While speaking at George Floyd’s funeral today, Rev. Al Sharpton announced plans for another march on Washington which would coincide with the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.
NEW: Rev. Al Sharpton announces plans for an Aug. 28 march in Washington, DC, on the anniversary of the March on Washington:
“We need to go back to Washington and stand up — black, white, Latino, Arab in the shadows of Lincoln and tell them ‘This is the time to stop this.’” pic.twitter.com/sjqd5vwVa6
(AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King’s famous speech and pledging that his dream includes equality for gays, Latinos, the poor and the disabled.
The event was an homage to a generation of activists that endured fire hoses, police abuse and indignities to demand equality for African Americans. But there was a strong theme of unfinished business.
“This is not the time for nostalgic commemoration,” said Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the slain civil rights leader. “Nor is this the time for self-congratulatory celebration. The task is not done. The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more.”
Eric Holder, the nation’s first black attorney general, said he would not be in office, nor would Barack Obama be president, without those who marched.
“They marched in spite of animosity, oppression and brutality because they believed in the greatness of what this nation could become and despaired of the founding promises not kept,” Holder said.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., speaks at a rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on W …
Holder mentioned gays and Latinos, women and the disabled as those who had yet to fully realize Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream. Others in the crowd advocated organized labor, voting rights, revamping immigration policies and access to local post offices.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the only surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, railed against a recent Supreme Court decision that effectively erased a key anti-discrimination provision of the Voting Rights Act. Lewis was a leader of a 1965 march, where police beat and gassed marchers who demanded access to voting booths.
“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Ala., for the right to vote,” he said. “I am not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us. You cannot stand by. You cannot sit down. You’ve got to stand up. Speak up, speak out and get in the way.”
Organizers expected about 100,000 people to participate in the event, the precursor to the actual anniversary of the Aug. 28, 1963, march.
The science behind 350.org can be found in their mission statement which reads:
“350 means climate safety. To preserve our planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 392 parts per million to below 350 ppm. But 350 is more than a number—it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.”
Last September they organized “Moving Planet” — a massive day of action to find alternatives to fossil fuels. They also credit themselves with helping lead the campaign to stop the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline from happening.
The grassroots organization thinks they can turn the tide on the climate crisisby establishing an international movement that forces world leaders to be accountable for the damage and responsible for finding environmentally friendly solutions to reduce the harmful effects of pollution. Sounds like a noble, worthy cause, doesn’t it? Well, Donor’s Trust doesn’t.
The think–tank spends an inordinate amount of money and time trying discredit the science behind climate change. Their mission statement reads a bit differently:
“Explicitly devoted to supporting organizations that promote liberty, Donors Trust alone can commit to honor and defend the charitable intent of donors who share in our mission. The Trust is working to help alleviate, through education, research, and private initiative, society’s most pervasive and radical needs, including those relating to social welfare, health, the environment, economics, governance, foreign relations, and arts and culture; and to encourage philanthropy and individual giving and responsibility, as opposed to governmental involvement, as an answer to society’s needs.”
Pretty much the opposite of 350, Donors Trust’s rich, conservative, anonymous ‘well-doers‘, prefer to fund such groups as The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, which runs the website Climate Depot, created exclusively to attack environmentalists and scientist who take on global warming. Well, a wisewoman once said, “You’ll never realize the good that you do, until a negative force attempts to suppress you.”
Okay, I said it, but its still a good saying. Carry on 350. ♦
In his State of the Borough address on Tuesday, Bronx Borough President Reuben Diaz touted what he says is the climatic change in economic progress happening in that borough right now. Affectionately called Da Bronx by some New Yorkers, this area of NYC has had its share of bad raps–some deservedly, some not–with high crime, suspicious firebombings of real estate property and an overall badass-itude ( use to live up by the Grand Concourse on Morris Avenue. Street cred for real lol!). But Diaz says the borough,which saw more than $1.7 billion in new investments last year, is taking a turn for the better, lowering its crime rate and welcoming a number of large-scale projects, from new housing to an indoor mall to a Marriott Hotel, the first brand name hotel in the borough.
In the area of education, Diaz is pushing to build a six-year high school that he hopes will give young people who graduate a boost in getting high-paying science and tech jobs. Assuring that there will be even more progress to report at the next State of the Borough address, Diaz also let it be known that he plans to run for re-election. He’d get my vote! ♦
I want to start a campaign to bring Byron Allen‘s now defunct ‘Comics Unleashed’ to prime time television! Airing back in 2006, each show featured five hilarious (most times) comedians discussing everything from pop culture to entertainment, ad-lib! Caught the show at 3am this morning and had to stifle my laughs before my neighbors called the cops on me. Too. funny! Check out the segment I caught last night (excuse the bad audio) which originally aired… I-don’t-know-when lol!: ♦
The Hurry Cane (that name is definitely cute). You’ve seen the commercial on tv with the even cuter senior citizens exalting how this magic stick has enriched their lives, all within the time it takes for the fold up cane to be removed from the pocketbook and expanded to a full size stand-alone support apparatus. Hope there’s no hidden dangers or drawbacks in the thing because I intend to buy two or three of them and sock them away for my impending ‘Golden Years’–you know, just in case the whole “I-intend-to-stay-healthy-and-strong-til-the-day-I-die” thing doesn’t work out. Best to get one now just in case they disappear off the market like the Today’s SpongeContraceptive. I’m still investigating that btw. Best damn contraception ever created in my opinion. ♦
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