50 Years Later..".I Can't Breathe?"

50 Years Later: `free but equal?' In Freguson, Staten Island, and all over the USA

"At our first stop in Virginia . . . I [was] confronted with what the Southern white has called `separate but equal.' A modern rest station with gleaming counters and picture windows was labelled `White,' and a small wooden shack beside it was tagged `Colored.'"
-- Freedom Rider William Mahoney [26]
In 1947, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) planned a "Journey of Reconciliation," designed to test the Supreme Court's 1946 decision in the Irene Morgan case, which declared segregated seating of interstate passengers unconstitutional. An interracial group of passengers met with heavy resistance in the upper South. Some members of the group served on a chain gang after their arrest in North Carolina. [27] The Journey of Reconciliation quickly broke down. Clearly the South, even the more moderate upper South, was not ready for integration.
Nearly a decade and a half later, John F. Kennedy was elected president, in large part due to widespread support among blacks who believed that Kennedy was more sympathetic to the civil rights movement than his opponent, Richard Nixon. Once in office, however, Kennedy proved less committed to the movement than he had appeared during the campaign. To test the president's commitment to civil rights, CORE proposed a new Journey of Reconciliation, dubbed the "Freedom Ride." The strategy was the same: an interracial group would board buses destined for the South. The whites would sit in the back and the blacks in the front. At rest stops, the whites would go into blacks-only areas and vice versa. "This was not civil disobedience, really," explained CORE director James Farmer, "because we [were] merely doing what the Supreme Court said we had a right to do." But the Freedom Riders expected to meet resistance. "We felt we could count on the racists of the South to create a crisis so that the federal government would be compelled to enforce the law," said Farmer. "When we began the ride I think all of us were prepared for as much violence as could be thrown at us. We were prepared for the possibility of death." [28]
The Freedom Ride left Washington DC on May 4, 1961. It was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17, the seventh anniversary of the Brown decision. Unlike the original Journey of Reconciliation, the Freedom Ride met little resistance in the upper South.On Mother's Day, May 14, the Freedom Riders split up into two groups to travel through Alabama. The first group was met by a mob of about 200 angry people in Anniston. The mob stoned the bus and slashed the tires. The bus managed to get away, but when it stopped about six miles out of town to change the tires, it was firebombed. The other group did not fare any better. It was greeted by a mob in Birmingham, and the Riders were severely beaten. Birmingham's Public Safety Commissioner, Bull Conner, claimed he posted no officers at the bus depot because of the holiday; however, it was later discovered that the FBI knew of the planned attack and that the city police stayed away on purpose. Alabama governor John Patterson offered no apologies, explaining, "When you go somewhere looking for trouble, you usually find it . . . . You just can't guarantee the safety of a fool and that's what these folks are, just fools." [29]
Despite the violence, the Freedom Riders were determined to continue. Jim Peck, a white who had fifty stitches from the beatings he received, insisted, "I think it is particularly important at this time when it has become national news that we continue and show that nonviolence can prevail over violence." [30] The bus company, however, did not want to risk losing another bus to a bombing, and its drivers, who were all white, did not want to risk their lives. After two days of unsuccessful negotiations, the Freedom Riders, fearing for their safety, flew to New Orleans. It appeared that the Freedom Ride was over.
At that point, however, a group of Nashville sit-in students decided to go to Birmingham and continue the Freedom Ride. Diane Nash, who helped organize the group, later explained, "If the Freedom Riders had been stopped as a result of violence, I strongly felt that the future of the movement was going to be cut short. The impression would have been that whenever a movement starts, all [you have to do] is attack it with massive violence and the blacks [will] stop." [31] The Nashville students traveled to Birmingham and asked the bus company to let them use their buses. Attorney general Kennedy also leaned on the bus company and the Birmingham police. He was determined to enforce the Supreme Court's decision that called for integration of interstate travel, and he worried that if the Nashville students remained in Birmingham much longer, violence might erupt. On May 17, the Birmingham police arrested the Nashville Freedom Riders and placed them in protective custody. At 2 AM on Friday, the police drove the Riders back to Tennessee, dumping them by the side of the highway at the state line. After they got a ride back to Nashville, 100 miles away, they went right back to Birmingham.
Meanwhile, Governor Patterson agreed to meet with John Seigenthaler, a Justice Department aide and a native of Tennessee. In the meeting, Floyd Mann, head of the state highway patrol, agreed to protect the Freedom Riders in between Birmingham. Attorney General Robert Kennedy then pressured the Greyhound bus company, which finally agreed to carry the Riders. The Freedom Riders left Birmingham on Saturday, May 20. State police promised "that a private plane would fly over the bus, and there would be a state patrol car every fifteen or twenty miles along the highway between Birmingham and Montgomery -- about ninety miles," recalled Freedom Rider John Lewis. Police protection, however, disappeared as the Freedom Riders entered the Montgomery city limits. The bus terminal was quiet. "And then, all of a sudden, just like magic, white people everywhere," said Freedom Rider Frederick Leonard. [32] The Riders considered leaving by the back of the bus in hopes that the mob would not be quite as vicious. But Jim Zwerg, a white rider, bravely marched off the bus first. The other riders slipped off while the mob focused on pummeling Zwerg. Floyd Mann tried to stop the mob, but it continued to beat the Riders and those who came to their aid, such as Justice Department official John Seigenthaler, who was beaten unconscious and left in the street for nearly a half an hour after he stopped to help two Freedom Riders. Mann finally ordered in state troopers, but the damage was already done. When news of the Montgomery attack reached Washington, Robert Kennedy was not happy. He decided to send federal marshals to the city.
Martin Luther King, Jr., flew to Montgomery and held a mass meeting, surrounded by federal marshals, in support of the Freedom Riders. As night fell, a mob of several thousand whites surrounded the church. The blacks could not leave safely. At 3 AM, King called Robert Kennedy and Kennedy called Governor Patterson. Patterson declared martial law and sent in state police and the National Guard. The mob dispersed and the blacks left safely.
After the violence at the church, Robert Kennedy asked for a cooling-off period. The Freedom Riders, however, were intent on continuing. James Farmer explained, "[W]e'd been cooling off for 350 years, and . . . if we cooled off any more, we'd be in a deep freeze." The Riders decided to continue on to Mississippi. They were given good protection as they entered the state, and no mob greeted them at the Jackson bus terminal. "As we walked through, the police just said, `Keep moving' and let us go through the white side," recalled Frederick Leonard. "We never got stopped. They just said `Keep moving,' and they passed us right on through the white terminal into the paddy wagon and into jail." [33] Robert Kennedy and Mississippi Senator James O. Eastland had reached a compromise. Kennedy promised not to use federal troops if there was no mob violence. Both men kept up their end of the bargain. Unfortunately, the Freedom Riders were now at the mercy of the local courts. On May 25, they were tried. As their attorney defended them, the judge turned his back. Once the attorney finished, he turned around and sentenced them to 60 days in the state penitentiary.
More Freedom Riders arrived in Jackson to continue the Freedom Ride, and they were arrested too. Freedom Riders continued to arrive in the South, and by the end of the summer, more than 300 had been arrested.
The Freedom Riders never made it to New Orleans. Many spent their summer in jail. Some were scarred for life from the beatings they received. But their efforts were not in vain. They forced the Kennedy administration to take a stand on civil rights, which was the intent of the Freedom Ride in the first place. In addition, the Interstate Commerce Commission, at the request of Robert Kennedy, outlawed segregation in interstate bus travel in a ruling, more specific than the original Supreme Court mandate, that took effect in September, 1961. The Freedom Riders may not have finished their trip, but they made an important and lasting contribution to the civil rights movement.

Welcome to the White House Jackie Robinson West Little League World Series Winner 2014

Earlier this afternoon, the Jackie Robinson West All Stars -- the U.S. champions in this year's Little League World Series -- stopped by the White House for a visit with the President and the First Lady.

Hailing mainly from the South Side of Chicago, Jackie Robinson West captured the world's attention this summer on their extraordinary run through the Little League World Series. Along with being the first Chicago-area team to make it to the Little League World Series in 31 years, Jackie Robinson West also made history as the first all-black team to win the U.S. title.

Before the world championship game against South Korea, the President tweeted that "we're all so proud" of the team. Even though South Korea won the final game 8-4, Jackie Robinson West had already secured a special place in the hearts of Americans across the country.

The young players' victorious run held even more meaning, however, for the city that they came from. Chicago has grabbed headlines nationwide for its increased gun violence and high murder rate, and many of the Jackie Robinson West players come from neighborhoods suffering from this violence as well as disproportionate levels of poverty. But the team's run this summer helped provide a respite from some of the city's troubles, with the players' hard work and upstanding example ultimately bringing hope, inspiration.

on, and unity to their community.

2014-IBW Press Release

October 3, 2014 Press Release This year’s Reparations Issues Forum at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. was simply an awesome event! With Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee, serving as the Honorary Host, an overflow audience was treated to a series of substantive and powerful presentations calculated to strengthen the Reparations Movement in the Caribbean and the U.S. Congressman Conyers has championed the cause of Reparations in the Congress by consistently introducing HR-40, the Reparations Study Bill, since 1989. He welcomed the speakers and audience, which included several Ambassador from the Caribbean Diplomatic Corp., by restating the importance of “sustaining a dialogue on the legacy of slavery” as a means of achieving meaningful racial justice and reconciliation in America. Don Rojas, Director of Communications for the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, introduced the Honorable Camillo Gonsalves, Foreign Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Keynote Speaker and Special Guest Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. Speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who was unable to attend the session, Foreign Minister Gonsalves provided a comprehensive historical background and rationale for CARICOM’s bold, unanimous decision to demand reparations from the former European colonialists for Native genocide and African enslavement.   He stated that the demand for “reparatory justice” has become the cornerstone of the domestic and foreign policy of his country. Fresh off a recent speech on reparations delivered to the House of Commons in Great Britain, Sir Hilary Beckles passionately detailed crimes against Native People and enslaved Africans committed by European colonialists and the gross exploitation that is directly responsible for the underdevelopment of Caribbean nations today. CARICOM’s Ten Point Reparations Program is designed to compel former colonialists to “clean up the mess” they left as a burden for “independent” Caribbean nations. Then, in a tribute to Congressman Conyers for his leadership on reparations, Professor Beckles brought the audience to its feet by proclaiming a “Conyers’ Decade of Reparatory Justice” as a theme to galvanize the Reparations Movement in the U.S. and beyond. Atty. Nkechi Taifa, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Societies Foundations, joined in praising Congressman Conyers for his steadfast and uncompromising work on the issue of reparations. She also acknowledged the milestone contributions of the National Coalition for Reparations for Blacks in America (N’COBRA) and numerous activists and organizers alive and deceased who kept the issue alive among African Americans and people of goodwill. Atty. Taifa reminded the audience of the basic definition for reparations as “the repair of the cultural, spiritual, psychological and physical damage done to a subjugated or oppressed people.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senior Editor, The Atlantic, is a recent convert to reparations whose brilliant and compelling essay The Case for Reparations has introduced a new generation to the concept. He stressed that the process of “extraction” of wealth and opportunities from Africans in America has never been accidental but an ingrained and devastating dimension of the evolution and development of the American nation. If reparations are to be won, this reality must be an integral part of the dialogue. He urged the audience not to be dissuaded by arguments about the feasibility or practically of the concept but to be motivated by the necessity to achieve justice. Kaimi Wenger, Law Professor, Thomas Jefferson Law School, who has written on the subject, referenced some of the legal cases that have been filed to advance the cause of reparations. He suggested that it is important to “think outside the box” in devising legal and political strategies to intensify education and advocacy campaigns to strengthen the movement. Professor Wenger encouraged the audience to never give up on this worthy cause. Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, enthusiastically embraced Professor Beckles’ proclamation of a “Conyer’s Decade of Reparatory Justice.” He suggested that it is a powerful and appropriate theme to motivate members of the Congressional Black Caucus, civil rights/human rights, faith, labor, civic and fraternal leaders to recommit to promote HR-40 in honor of the visionary and courageous work on reparations by the Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus. Dr. Daniels also took the occasion to announce an agreement in principle for IBW to host an official meeting of the CARICOM Reparations Commission in the U.S. at a mutually agreeable time in the near future — most likely in New York City. In addition, he indicated that IBW will create an African American Reparations Commission based on the CARICOM model. This Commission will take up the task of formulating a Reparations Program as a focal point for creating greater public awareness and mobilizing/organizing to advance the struggle to achieve Reparatory Justice in the U.S.   After formulating a Preliminary Program, the Commission would conduct regional hearings for community review, comment and input before adopting a Final Program. Dr. Daniels said the African American Reparations Commission will be a representative and inclusive body of fifteen women and men beginning with the selection of organizations and leaders who have been in the forefront of the Reparations Movements as well as notable leaders who support the concept. N’COBRA, December 12thMovement, Nation of Islam, Dr. Iva Carruthers, Dr. Conrad Worrill, Dr. Ray Winbush, Atty. Nkechi Taifa, Professor Charles Ogletree, Dr. Claire Nelson, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Danny Glover, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Susan Taylor, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill and Ta-Nehisi Coates are among the potential Commissioners mentioned. IBW estimates that a budget of $150,000 will be required to finance the first year to eighteen months of the work of the African American Reparations Commission. “Black people and those sympathetic to the cause will have to finance this initiative,” Dr. Daniels explained. “We can’t expect corporations or foundations to underwrite a campaign for Reparations for Black people. In the spirit of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, IBW is counting on contributions from the people to finance this Initiative.” Emily Moore, a retired educator, tennis instructor and community activist from New York, stepped up to the plate to write the first check for $1,000 toward the goal of $150,000! Obviously moved by the many tributes and calls for a “Conyers’s Decade of Reparatory Justice, in his concluding remarks Congressman Conyers remarked that “this Reparations Forum has been the most substantive since I began introducing HR-40. I expect great things as we move forward.”

Marriage is living and Most Weddings are Poor Planning?

I wish I never had a wedding.

Sure, the day was great. It was fun and I was happy. But I was miserable for at least four months prior and a long time after. I spent thousands of dollars on one day. I could have put that money into a retirement fund, into a home, into a car or many other practical things. I think back about that time in my life and I had nothing but negative feelings. I regret having a wedding because it scarred me emotionally, it made me an angry person for too long and it wasted a lot of my money.

Twenty-Five years later, and I wish I did everything differently.

It's not that I regret being married. No way. My husband is great. It may not be all rainbows and butterflies every day, but I enjoy my life with him. He gets me, he lets me do my thing and I like being around him. I just wish we skipped the whole wedding thing.

I was always the girl who had dreams of her big day!  I had marriage dreams, career dreams and having a family dreams and was convinced I would have it all. Marry young, have my children young, maintain a career and family. Since I am already 50 and I have been married twenty-five years now I think I did well.

When my husband proposed, I said "Yes”. I knew he loved me and would provide for me for the rest of our lives together. 

I know this sound too good to be true.

I was in 25 years old and was stressed enough about finding a job to support myself. Now I am throwing wedding planning into the mix. We really loved each other with his "we can make it work" attitude convinced me that yes, we can plan this wedding.

When it came to the wedding planning, my biggest problem was being a fan of party planning.  When it came to parties, I want my favorite people to show up.  My mother had a whole different idea…some of my favorite people and most of her family and friends. What is that?

I thought I had high the jack pot when a graphic designer friend of my then-fiancé’s offered to do our invites as her wedding gift to us. I told her our colors and ideas I had, excited to see potential mock-ups. Days went by and I heard nothing. I found examples of invites I liked in the bridal books and sent them over to her, hoping she would respond to a follow-up call. I got a quick brush-off response. This went on until there were two months left before our wedding and I had to say "If you can't make this happen, you need to please, please, please let me know." She couldn't or wouldn’t make it happen.   Luckily, our families were wonderful, creative and had a whole lot of imagination.   We used a make-your-own invitations model. We enlisted bridesmaids and family members to churn out, address and stamp 200 invites on a Saturday night. While we had a technical difficulty with the printer halfway through, we were successfully able to get all the invites finished in one evening. Family and some friends actually mean well.

When it came to my relationship with my bridesmaids, I wanted to treat them as best as I could. We were all either in young, recently out of school or had low-paying or no paying jobs and I did not want them to spend a lot of money on me, especially on a dress, so I paid for their dresses as a gift from me. I thought the bridesmaid dress concept was great. Most of them are tacky, expensive and no matter WHAT the bride tells you, there is no way you are going to wear them again. I wanted my bridesmaids to have dresses that they would and could have a slight potential to be worn on multiple occasions.   I ended up finding the dresses while flipping through a copy of pattern book one day. It was a rainbow color full-length strapless dress made out of chiffon material. I thought it was perfect, gorgeous, and comfortable, would look good on all body types and could be worn multiple times.

Unfortunately, my concern did not translate to a particular bridesmaid. While I wanted to give my bridesmaids a pain-free experience, not all of them wanted to return the favor. There were complaints about the dresses, my organization and much resistance when it came to my wishes for what I wanted for my bachelorette dinner party. All this, even though they knew the amount of stress I was going through with a wedding I was extremely excited about.

My bachelorette dinner party, in a word, was "breath breaking." My best friend and my mom tried so hard to give me the happiest night of my life, and I thank them so much for everything they did. They really were my saving grace during everything.

For the dinner party, I wanted to go to a male strip joint, after dinner. Unfortunately, two bridesmaids felts uncomfortable going and refused to get into the limo that was waiting.  I said, to them “If you don't want to go to strip club, that's your choice”.  

Eventually, I made the compromise that we would for get about the strip club and just enjoy riding in the limo that was waiting for the dinner party after the dinner.

Something that has stayed with me for years is:  you know how the bride is not supposed to pay for her drinks during the bachelorette dinner party? Well, guess how many drinks I had. One.  In six hours. I bought myself the one because it was becoming clear nobody was going to get me any drinks. Being young and unfamiliar with how bachelorette dinner parties work, I thought it was OK.

Now that I am older, I realize there is a special place in for guests who do not make sure the bride always has a drink in her hand and leave the bride and groom parents to pay their drinking bill.

Between the planning, the clashing with others involved and the whispers going on behind my back, the amount of stress I was going through was so intense that I gain 10 pounds leading up to the wedding. So many brides go on wedding diets, but my dress was already a size 14, so there was not much weight I could gain.   My dress that once fit great was now too small. I had to rush out to the dressmaker and have the seams loosen up.  

Even today, I have emotional scars from my wedding experience. While I have made up with one bridesmaid and our relationship is great, I have completely cut the other out of my life. I can no longer look at my own wedding photos with her in them without getting upset about the things she did to me in the past. And not just during the wedding. Looking back, this woman actually said to me she preferred hanging out with another person other than me because, she said "It takes the pressure off me   being less attractive all the time and I have been jealous and envious of you all of my life because I never knew my father." How sad.

I mean, think about that. I at one time could not look through my own wedding photos and be happy because of this person. I spent a lot of money on those photos, and for what? Thinking about that alone filled me with regret.

Today, I forgive her and right not I have let it and her go….my life, my family, and my friends are enough.

This article is an excerpt from the book to be published by Ruby Mae Chapman, entitle 

Life’s Interruptions.

Headed for the Little League World Series---The Jackie Robinson All-Stars!

The Jackie Robinson West All-Stars are headed to the Little League World Series, marking the first time a team from Illinois has gotten this far in more than a generation.

The Jackie Robinson West Little League team defeated all their opponents at the regional tournament in Indianapolis and Saturday's victory meant they advanced to the Little League World Series.

The 11- and 12-year-old boys representing several South Side neighborhoods will be the first all-African American team representing Chicago in the Little League World Series since 1983.

2014-DreamKeepers in France for 13 days!

Our last stop of the trip was at:

The Moulin Rouge is the number one show in Paris, if not the whole of Europe.  We did not want to miss our chance to see the world-renowned showgirls and French Cancan dancers strut their stuff on the Moulin Rouge's historic stage.

 For 110 years, the most legendary French cabaret has welcomed millions of spectators who have come to admire the famous French Cancan, and we were not disappointment.

Le Moulin Rouge is world famous thanks to its French Cancan, and immortalized by the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The sumptuous shows at the Moulin Rouge feature feathers, rhinestones and sequins, fabulous settings, original music and of course... the best Champagne in the world.

Many international stars have performed on stage at the Moulin Rouge including Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra and Elton John. They have all put on exceptional shows, following in the footsteps of French celebrities such as Maurice Chevalier, Jean Gabin, Edith Piaf and Yves Montand.

 Next year is Italy....Keeping the Dream live.....Join us as we travel around the world....DreamKeepers!