Rev. William Barber on Next Steps After Obama & Dylann Roof's Death Sentence for Hate Crime | Democracy Now!

Part 2: Rev. William Barber on Next Steps After Obama & Dylann Roof's Death Sentence for Hate Crime | Democracy Now!

LBJ Doesn't Deserve Credit for Selma

By Diane Nash  NNPA Guest Columnist

Joseph Califano’s statement that Selma was Lyndon B. Johnson’s idea is patently false. Although the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had come to Alabama earlier to organize to obtain the right to vote, for me, the Alabama Right to Vote movement began the day the four little girls were killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.

That was Sunday, September 15, 1963 – before Lyndon Johnson became president.

James Bevel, my-then husband, and I believed that a man and a woman would not allow those four little girls to be murdered and do nothing.

On that fateful Sunday, in Edenton, N. C. in Golden and Mrs. Frinks’ living room (Golden Frinks was a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) staff person.), James Bevel and I conceptualized and wrote the plan that became the Selma Right to Vote movement. We believed that if Negroes in Alabama could vote, they could better protect their children from things like the church bombing.

Bevel and I resolved that no matter how long it would take, we would get the right to vote in Alabama. We took the plan to SCLC and subsequently, SCLC, including us as staff persons, began organizing in Alabama for the right to vote.

Supreme Court strikes down key provision of Voting Rights Act

Just hours ago, the Supreme Court struck down 40 years of voting rights protections by gutting the Voting Rights Act in the case of Shelby County v. Holder. This is a major setback for voting rights and will have a real and detrimental impact on voters.

We need to respond TODAY. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced a bill to support a constitutional amendment explicitly guaranteeing the right to vote. Sign our petition now supporting the National Right to Vote Amendment and we will deliver your signatures to Congress right away.

http://action.usaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=548&track=taf

This ruling is a continuation and escalation of the war on voting. Republicans are using every gimmick and trick in the book to ram radical voter ID laws and roll back early voting and same day registration in state legislatures throughout the country. These laws specifically targeted minority voters with their motivation all too obvious — prevent minorities to vote in order to win GOP victories across the country.

We worked tirelessly to fight back against these laws, and in some cases we were victorious — at least temporarily. But in some cases like Florida, it became all too clear what happens when the GOP is successful in preventing the right to vote, with reports of voters waiting in line for for up to 7 hours just to cast their ballot.

This past election has made it abundantly clear that we need MORE voting rights protections, not less. Which is why this ruling is especially devastating today. Sign our petition now in support of the National Right to Vote Amendment.

http://action.usaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=548&track=taf

Our country is founded on the principle that we the people decide who will be our elected leaders. Discrimination and restricting the right to vote are an assault on the very fundamental principle this country is founded upon. Now join us as we take a stand to defend this most essential right. Click here to sign the petition now.