By Elaine Magliaro
Fifty years ago today, Alabama State Troopers attacked voting-rights demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. In commemoration of that historic event, I’m posting a video of the Academy-Award-Winning song Glory from the movie Selma. Glory was written by John Legend, Common and Che Smith. The video includes the lyrics to the song.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of the United States eviscerated the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Last year, Dana Liebelson (Mother Jones) wrote an article titled The Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act. Liebelson said when the Roberts court weakened the civil-rights-era law, the Chief Justice wrote that “our country has changed.” Liebelson said Roberts was wrong.
Liebelson:
When the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn a key section of the Voting Rights Act last June, Justice Ruth Ginsburg warned that getting rid of the measure was like “throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” The 1965 law required that lawmakers in states with a history of discriminating against minority voters get federal permission before changing voting rules. Now that the Supreme Court has invalidated this requirement, GOP lawmakers across the United States are running buck wild with new voting restrictions.
Selma Movie – Glory Lyric Video
Excerpt from GLORY
One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
Oh one day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
Oh glory (Glory, glory)
Oh (Glory, glory)
Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon
Formed against, yes glory is destined
Every day women and men become legends
Sins that go against our skin become blessings
The movement is a rhythm to us
Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtapositionin’ us
Justice for all just ain’t specific enough
One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us
Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us
That’s why Rosa sat on the bus
That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up
When it go down we woman and man up
They say, “Stay down”, and we stand up
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up
Click here to read the rest of the lyrics from GLORY.
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Flowers For Socrates 
And they tell us it’s for our own good…. When will only property owners be allowed to vote. Will the owners of corporations be allowed to vote and use the employees, counting them as 3/5 of a vote. (I am sure Koch and Walmart would enjoy this.)
I agree so much with Ginsberg.
So much has changed…….yet so much remains the same. I am sad that the triumph and courage shown in the Selma March, still leaves us fighting the same battles, under different guises.
AY,
I agree with Ginsburg too. She is a wise woman indeed.
*****
Mike,
Didn’t you know that we are now living in a “post racial” America? A majority of SCOTUS thinks so.
Yes the present day US Sct is the poster child for racism, but they are just furthering the masters agenda.
Comparing Selma To Ferguson: ‘Mike Brown Is Our Jimmie Lee Jackson’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/selma-ferguson-michael-brown-jimmie-lee-jackson_n_6819654.html
Excerpt:
In 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot while taking refuge from violent state troopers in a restaurant in Selma, Alabama. His death ignited a 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, which galvanized the passing of the Voting Rights Act. As we reach the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” when demonstrators attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge faced tear gas and clubs in the fight for true voting rights, the conversation about racial equality is as salient as ever.
Activist Ashley Yates joined HuffPost Live on Friday to weigh in on the similarities between today’s #BlackLivesMatter movement and the civil rights struggles of the 60s.
“We’re seeing history repeat itself,” she told host Marc Lamont Hill.
In 2013, the movement took a hit when the Supreme Court gutted a crucial portion of the Voting Rights Act, which was hailed as one of the most important civil rights victories of its time. The 5-4 ruling removed federal oversight from the voting processes of nine mostly southern states.
While some may consider voting discrimination a thing of the past, Yates looked to the demographics of Ferguson’s white-dominated city council representatives as an example of the rampant voter disenfranchisement faced by black Americans.
So, how does Ferguson, a city with an African American majority, end up with a mostly white government?
“Well, that’s because voting disenfranchisement is very, very real,” she said. “The methods don’t look the same as they did in the Jim Crow south, but they are definitely utilizing tactics to make sure that people don’t get their voices heard.”
Neo-confederate Klan ‘Wizardess’ erected pro-KKK billboard near historic Selma bridge
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/neo-confederate-klan-wizardess-erected-pro-kkk-billboard-near-historic-selma-bridge/
Excerpt:
A billboard honoring the founder of the Ku Klux Klan now stands within sight the historic bridge in Selma, Alabama that was the site of the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” clash between civil rights protesters and police.
The New York Daily News reported Saturday that the billboard shows Nathan Bedford Forrest — Klan founder and Confederate war hero — astride his horse with the motto, “Keep the skeer on ‘em,” meaning, “Keep them afraid.”…
The billboard was erected by the friends of Forrest, Inc., a historical group that says it meant nothing racist by placing the billboard so close to this historic Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Spokeswoman Patricia Goodwin told the News, “That billboard was put there with positive intent to ask people who come to Selma to explore and enjoy our 19th century history. Does it say anything in the Constitution where a certain faction of people cannot be offended? I’m offended by all these people walking around with their pants hanging around their knees.”
She claims that she only chose the location because of its high visibility to visitors.
The Southern Poverty Law Center pointed out that Goodwin is a known neo-Confederate activist who has called the historic 1965 march “the Mother of All Orgies” and has previously fought efforts to commemorate the civil rights marchers who were beaten with bullwhips and police batons on Bloody Sunday.
” “throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
Yes !
Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Shares Memories And Photos From Selma In This Incredible Series Of Tweets
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/john-lewis-selma_n_6823268.html
Compare the photos from John Lewis’ tweets, and the one at the top of this page with this one. Fifty years later, the first black President of the United States’ motorcade crosses the same bridge.
In Selma, GOP Lawmakers Explain Why They Don’t Support John Lewis’ Bill To Restore Voting Rights Act
BY ALICE OLLSTEIN POSTED
MARCH 8, 2015
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/03/08/3631184/selma-gop-lawmakers-explain-dont-support-john-lewis-bill-restore-voting-rights-act/
Excerpt:
SELMA, ALABAMA — Dozens of members of Congress, and many more Republicans than ever before, came to Selma this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the infamous attack on voting rights protesters known as Bloody Sunday.
Some lawmakers told ThinkProgress the event highlighted the urgency of passing a currently languishing bill that would restore the full powers of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Others showed little interest in doing so.
On his way to the commemoration ceremony, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said it’s been “powerful” to hear stories from Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who helped lead the Selma march 50 years ago and was severely beaten by police. But when ThinkProgress asked if he supports Lewis’ voting rights bill, he replied, “I haven’t looked at it. Is there a Senate version?”
A Senate version was introduced several weeks ago, and currently has zero Republican sponsors.
Portman, who has advocated for cuts to Ohio’s early voting period and voted against the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, added before walking away: “This day is about more than just tweaks to the Voting Rights Act. This is about ensuring equal justice and learning from the lessons of the past.”
This year’s congressional delegation also included Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) — a vocal supporter of voter ID laws in South Carolina — and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), who has tried to pass laws to require proof of citizenship for voting, a policy found to disenfranchise eligible voters in other states.