Wordless Wednesday Comes Early: Their Fight, Our Freedoms
November 4th, 2008 by Ajuan Mance
In 1962, James Meredith became the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi. In 1966, he was shot during a voting rights march from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. Meredith would survive his injuries and go on to complete the march.
(Source: The University of San Diego History Server)
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1965: James Baldwin, Joan Baez, and James Forman on the march for voting rights in Alabama.
(Source: HungryBlues blog)
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Posted by Ajuan Mance
Posted in African Americans, Black History, Uncategorized, Voting Rights
November 4th, 2008 at 9:06 am
my younger sister stood in line for nearly 1.5 hrs in Memphis to early vote. A young Black guy tried to exit the line when an older Black man (a senior citizen she told me) went OFF on him. Told him to get his young Black A** back in line and vote. Too many people died for us to vote today. He was close to the front and only had a little more to got. She said the rest of the crowd cheered on and co-signed. The young man remained and voted.
That’s good old-fashioned leadership. I love it and miss it.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:43 am
makes my heart stop…
November 4th, 2008 at 9:51 am
“get his young Black A** back in line and vote”. I heard that! Would have done the same thing. We been waiting 400 years for this moment and anyone who can’t wait a few hours needs his a$$ whooped!
November 4th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I don’t have a vote in the US election. If I had I would have voted for Obama without hesitation. I hope when I get up tomorrow morning I will have the news that hitory has been made.
Kudos to the senior citizen!
November 4th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
err I meant history!
November 4th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I feel you.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Just heard the news over CNN – Barack Obama elected US President! Congratulations – a new era is dawning in America 🙂
November 5th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Powerful Images.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Thanks to you all for stopping in and commenting. These are the images that make me proud to be the inheritor of such a legacy of social justice activism.
I love the anecdote about the older Black man school the young brother who tried to leave the polls without voting. Only when the importance of history is transmitted from the older generation to the new will all people understand what is truly at stake in democratic participation.
November 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
We need to get back to that grassroot approach. Love the photos.
November 8th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Those photos really put everything in perspective don’t they. Less we never forget.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Hey Ajuan.
It’s almost a week later, and I think I’m just now starting to come down. It would take longer, but all these wolves at the door are starting to crash this party real fast.
Great, great historic photos. Especially like the one with James Baldwin.
November 13th, 2008 at 4:58 am
And these are just two examples of why we need to keep it going. We can’t just have a massive turnout one time. We need to repeat the process year after year and let our voices be heard.