Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said Thursday that he will not attend the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend because President Donald Trump’s “attendance and hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed” in the museum.
“After careful consideration and conversations with church leaders, elected officials, civil rights activists, and many citizens of our congressional districts, we have decided not to attend or participate in the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum,” Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, said in a statement.
Lewis said the president’s “disparaging comments about women, the disabled, immigrants, and National Football League players disrespect the efforts” of civil rights leaders.
“The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi,” he added. “After President Trump departs, we encourage all Mississippians and Americans to visit this historic civil rights museum.”
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Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., in May. He announced on Thursday that he will not attend the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend.
The Supreme Court for a number of years has sided with cops in police brutality cases.
The justices did it again Monday, issuing an unsigned summary decision granting immunity to a Texas officer who shot and killed a motorist fleeing police, even though the officer lacked training or even specific orders to open fire.
In so many words, the court ruled the shooting death was legally justified.
The case arose from a civil rights lawsuit against Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Chadrin Mullenix, who wasn’t involved in the chase but had responded to a checkpoint along its route to help intercept a vehicle driven by Israel Leija. Leija was wanted on an arrest warrant, and had fled when police officers tried to serve the warrant at a Sonic restaurant.
President Barack Obama joined nearly 100 members of Congress in Selma, Alabama, on Saturday for the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” — a watershed moment of the civil rights movement — where he honored the men and women who stood their ground in a violent confrontation with police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
“We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to endure billy clubs and the chastening rod, tear gas and the trampling hoof; men and women who despite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their North Star and keep marching toward justice,” Obama said in a soaring speech that addressed race and civil rights.
The president hailed Selma as a city of extreme importance to America’s history — on par with wartime settings of Concord, Lexington and Gettysburg, and places where innovation took great strides such as Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral. And he paid deference to the foot soldiers who sparked a movement: Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Joseph Lowery, Hosea Williams, Amelia Boynton, Diane Nash, Ralph Abernathy, C.T. Vivian, Andrew Young and Fred Shuttlesworth, among others.
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President Barack Obama delivered one of his most powerful speeches on race and civil rights at the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama on Saturday.
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SELMA, AL – MARCH 07: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 2015 in Selma, Alabama. Selma is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the famed civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery that resulted in a violent confrontation with Selma police and State Troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
There are few images more evocative of the human body than a skeleton. But it’s easy to disassociate this image with actual people.
In the “Love Has No Labels” PSA featured in the video above, the skeleton is used as a symbolic reminder that — simply put — we’re all human, despite our varying identities. The yearlong initiative aims to call out some of our latent biases and prejudices.
As “Love Has No Labels” says in its mission: “Before anything else, we are all human. It’s time to embrace diversity. Let’s put aside labels in the name of love.”
The U.S. Supreme Court may rule once and for all this year whether the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law gives gay and lesbian Americans the right to marry.
Meeting behind closed doors on Friday, the nine justices decided to review a 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that upheld bans on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. The decision by two judges on the Cincinnati-based court, both appointed by President George W. Bush, marked the first time a federal appeals court backed a same-sex marriage ban after other appellate courts had found similar bans unconstitutional. That split among the circuit courts likely drove the justices to pick up the case.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments and probably rule by June.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Explore the dynamic relationship between faith and science, where curiosity meets belief. Join us in fostering dialogue, inspiring discovery, and celebrating the profound connections that enrich our understanding of existence.
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James' World 2 