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Page 13 April 2014 After Serving 30 Years For A Crime He Didn't Commit, Glenn Ford's Wish List Is Being Fulfilled By Eleanor Goldberg "Maybe they want to give a thing, not just money,"she told The Atlantic. "It is a really nice moment in time, to see how people are reacting." Whitewashing Republican Support of Civil Rights By Raynard Jackson Glenn Ford It's been nearly a month since Glenn Ford was released from Jail after serving three decades for a crime he didn't commit. And he's wasted no time collecting the items and experiences he missed out on while in prison. Ford, a 64-year-old black man, was con victed by an all-white jury for the rob bery and murder of Isadore Rozeman - a 56-year-old Louisiana watchmaker, Re uters reported. Fie sat on death row from March 1985 until March 11 of this year when, acting on new information that vindicated Ford, a judge ordered him re leased from Louisiana State Penitentiary. When he was finally set free. Ford had his eyes set on the novelties he never could get his hands on in jail - some mangoes and a fresh change of clothes. On his first day out. Ford told WAFB, he just wanted to "get something to eat." But just paying for the very basics proved challenging. The state just gave him a debit card with $20 on it, as well as the 4 cents that remained in his prison account, according to The Atlantic. Tired of seeing his dear friend wait for what he deserved, John Thompson decid ed to help Ford set up a registry -the kind brides and moms-to-be typically send out to friends and family. The pair got some help from Danielle Mickenberg, an investigator with the Cap ital Post Conviction Project of Louisiana, and eventually set up Ford's wish list on Amazon.com. At first, they just posted the essentials: toi let paper and paper towels. But as things were quickly getting bought up. Ford de cided to go out on whim and check off some bigger-ticket items, including a fan with four speeds that goes for $79.98 and $96 overalls. Ford's supporters also set up a PayPal ac count through which people can donate money directly, but Mickenberg noted that people have been more inclined to buy donate tangible items. Raynard Jackson One of the best kept secrets over the past 50 years is that, proportionately. Repub licans in Congress supported passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act by a much wider margin than Democrats. As CNN.com reported, "The Guardian's Flarry J. Enten broke down the vote, show ing that more than 80% of Republicans in both houses voted in favor of the bill, compared with more than 60% of Demo crats. When you account for geography, according to Enten's article, 90% of law makers from states that were in the union during the Civil War supported the bill compared with less than 10% of lawmak ers from states that were in the Confed eracy.” This is from a report from CNN, not FOX, the network despised by liberals. There was another Interesting tidbit in the CNN report: "Ohio's Republican Rep. William McCull och had a conservative track record - he opposed foreign and federal education aid and supported gun rights and school prayer. Elis district (the same one now represented by Flouse Speaker John Boehner) had a small African-American population. So he had little to gain politi cally by supporting the Civil Rights Act." "Yet he became a critical leader in getting the bill passed. "Ftis ancestors opposed slavery even be fore the Civil War, and he'd made a deal with President Kennedy to see the bill through to passage," The article noted, "'The Constitution doesn't say that whites alone shall have our most basic rights, but that we all shall have them,' McCulloch would say to fellow legislators." But you would not know any of this if you relied on the official ceremonies at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library last week marking the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights. The three-day summit at the University of Texas featured President Obama and former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Other speakers included Black Democrats such as Julian Bond, the former NAACP chairman; Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta, and former UN Ambassador Andy Young, among others. (To see a full list of speakers, go to: http://www.clvil- rightssummit.org/program/.) Flow can you have a discussion of Civil Rights and not have one Black Republi can? Flow could you not have Robert J. Brown, top aide to President Nixon and one of Dr. King's closest confidants? What about former Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sara J. Flarper? Last year, she was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Flail of Fame. She was also the first Black to graduate from Case Western Re serve University's Law School. Is it really that easy to overlook the first Black Na tional Security Adviser and Secretary of State, Colin Powell? Really? They even had my good friend, former Mississippi Gov. Flaley Barbour as one of their speakers (a White southern male). So, they had White Republicans, but no Black Republicans. WOWI As George Orwell wrote his book, 1984, "Fie who controls the present, controls the past. Fie who controls the past, controls the future." If the summit were your sole source of in formation, you would think no Black Re publicans were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Arthur Fletcher is known as "the father of affirmative action."Though he is deceased, his work lives on - and should have been recognized. Former Secretary of Transportation Bill Coleman was a proud Black Republican but just as proud of his support for civil rights. And so was former Senator Ed Brooke of Massachusetts. The list goes on and on - except at the LBJ ceremonies in Austin. Am I the only one that noticed this inten tional rewriting of history? As usual, the media has been woefully and willfully negligent in not covering this angle. These supposedly bastions of journalistic integrity such as The Root and The Grio have caught a bad case of laryngitis. Melissa Perry and Joy Reid on MSNBC have suddenly forgotten how to speak English. The LBJ library and Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for prostituting the real bi-partisan history of the Civil Rights Movement. This should have been one event that was truly reflective of the real history of America - the good and the bad. Slavery and racism are still the biggest blemishes on American history; but The AC Phoenix because we are Americans and showed resolve, we also have one helluva story of redemption to tell. We have come a long way from the days of slavery and Jim Crow. We have Blacks making millions of dollars in sports, music, business, science, and education. Blacks have been to the moon and back. We even have a Black president. In the very moment when we should have been celebrating the journey America has taken, we have been forced to reflect upon the willful deceit propagated upon the true history of our nation. Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based public reiations/ government affairs firm. Fie is also the author of: "Writing Wrongs: My Political Journey in Black and Write. Fie can be reached through his Web site, www.ray- nardjackson.com. You can also follow him on Twitter (Sraynardl 223 Raising Hope with Heartstrings Benefit Brian Banks "Fleartstrings welcomes Brian Banks as keynote speaker at the Empire Room in downtown Greensboro, Doors open at 6pm, and the program starts promptly at 6:45pm, followed by a lively jazz reception and "Raise your Glass Raffle." Registration opens March 17th & guest fees are $125 per person. Brian Banks was a promising young foot ball star whose dreams of playing for the NFL were crushed when he was wrongly convicted of a crime and incarcerated for 5 years. Despite the loss of his freedom he maintained hope until he was finally ex onerated. Flis message of hope and ability to overcome devastating life circumstanc es with a remarkably positive attitude will Inspire all who attend. Fleartstrings provides compassionate validation, bereavement education and hope to Triad families who have suffered pregnancy, infant and child loss through peer-based support groups and one-to- one peer mentoring. www.heartstringssupport.org
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