A friend of mine had just uploaded two pictures from the Jimmy Cliff concert that she had the fortuitous opportunity to relive her youth if you will — she said Laurie this was purely joy– she said everyone was up and dancing — a few joints were passed around and you could actually buy your own bottle of wine. She said it was a picture of her youth for she was a flower child right out of the 60s. For those of you who are not familiar with the hippies; flower children, Woodstock and the countless hours of peaceful marches against the Vietnam War as well as countless organizations of trade unionist; communist party; black panters; and let’s not forget my favorite activist Angela Davis who was falsely accused of bombing a church. She was later acquitted . It is this latest news of Shirley Sherrod being forced to resign over rumors that has my heart in sorrow. I feel like all the work we’ve done in the past to help penetrate the glass ceiling for woman as well as opened many doors for people of color has unfinished business. I’m not sure who to be upset with? The mainstream press did not show both sides of the story. Neither did President Obama or the NAACP hear Shirley’s side. Here we have an older women (senior citizen) who is African American who gave an open and honest answer to the question that was laid before her. She knew she had a bias with a former client who was a white farmer who in Shirley’s perception she felt he was putting her down because of who she was (a woman, and a person of color). So she knew she could not properly represent him (this is perfectly acceptable in the psychology profession) so why wouldn’t it be acceptable here? She further explains that she took him to a white lawyer who she thought would fairly represent him. It was here that she found out color had nothing to do with representation. That it was all about money. Only the rich can afford a lawyer. This opened her eyes to reality that it is about the halves versus the have nots. Once she realized that he was not going to be properly represented because he had no money she decided to help him out. Race was no longer an issue — the veil had been lifted. This is a beautiful story — and I cannot believe President Obama or the NCAAP fired her over this revelation. My hat goes off to Shirley for not being afraid of sharing her life lessons with the rest of us. Would we have heard her story if it had not received all this press — perhaps not. She is a saint in my eyes — first it’s Helen Reddy with I am Woman and now it’s Shirley with wake up people it’s not about race — it’s about the halves versus the have nots. This is so powerful it brings tears to my eyes! If we learned anything within the last fifty years it is we shall overcome and we shall live in peace one day.
Continue reading Civil Rights Movement has Unfinished Business