Did you know that during the Vietnam War, a division of American soldiers was fighting under a Confederate flag? President Johnson wanted the flags removed.*
This is yet another example of the South not conceding that it lost the Civil War, not the War of Northern Aggression, as it’s called in Dixieland. When you look at the Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877, then you’ll see why the South believes it won the war.
*Editorial, “A journalist who spoke truth to power,” amNewYork, 3/28/18, p. A8.
In this moment of “FAKE NEWS,” often decried by its most ardent propagater-in-chief, it is worth nothing what recently deceased Les Payne, Black Journalist Extraordinare, gave as advice to young reporters: “Journalism begins when somone says no.” Most importantly, the purpose of journalism is to hold power accountable.
The Founding Fathers, flaws and all, got one thing right: a nation should have a Free Press. This is why the Press is considered the Fourth Estate, an additional check and balance — a watch dog of sorts — on the three branches of government, which is sometimes a three-headed monster, mostly when one party is in control of the Executive Office, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
My writing is rooted in journalism, when I first identified FAKE NEWS, in 1976 — a friend committed a crime, of which I knew details, and reading the news about the crime, I knew that it was…fake. At 16, I then began to write to find my voice, and to tell the truth as I saw it as a Black man-child. I intutively knew what Mr. Payne knew, and what was noted in the Kerner Commission report, that newspapers and TV news failed to report clearly on Black life, and employed very few Black people to better shape and inform reporting, which was, and to a great extent still is, reporting from “white men’s eyes and white [men’s] perspective[s].” (And it matters not if a Black talking head is espousing this, if it is from those white eyes and white perspective, and it is not being informed by Black eyes and a Black perspective.)
Finally, in an editorial about Les Payne in amNewYork, 3/28/18, “A journalist who spoke truth to power,” it is noted that “Payne believed society would be better if journalists helped it know better. It’s a lesson to remember.”
*”Ftweets” I define as Fake Tweets, another form of FAKE NEWS, mostly from the FAKE NEWS propagater-in-chief, and his merry band of people who do not tell the truth.
On this day in history, the Equal Racial Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar, does not report an incident…. I wonder if racist whites ceased their Reign of Terror against Black people because it was Good Friday? Ironic, in that Ku Klux Klansmen, and -women, and the rebranded merry band of white racists, that is, “white nationalists,” for the most part, purport to be Christian. The very same white Christians that exegeted that their blonde-haired, blue-eyed white god sanctioned African slavery, and the genocide of indigenous people in the Western hemisphere, the very same white Christians that led a deadly procession under dark starless Southern nights to poplar trees, lit by fiery crosses, before they re-enacted the crucifixion with countless, oftentimes nameless, Black men — strange fruit — as their scapegoats for their passionate hatred.
It’s also a Good Friday, because it was not a Bloody Friday!
Reverend Isaac Simmons, a black man, is buried three days after he is murdered by six white men who wanted to steal his family’s land in Mississippi; his family is threatened and flees the county.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
Churches and synagogues nationwide keep their doors open all day in observance of a National Deliverance Day of Prayer to support the Montgomery bus boycott.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
Delbert Tibbs, a black hitchhiker from Chicago, is indicted for capital murder of a white couple in Florida; he is wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury and spends two years on death row.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
In Scottsboro, Alabama, nine black teens are accused of raping two white women and almost lynched; the “Scottsboro Boys” gain national attention after their raciallbiased trial results in death sentences.”
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
Viola Liuzzo, a white housewife from Detroit, Michigan, is shot and killed after driving voting rights activists to Selma, Alabama.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
Creek Indians sign Treaty of Cusseta with United States, under which they are stripped of their land in Alabama; they are forcibly removed from the state by 1837.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
Tennessee passes laws authorizing racial discrimination in hotels, public transportation, and amusement parks.
From the Equal Justice Initiative’s A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar.
“The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is proud to present A History of Racial Injustice – 2018 Calendar. America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The genocide of Native people, the legacy of slavery and racial terror, and the legally supported abuse of racial minorities are not well understood. EJI believes that a deeper engagement with our nation’s history of racial injustice is important to addressing present-day questions of social justice and equality.
“This calendar is designed to be a helpful tool for learning more about racial history. Expanded content from A History of Racial Injustice is available in our online timeline, which along with additional materials on the legacy of racial injustice and information about the work of EJI, can be found at www.eji.org.
“It is increasingly clear that our nation needs a more informed, detailed, and truthful understanding of our history and its relationship to contemporary issues ranging from mass incarceration, immigration, and human rights to how we think and talk about cultural monuments and icons. We hope you find the calendar useful as we advance important and long-neglected conversation about race in America.”
William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters 