IMPORTANT STORIES ABOUT OUR MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND HOW THEY RELATE TO SCOTTSBORO, ALABAMA. INCLUDING STORIES ABOUT THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS AND THE CASE THAT CHANGED AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE.
SCOTTSBORO STORIES, BLOG & NAVIGATION GUIDE
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SCOTTSBORO BOYS MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER OPENING STORIES
During Black History month 2012 it seems a bit disingenuous that our federal government still discriminates against minority and poor people.
We have came many miles in the march toward racial and social class equality involving the laws of our nation. Unfortunately, when a comparatively small amount of money is involved with the nuclear industry involving site monitoring to protect citizens, injustice in the form of discrimination moves forward in government.
This is a reminder that racism and class discrimination are often based on financial reasons.
"ATLANTA-The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Tuesday that it does not plan to restore environmental monitoring to Georgia communities surrounding the Savannah River Site (SRS), a US nuclear weapons complex notorious for its Cold War legacy radioactive waste."
"This monitoring, which was cut in Georgia 2003, tests drinking water, rain, crops, fish, air and more near SRS in order to protect residents in poor and rural areas, including Georgia’s Burke and Screven Counties, where many people rely on water from private wells, home-grown crops and fish from the Savannah River."
As one concerned citizen has stated: "Can't have any proof that the actions of [corporations] enabled by our government are killing folks, now can we?"
It seems a complaint is in order with Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Human life and health must take precedence over department budgets.
UPDATE: Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center Black History Month Celebration. From The Daily Sentinel, Feb 1, 2012 - "The guest speaker for the event was Joanne Bland, the co-founder and former director of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma. Bland was a witness and participant in the Bloody Sunday march in 1965 and the first leg of the March from Selma to Montgomery. Along the way she witnessed brutal beatings and the shootings of fellow marchers by police. "'Bloody Sunday' was by far the worst," said Bland. "I've never forgotten that day."" Daily Sentinel Link: http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_123e0352-4d2a-11e1-9ef3-0019bb2963f4.html
(See bottom of this post for more on the "Scottsboro Boys Case.")
(Per news reports) Scottsboro Mayor Melton Potter attended as did the Chairperson of the Jackson County Commission - Ms. Sadie Bias. Scottsboro High School Choir and the Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Choir presented the musical program for the event.
"SO MANY STARS"
"IT IS WELL"
More about the "Scottsboro Boys Case;" the case that changed American Jurisprudence.
14th amendment Section 1 in Part, "...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv At that link one may find the rest of the 14th Amendment.
The "Scottsboro Boys Case" was a travesty of justice which must not be forgotten and which an accurate accounting of the case must be told.
The story is also one of bravery at great risk. Demonstrating a belief that American Justice can work. Such are the stories of Judge James Horton and Samuel Liebowitz.
Another part of the case involves Jackson County Sheriff Matt Wann. It is a story of an unsolved murder. Sheriff Wann stood in the door of the jail the night of the defendants arrest with a shotgun and prevented an angry mob of Klan and hate filled citizens from what some described committing "a lynching on the square." Early the next morning the National Guard arrived to provide enhanced security. Information concerning the Matt Wann case may be found at : http://scottsborostories.blogspot.com/2010/10/sheriff-matt-wann-brave-man-and-untold.html
The Supreme Court of the United States reversed 2 decisions of the Alabama Courts related to the "Scottsboro Boys" case as described below.
On Nov 7, 1932 the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7 - 2 decision ruled that the right of the defendants under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause to competent legal counsel had been denied by the State of Alabama, Powell vs Alabama. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_powus.html
On February 15, 1935, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in the Patterson and Norris cases. Samuel Leibowitz argued that the convictions should be overturned because Alabama excluded blacks from its jury rolls in violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution. (Equal Protection Clause, 14th Amendment: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Equal_protection
More information about the case may be found at the University of Missouri at Kansas City web site where Professor Douglas O. Linder and students have compiled one of the most definitive and extensive data bases on the "Scottsboro Boys" Trials. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm
( From "Corporation for National and Community Service" http://mlkday.gov/ )
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"
Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities.
The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President's national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. http://mlkday.gov/
"The Jackson County Voters League will honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King on Saturday, Jan. 14 with a luncheon and service at the Rec*Com in Scottsboro...The event begins at 11 a.m. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for students 13-18 and free for children 12 and under." http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_f2fbb174-3cb2-11e1-8a59-001871e3ce6c.html
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr., THE MEANING OF THE CROSS
Reuters via The "Globe & Mail"- The settlement covers conduct between 2004 and 2008 before the acquisition by Bank of America, and involves a range of alleged wrongdoing including charging African-Americans and Hispanics higher interest rates and fees than non-minorities.
Minorities also were steered to more expensive subprime loans even though they were qualified for traditional mortgage rates. Justice Department officials said it was the largest residential discrimination settlement in U.S. history.
Click on image for detailed Scottsboro weather report.
Copyright Info
Garry L. Morgan All Rights Reserved for writings, photographs and art by Garry L. Morgan.
Scottsboro Boys Museum & Cultural Center
Click on picture for an educational journey. (photo by G. Morgan)
About The Scottsboro Boys Museum & Cultural Center
"Let Justice be done though the heavens may fall." Judge James E Horton
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Some folks may ask, why a church for the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center? The church and Christian values played a pivotal role in the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement and the ending of Jim Crow laws. "We shall overcome" has special meaning in our Christian Heritage. Christian Values expressed in the church brought unity in the African American Community. It brought faith that some day God would provide a way to end the suffering, bondage and the tyranny of men over an oppressed people.
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The Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center memorializes the struggles of a determined people to overcome the destructive, evil force of racism. It celebrates the positive actions of those of all colors, creeds and origins who have taken a stand against the evil tyranny of racial oppression. It stands as testimony of how faith and Christian values may "move mountains" and change lives for the betterment of our community thru education.
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Visit the museum and take the journey thru the veils of time and history. Learn the lessons of our history to "The Beginning of the Modern Civil Rights Movement" in the event our society calls, "The Scottsboro Boys Trials."
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The museum is located on 428 West Willow St., Scottsboro, Alabama in the historical Joyce Chapel, c 1878, the oldest African American standing church in Jackson County Alabama.
(written by Garry L. Morgan)
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For more information call 256-244-1310
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Recommended web sites:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm *
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/ *
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials4.htm *
Scottsboro Boys (wokiwiki)
http://www.zaped.info/Scottsboro_Boys *
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
About the Scottsboro-Jackson County Heritage Center and Jackson County
The cultural history of Jackson County and Scottsboro, Alabama is displayed at the "Heritage Center." The center has a wonderful geneological library which includes many slavery period documents establishing geneological backgrounds of early African-Americans in Jackson County Alabama.
References relating to Native Americans, the Civil War, African Americans, Mountain Folk and European Cultures may be found at the Center.
Sagetown is an excellent example of a reconstructed 19th century village displaying a school, blacksmith shop, mine, and pioneer living indicative of all cultures during the 19th and early 20th century period of our history.
