Greene County Democrat

Tag: Albert Turner Jr.

  • Dedication ceremony for naming of the U. S. Post Office in Marion, Alabama for civil rights leader Albert Turner Sr. held last Friday

    Congresswoman Terri Sewell unveils plaque naming the Marion, Alabama U. S. Post Office for Albert Turner Sr.and Dedication Ceremony held at Perry County Courthouse lawn across the street form the Post Office.

    Special to the Democrat by John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    It is not often that a public building in the Alabama Black Belt is named for a legendary civil rights leader, but it happened last Friday, February 28, 2025, in Marion, Alabama, the county seat of Perry County. This happened because Congresswoman Terri Sewell passed legislation through both houses of Congress and had Public Law 118-245 signed by President Biden in January 2025, before he left office.
    Friday was a bright sunny day and all 250 chairs on the lawn of the Perry County Courthouse were filled with family members, post office and political officials, and residents of Perry County and other Alabama counties who remembered the work and service of Albert Turner Sr. There were additional people standing at the fringes of the crowd. The ceremony was held across the street from the Marion Post Office which will bare Turner’s name.
    Albert Turner Sr. was born in 1936, educated in Perry County Schools, including Lincoln Normal High School. He graduated from Alabama A&M University with a degree in history and mechanical arts. Turner founded the Perry County Civic League in 1963, a local organization advocating for civil and human rights. In 1965, Turner joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and became Alabama State Director for Dr. Martin Luther King’s organization.
    Albert Turner was involved in the Perry County protests in February 1965 which resulted in the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson by a State Trooper. Turner was among Black leaders who wanted to carry Jackson’s body to the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery, which was Governor George Wallace’s office, to dramatize the need for civil and voting rights in Alabama. Turner was a leader of the Selma to Montgomery March on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when the marchers were stopped and beaten by State Troopers and local sheriff’s deputies. Turner was a leader of the march that was approved by Federal courts, later in March, which led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
    Albert Turner worked as the Manager of the Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative (SWAFCA) in Selma, in the later 1960’s and 1970’s which helped provide markets for cucumbers, okra, greens and other products grown by Black farmers in the western Alabama Black Belt. He also pioneered the production of ‘gasohol”, an alternative fuel made from agricultural wastes. He drove his pickup truck to Washington, D. C. fueled by gasohol to dramatize the impact of renewable fuel sources.
    Albert Turner kept registering, educating and mobilizing Black voters in Perry County, through the Perry County Civic League and was elected a County Commissioner in the 1980’s. In 1985, Turner, his wife, Evelyn, and Spencer Hogue were indicted on more than 200 Federal charges for absentee voting by Jeff Sessions, then a U. S. Attorney in the Southern District of Alabama.  With support from the community and pro bono lawyers, the “Perry County Three” were acquitted on all charges. This was the beginning of “right-wing” efforts to discourage Black voters in Alabama and across the nation from using the 1965 VRA to advance their rights.
    Naming a U. S. Post Office for a “freedom fighter” like Albert Turner Sr., in the heart of the Alabama Black Belt, sends a message and keeps a spirit of freedom and justice alive in oppressed people.
    April M. Williams, Manager of Community Affairs for the regional U. S. Post Office was Mistress of Ceremony. She and the other post officials in attendance, Black and white, said they were delighted and honored to participate in this dedication program.
    Rev. Robert Turner Jr., a nephew of Albert, Pastor of the Hickory Grove Baptist Church and District Attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit gave the invocation. The Marion Military Institute Color Guard and Band presented the colors and played the National Anthem. Gail Crews, Postmaster of the Marion Post Office, gave an opening welcome and said that Albert Turner, “lived his life well and served the people of Perry County.”
    Greetings were offered by Barbara Howze, Perry County Commissioner District 4, Senator Bobby Singleton, Minority Leader of the Alabama Senate who said, “ Albert Turner was an awesome leader of the greatest movement for change in our history. He helped and nurtured young Black leaders like myself.” Senator Robert Stewart of District 23 praised Turner for being ”an architect of the Civil Rights Movement and opening a corridor for justice and freedom from Perry County to Selma to Montgomery. He was a drum major and advocate for Black people that has stretched through generations.”
    Joanna Turner Drury, one of Turner’s younger sisters spoke in a more personal way about Albert’s role in the family and his guidance to her in the right direction in high school and later in college.
    Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL7), who introduced and shepparded the naming legislation through Congress was the keynote speaker. She praised Albert Turner Sr. work as a grassroots community leader in the civil and voting rights movement. “ I stand on the shoulders of Albert Turner and many other foot soldiers to celebrate Black history, as a p-art of American history,” she said. Sewell also praised the sacrifices of Turner’s family, who allowed him to serve the community and people of the state of Alabama.
    The Congresswoman, with help from Turner’s family unveiled the plaque that will be placed at the doors of the Marion Post Office, which reads “ This building is named in honor of Albert Turner Sr. by an Act of Congress, Public Law 118-245, January 4, 2025.”
    Congresswoman Sewell ended her remarks by saying, “We have all lived through the past five weeks of chaos, under the Trump Administration. It has been a time of whiplash. But we must continue, with God’s will, to strive and thrive through the chaos. Every one of us has a part of Albert Turner in us. We all have a voice and vote. We must continue to work and fight for the future and the coming generations of our people. This is a collective struggle based on the contributions of all of us and we cannot forget or fail to live out that legacy.”
    Representatives of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, who were dressed in complimentary blue suits presented a proclamation to honor Turner, who was a member of the fraternity.
    Albert Turner Jr., Perry County Commissioner and Evelyn Turner, wife of Albert Turner Sr. rounded out the program with thank-yous and gratitude to all participants. Mrs. Turner introduced her first great-grand child, Bari Jade Turner, the daughter of Barrette Turner II, grandson of Albert Turner Sr. ”She must continue the legacy,” said Mrs. Turner.

  • Tuesday March 5 primary features national and local political races

    Next Tuesday, March 5th, voters throughout Alabama will have a chance to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary to choose candidates for offices from President, Congress and down the ballot to local offices.

    There is also one Statewide Amendment on both party ballots, which would allow the Alabama Legislature to pass local legislation and Constitutional Amendments before approving an annual budget. The current legislative rules often result in limitations and problems passing local legislation at the very end of the session, after the budget has been passed. Most statewide political organizations are supporting a “yes” vote on this Statewide Amendment No. 1.

    In the Democratic Primary, voters will have a choice for President between incumbent Joseph R. Biden Jr., Dean Phillips and Uncommitted.
    Further down the ballot they will have a choice of voting for up to nine persons to serve as delegates for Biden and two for Uncommitted. The names of nine persons: Helenor Bell, Linda Coleman-Bell, Christopher John England, Rolanda Hollis, Kevin Lawrence, Robert L. Stewart, Albert Turner Jr., Sheila Tyson and Warren ‘Billy’ Young, are listed as delegates for Biden from our Congressional District.

    Also in the Democratic Primary, voters will choose a candidate for U. S. Representative for the 7th Congressional District, between seven term incumbent, Terri A Sewell, and Chris Davis, a Birmingham attorney and political staffer.

    On the Democratic ballot there is a local contest for Circuit Court Judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit, including Greene, Sumter, and Marengo counties, between current District Attorney Gregory S. Griggers and Robert “Rob” J. Lee, a Eutaw attorney. These two White lawyers are vying to fill the seat of Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway, an African American, who is term limited by age. There were no Black lawyers living in the rural district, who qualified to run.

    Black voters in the three Black Belt counties have a difficult choice between two white candidates, to choose “the lesser of two evils”. Neither of the candidates have a strong record of supporting Black people and issues of concern to Black people.

    On the Republican ballot, there are seven choices for President, including Donald J. Trump, Nikki Haley, Uncommitted and others who have already suspended their campaigns.

    Republicans will choose between Christian Horn and Robin Litaker for the candidate to run for 7th District Congressperson against incumbent Terri Sewell, who is likely to win the Democratic nomination to run for an eight term.

    Republicans will also choose between Sarah Stewart and Bryan Taylor for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court; Chad Hanson and Stephen Davis Parker for Court of Civil Appeals; Rich Anderson and Thomas Govan for Court of Criminal Appeals; and Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh and Robert L. McCollum, for President of the Public Service Commission.

    The Co-Publishers of the Greene County Democrat are urging all registered voters to vote in the March 5th Democratic or Republican primaries. We must vote, in every election, to keep renewing and supporting democracy in our nation.

  • Jimmie Lee Jackson Day Program begins Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee

    Jesse Jackson Jr. speak s at Jimmie Lee Jackson Day Program

    Sunday’s “Jimmie Lee Jackson Day” program in Marion, Alabama began the two-week observance of the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee in the Black Belt of Alabama.

    The Jubilee commemorates the events of February and March 1965, including the police killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion on February 18, 1965; the subsequent Selma to Montgomery Marches, including Bloody Sunday on March 7, when the original marchers were beaten by Alabama state troopers, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    Jimmie Lee Jackson was a 26-year-old Black farmer and woodcutter, who was also the deacon of his church, St. James Baptist Church in Marion.
    He lived with his family in poverty in a house without running water. Jackson was shot by a state trooper, in a downtown Marion café, during a night march in support of James Orange, an SCLC organizer, who was arrested for encouraging voter registration in Perry County. Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot trying to protect his mother and grandfather and died eights days later in a Selma hospital.

    The original idea for the Selma to Montgomery March was to carry the body of Jimmie Lee Jackson and place it on the doorsteps of Governor George Wallace’s office in the State Capital in Montgomery. The march went forward on Sunday, March 7, 1965, without Jimmie Lee’s body, but in the spirit of his martyrdom for protesting for the right to vote and other civil and human rights.

    This year is the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and Jackson’s untimely death. It also is the 58th anniversary of the founding Perry County Civic League, a grassroots civic involvement organization, formed by Albert Turner and other Black community leaders in Perry County. The PCCL is one of a few organizations formed in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s that has survived and continued working on its mission of justice, voting rights and service for poor and Black people.

    In his comments on the occasion, Albert F. Turner Jr., Perry County Commissioner and President of the PCCL, said. “Our organization has stood the test of time. They are trying to indict me for helping people to vote but I am not afraid because God will see us through his challenge, as He has many others. We are not giving up; we are going to keep fighting.

    The Perry County Civic League honored graduates of Lincoln School, which as a Black high school in Perry County, founded by ex-slaves that promoted education from the end of the Civil War until 1970. They also honored Johnnie McAlpine, who was the first Black Superintendent of Education in Perry County.

    Albert Turner Jr. introduced Jesse Jackson, Jr. former Chicago Congressman, who was the guest speaker. Jackson Jr. said he was born on March 11, 1965, in North Carolina, while his father was in Selma, assisting Dr. King in working on the march to Montgomery, so “I have a clear connection to what was happening in Alabama around the time of my birth.

    Jackson said,” We need to honor Jimmie Lee Jackson more than we do as a moving force in the battle to win the right to vote, No Obama without Jimmie Lee, No Katangi Brown Jackson; with Jimmie Lee, No Senator Raphael Warnock; without Jimmie Lee, No Black Congressional Caucus, No Black Mayors without the sacrifice of Jimmie Lee. We must not forget his contribution to our movement and our progress.”

    Jackson also said the gravesite of Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion needs to be renovated with a statue, lighting, and more prominence. Jackson said he visited the gravesite before speaking and feels it needs to be elevated and illuminated.

    The Bridge Crossing Jubilee will be held in Selma, Alabama from March 2 to 6, 2023.

    Senator Hank Sanders in a press release on the Bridge Crossing Jubilee said, “It is the largest annual Civil Rights, Voting Rights and Human Rights gathering in the country. Tens of thousands come each year from across the nation and the world to Selma to experience it. “
    He said, “Among the many speakers are the following: Martin Luther King, III; Bishop William J. Barber II of Repairers of the Breach and the Poor People’s Campaign; U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke; SCLC President Dr. Charles Steele; U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; Congresswoman Terri Sewell; Coumba Toure Ba of Africa Rising; NAACP President Derrick Johnson; Reverend Jesse Jackson of Rainbow PUSH; Black Voters Matter Co-Founder Cliff Albright; AFSCME International Vice President Doug Moore; Marcia Thomas of USA for Africa; ADC Chair Dr. Joe Reed; Dorian Spence of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Anthony T. Browder, author and cultural historian working to excavate and restore historical tombs in Egypt; Dr. Ray Winbush, Professor at Morgan State University and author; Obi Egbuna, historian, journalist and radio host; Dr. Robert White, Professor at Alabama State University and historian; former School Superintendent John Heard; former School Board President Dr. Carol Zippert; and many others.”
    For more information, check out the website at: http://www.bridgecrossingjubilee.com.

  • Greenetrack Inc. establishes Scholarship Fund at Miles College

    Greenetrack officials with current and former employees who graduated from Miles College, pose with $20,000 check. L. to R. are: Frank Smith, Albert Turner Jr., Shemekia Little, Luther ‘Natt’ Winn, Greenetrack CEO, Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College, Johnny Coleman, Juanita T. Austin and Mary Snoddy.

     

    On Thursday afternoon, September 23, 2021, Greenetrack announced it was establishing ‘The Greenetrack Inc. Scholarship’ at Miles College, an HBCU in Birmingham, Alabama. Greenetrack CEO, Luther ‘Natt’ Winn presented a check for $20,000 to initiate the scholarship fund to Dr. Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College. A number of current and former employees of Greenetrack, Inc, who attended Miles College attended the presentation.

    “This scholarship’s purpose is to help students from western Alabama attain a degree so that they can return and help improve the quality of life in the region. This scholarship is being established with the initial contribution of $20,000 which will be generously supported by Greenetrack in the future,” said Winn.

    Student must be from Greene, Sumter, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Pickens, Choctaw, Marengo, Dallas and Wilcox counties to qualify for the assistance.

    Coordination of the scholarship will be managed through the Miles College Scholarship Program. To apply for the scholarship, students must complete an application through Miles College.

    Dr. Bobbie Knight, Miles College President said, “We are very appreciative of this wonderful assistance from Greenetrack Inc. which will help students from the area reach their educational goals. It was also great to see so many graduates of our college here today.”

    Herlecia Hampton, Greenetrack Gaming Coordinator pointed out that Miles College is the fourth college in the state to receive scholarship funds from Greenetrack. The others include: Alabama A & M University in Huntsville, Alabama State University in Montgomery, and University of West Alabama in Livingston.