news to their audiences.

How many times has Donald Trump Tweeted something bad about Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden (24 hours a day / 7 days a week) ? Such stories make very good money for national and international TV news. But other types of news stories aren’t such money-making machines. And that is why they don’t get the real, necessary air time that they should.

President Elect Trump Chooses Senator Jeff Sessions (R) for Attorney General

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President Elect Trump Chooses Senator Jeff Sessions (R) for Attorney General

President Elect Donald Trump has chosen, much to the chagrin of liberal voices in government and across the nation, Senator Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama, for Attorney General. Concerns over Session’s commitment to civil rights mount as old accusations of racism come to the fore.

The 69-year-old politician, currently serving his fourth term as a Senator, is a strong Trump advocate who has both praised and advised the President Elect on the campaign trail. And so the appointment is consistent with the Trump ethos, which puts a premium on loyalty. Session’s support was particularly important, since, as an established Republican Party apparatchik, his voice was useful in convincing others within the Republican Establishment to back the controversial outsider candidate. He also advised Trump to choose Mike Pence as his running mate. And Sessions is also a strong advocate of Trump’s controversial campaign proposal to ban on all Muslim’s entering the United States, which has angered many people the world over.

A trained lawyer, Senator Sessions has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and previously served as US attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, and as Alabama attorney general. As a staunch conservative, which comes as no surprise, he was one of President Obama’s biggest critics, and did his best to obstruct the outgoing President’s appointment’s and policies in the Senate.

In the past the Senator has spoken negatively about the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, and has called the ACLU and NAACP “un American” organizations.  Staffers have reported that he’s used racially inappropriate remarks, and made positive comments about the KKK. This is a major issue since the Attorney General, as the nations “top cop,” is charged with enforcing civil rights legislation. Many fear the Trump Administration won’t work to preserve and protect civil rights, and the appointment of Sessions to this key cabinet position does nothing to assuage their concerns.

 

Learn about Trump’s Attorney General Pick (CNN)

 

 

Photo: Public Domain, Link – Wikimedia Commons