100th Anniversity of Justice Thurgood Marshall's Birth

Today, July 2nd marks the 100th anniversity of Thurgood Marshall birth. He was a leading activists in the 20th century, who forever changed the landscape of America; however he is the least well known of the three prominent black figures of the 20th century, behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. It was Thurgood Marshall, working through the courts to eradicate the legacy of slavery and destroying the racist segregation system of Jim Crow, who had an even more profound and lasting effect on race relations than either of Dr. King or Malcolm X.

It was Marshall who ended legal segregation in the United States. He won Supreme Court victories breaking the color line in housing, transportation and voting, all of which overturned the 'Separate-but-Equal' apartheid of American life in the first half of the century. It was Marshall who won the most important legal case of the century, Brown v. Board of Education, ending the legal separation of black and white children in public schools. The success of the Brown case sparked the 1960's civil rights movement, led to the increased number of black high school and college graduates and the incredible rise of the black middle-class in both numbers and political power in the second half of the century.

Apppointed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964, Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court Justice. He worked on behalf of black Americans, but built a structure of individual rights that became the cornerstone of protections for all Americans. He succeeded in creating new protections under law for women, children, prisoners, and the homeless. Their greater claim to full citizenship in the republic over the last century can be directly traced to Marshall.

Still feisty in his old age. I remember a newscaster asking him what he was going to do now that he was retiring and he simply said "mind my business". Lucky for us he did not mind his business in his younger day.

Happy Birthday Mr. Mandela

The birthday Celebration has begun for one of the most revered and respected men in all the world. Nelson Mandela will celebrate in 90th birthday on July 18th. Born in the small village of Mvezo, he rose to prominence as a civil rights activist and opponent of apartheid and the racist South African government.

He was the first in his family to attend school. Mandela was influenced by the teachings of Gandhi and believed peaceful resistance was the way to fight against white domination in his country. Mandela spent twenty-seven years of his life in prisoned due to his civil resistance, where he studied at the University of London through correspondence and acquiring a law degree. Upon his release from prison in 1990 he went on to become the President of South Africa in 1994.

As of April 2008, Mandela, as well as other senior South African officials, still requires a visa to enter the United States due to his terrorist designation as result of his work against apartheid.

Join me and the rest of the world in honoring a true living legend and wishing him a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Malcolm X

Salaam. Today marks the what would have been the 83rd birthday of Malcolm X. After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj to Mecca where he received his new name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated on the first day of National Brotherhood Week. Rather than provide an unneeded history lesson, I will celebrate his life by sharing some of his quotes. I love the picture on the right with him and Dr. King. It showed that they could come together although they did not often agree with one another.

"Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery". This one was a favorite of my grandmother's.

"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today".

"I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that won't let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion".

"I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence".

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success".

"My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity".

"The Negro revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself. But the Black Revolution is controlled only by God".

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time".

"You don't have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being".

"You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it".

"You can't legislate good will - that comes through education".

"You show me a capitalist, and I'll show you a bloodsucker".

52nd Anniversary of Rosa Park's Arrest

It is hard to imagine that fifty-two years have passed since a tired working woman refused to stand up and give her seat to a white man. As I write this, Mrs. Parks is being honored in the place she chose to call home, Detroit, Michigan at the Wayne State University Law Library. When I was of elementary school age we never heard about black people doing anything positive, except for Booker T. Washington or George Washington Carver and the peanut. There was never any mention of people like Charles Drew, Lewis Latimer, or Rosa Parks. In history (his story) class, we were told we had been slaves until President Lincoln freed us. In other words, we never accomplished or contributed much of anything to western civilization worth mentioning.

We should have been taught about the struggle and how we have overcome unsurmountable obstacles and persevered. In the movie "Barbershop", Cedric The Entertainer mentioned the fact that Rosa Park's had refused to stand up because she was tired. Sometimes that is what it takes to make a difference, average, everyday people who sick an tired of being sick and tired. Her failure to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus sparked a year long boycott, which ended after the city agreed to total integration of the transportation system. My hope is that Rosa Parks is resting comfortably in the knowledge that she made a big difference in the lives of millions.

An excellent movie detailing this turbulent time in American history is "The Long Walk Home" starring, Whoopi Goldberg, Sissy Spacek, Ving Rhames, and Erika Alexander.