Today in Washington, DC we commemorated, celebrated and marched on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. The report is that tens of thousands of people were in attendance .  NAACP, Labor, Gay, Straight, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, young and old alike were in attendance and marching to say, “we shall not be moved”. This is what the right-wing racist is terrified about. This is why they obstruct President Obama and subvert the federal government.  But I say, where there is unity, there is power, and the people are uniting to march and stand against injustice — racial profiling, stand your ground, stop and risk, income inequality and the list goes on. This is why we must march on, organize and fight the injustice of racism, classism and any other “ism” that seeks to divide and conquer Americans.

I was pleased to see so many different ethnic groups and cultures coming together to embrace the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Just like Barack Obama, the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King has galvanized all kinds of people from many walks of life. Many speakers brought words of exhortation and challenge today. I encourage each of you to find your passion and put your heart and soul into it. I am increasingly burdened by the vicious attacks on voting rights in America as well as the injustice system that continues to incarcerate so many African-Americans. We are 13% of the population yet 44% of the prison population. I will be using this space to focus on those two key issues.

It is utterly appalling and disingenuous to speak of liberty and freedom yet work to subvert and undermine Democracy when the outcome of an election is not to one’s liking. This is essentially what the Republican Party is doing.  Because the Republican Party is pissed that a black man is President of the United States, they seek to delegitimize him. This modern Republican Party is nothing more than former Dixiecrats who were, in recent history, blatant white supremacist bigots who sought to stop black people from voting and receiving basic civil and even human rights.

Well, the Supreme Court under the corrupt leadership of John Roberts, has found a way to undermine the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by striking down Section 4.  I refuse to salute JR as a Justice. He is a racist and works to revive, establish and underpin Jim Crow law. Since the attack on the VRA by the Supreme Court, several southern states, with great haste, are pushing legislation to make it harder for people to vote and aiming these obstacles squarely at black and brown, young and old specifically. All that they do to hinder will backfire because the people are not deceived by these malicious GOP tactics. We will do what we must to register to vote and to acquire official government identification. All that they are doing will simply piss us off so that we will turn out to vote in not only the general, Presidential elections, but in mid-term elections and in primaries. Declare your Party, register to vote, acquire your government sanctioned ID. Help someone to do the same or help pay for them to get their identification. The haters will not win.

L. Jackson/08.24.2013