Greene County Democrat

Tag: Faya Rose Toure

  • The Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee Begins in Three Weeks!

    The Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee Begins in Three Weeks!

    Dozens of Events Scheduled to Commemorate and Celebrate the 61st Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, The Selma to Montgomery March, & the Voting Rights Act

    SELMA, AL—The Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee begins on Thursday, March 5, and culminates on Sunday, March 8, with the Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast, church services, the Bloody Sunday March from Brown Chapel AME Church to the Bridge, events at the Bridge and the March across the Bridge, where Foot Soldiers were beaten bloody and unconscious 61 years ago in the effort to march from Selma to Montgomery to meet with Gov. George Wallace after the brutal murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson.

    Leaders from the Jubilee and the Selma to Montgomery Foundation held a news conference at 10:00 a.m. today at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to discuss upcoming events. The Jubilee starts on Thursday, March 5, with the Voting Rights History Bowl for middle and high school students, the “Freedom Overture” with the Original SNCC Freedom Singers, and other events. The day concludes with the Annual Mass Meeting at 7:00 p.m. at Tabernacle Baptist Church, led by American Federation of Government Employees National President Rev. Dr. Everett Kelly. Tabernacle Church was the site of the courageous first mass meeting of the Selma Voting Rights Movement on May 14, 1963.

    The Foundation’s 2026 Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast begins at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, at Hangar 251 at Craig Field Airport & Industrial Authority in Selma. This year’s Unity Breakfast Award Recipients are Attorney Fred Gray, Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Attorney Gray is the Martin & Coretta King National Lifetime Freedom & Justice Award recipient; Rev. Dr. Lafayette is the Martin & Coretta King International Lifetime Peace & Justice Award recipient; and Attorney General Ellison is the Martin & Coretta King National Unity Award recipient.

    Speakers at the breakfast include governors and other national leaders who are considered 2028 presidential contenders. We are in the process of working out the final details with these leaders, some of whose names will be announced next week. Attorney General Ellison will also be speaking as will New York Attorney General Letitia James. They are coming to the Jubilee with other Attorney Generals from across the nation.

    The official Bridge Crossing Jubilee has dozens of events, almost all of which are free to the public. At the Jubilee, there is something for everyone—from the very young to the very senior! It is a pilgrimage that many make every year from across the country and around the world.

    Contact: Hank Sanders, (334) 782-1651/hank23sanders@gmail.com & Faya Rose Toure at (334) 349-4494

  • No Kings Rally held in Selma

    Part of the No Kings Rally in Selma

    Special to the Democrat by John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    On Saturday, June 14, a multi-racial group of over one hundred people gathered on the west side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma for a ‘No Kings’ Rally to protest the actions of the Trump Administration that harm low- and moderate-income people and help the richest people in our nation. The rally was sponsored by the Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy (SOS), Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC), and Indivisible.
    The Selma Rally was one of 13 events held in Alabama and among 2,100 held nationwide which involved 5 million people protesting Trump. This was the largest protest of an American President in history. It was held on the same day as Trump’s birthday parade in Washington D. C.
    The focus of the rallies was opposition to Trump’s immigration and deportation policies; the budget cuts in his reconciliation bill on Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP (Food Stamp and Nutrition Programs), Education, Social Security, and other programs; as well as his attacks on Democracy, Voting Rights and the Rule of Law. Another criticism is Trump’s effort to cut the social safety for vulnerable people to give massive tax cuts to the top one percent of people, multi-millionaires and billionaires in our country.
    Former State Senator Hank Sanders of Selma was the moderator of the No Kings Rally and said that the Selma site was chosen by the sponsors of the rally because of its historical significance to the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the continuance of Democracy in the United States. ”We have no room for a dictator or a self-proclaimed king in America,” he said.
    Isabella Compas of the Alabama Council for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ), who said she was a child of immigrants, spoke against the actions of the Trump Administration and ICE for rounding up undocumented people from farms, working places, churches, and schools who have committed no crimes. She said that families were separated, and people were sent to detention centers in deplorable conditions. Many have been deported without due process or the chance to get legal assistance. Trump is hurting the economy by taking workers out of the fields, processing plants, hotels and construction sites where they are working to support their families without providing replacement workers.
    Martha Morgan, a retired University of Alabama law professor reported on the many legal challenges to the Trump Administration’s illegal and un-constitional actions. She reported that there are trackers on the Internet monitoring all of the legal actions against Trump. There have been 220 lawsuits so far, 73 have been successful at the initial level. Many are under appeal to appellate courts, and most may eventually reach the Supreme Court, which although aligned 6-3 with conservative members has decided some cases against Trump.
    Another speaker was Annie Pearl Avery, a veteran SNCC civil rights worker, who march across the bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965. She said, “We cannot give up fighting or Trump will set us back to before the Civil Rights Movement.”
    Faya Rose Toure spoke at the rally holding some Confederate flags that the Daughters of the Confederacy had placed at public places. Faya Rose said she goes around pulling up the flags. “The Confederate flag is a symbol of defiance against the government. Trump would li8ke to take us back to slavery and Jim Crow. We are here today because we cannot allow him to take us back.”
    John Zippert with SOS and the Greene County Health System Board of Directors spoke on the implications of the Trump Medicaid and Medicare budget cuts which will eliminate health care coverage for 15 million people and lead to the closure of many more rural hospitals.
    Azali Fortier, a sophomore at Spellman College and native of Selma, spoke of the concerns of young people facing budget cuts in education for Pell Grants, scholarship, research grants and the banning of books about Black studies. “ We are also worried about the budget cuts on the safety net programs and the attacks on democracy,” she said.
    Charles Flaherty of Marion, Alabama, said this was his first protest rally in fifty years, about the same basic democratic rights, but it will not be my last.
    Near the end of the rally, Hank Sanders asked people at the rally to say where they were from and why they came. For half of the people, including some young people, said this was the first public political rally they had ever participated in. There were several Federal workers who were dismissed and others who were fearful of losing their jobs, under Trump’s directives. Several veterans in the group expressed that they were having problems with securing health care and other benefits from the Veterans Administration
    At the end of the rally, the sponsors urged the attendees to call and write their Senators and Congresspersons about their concerns about budget cuts and attacks on democracy. People were urged to write letters to the editor of their local newspapers. The people were also urged to talk to their neighbors and friends about attending the next rally against Trump to make it even larger and more impactful.
    The next rally in this series is scheduled for July 17, 2025, the “Good Trouble Lives On” to commemorate the work of the late congressman and Civil Rights leader, John Lewis, on the date of his death. The Transformational Justice Coalition will be the national sponsor. More information will be available on their website and the NoKIngs.org website as well.

  • President Biden renews commitment to passage of John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee

    L To R: President Joe Biden, Cong. Terri Sewell, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson in wheelchair, rolled by son Cong. Jonathan Jackson, Krysten Clarke and Spiver W. Gordon
    Attorney Faya Rose Toure addresses gathering at Commemoration March.
    Rev. Jesse Jackson receives special tribute at Unity Breakfast.
    Senator Hank Sanders at Martin and Coretta Unity Breakfast Rev. Martin Luther King III sitting at right
    Freedom Singers bring inspiration throughout Jubilee.

    At Sunday’s rally at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, President Biden renewed his commitment to passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, even if it requires waiving the U. S. Senate’s filibuster rules.

    Biden accompanied by foot soldiers, current civil rights leaders and thousands of marchers crossed the bridge in the annual reenactment of the ‘Bloody Sunday’ march – March 7, 1965, when 600 marchers were met and beaten by hundreds of Alabama State Troopers and Sheriffs deputies. Later that month, Dr. Martin Luther King led marchers from Selma to Montgomery, completing the march and paving the way for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    In his statement, President Biden said: “The right to vote, to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty,” 
 “This fundamental right remains under assault. Conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act over the years. Since the 2020 election, a wave of states has passed dozens, dozens of anti-voting laws fueled by the big lie,” he insisted.
 The President continued. “We must redouble our efforts and renew our commitment to protecting the freedom to vote. “We know that we must get the votes in Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act. I’ve made it clear: I will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote.”
    In his comments President Biden urged passage of the George Floyd Police Reform Act to implement changes in the criminal justice system across the nation. He also urged passage of a ban on assault weapons, like the AR-15, which have hurt people in recent multiple shootings at schools, theaters, and shopping centers.
    The President called for building the economy from “the bottom up and the middle out; and for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes.” He said that he was ready to stand by Selma and other places in the state ravaged by recent storms to rebuild better than in the past. He said over $8 million had already been distributed under the FEMA disaster declaration for the January 12th tornados.
    Biden was introduced by Charles Mauldin, a foot soldier, who was in the third row of marchers on Bloody Sunday. Mauldin explained that all Black public officials and others registered and voting under the 1965 Voting Rights Act owed a debt to the 600 ordinary people from Selma and surrounding areas who decided that they would take action to make a change.
    Mauldin initiated a “Foot Soldiers Breakfast” on Saturday morning of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, ten years ago, to honor those who participated in Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Movement in Selma. At this year’s breakfast, the foot soldiers organization announced they had secured a property near the Carver Housing Project for a “Foot Soldiers Memorial Park” to recognize the contributions of the foot soldiers and to inspire the next generations to become active in positive social change for the Selma community.
    Faya Rose Toure, Selma attorney, civil rights activist, and co-founder, with her husband, Hank Sanders, of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary, also spoke on the program at the foot of the bridge with President Biden.
    Toure said racism is still active and blatant in the Alabama Black Belt along with immense poverty and an abusive criminal justice system. She pointed out to the President, “Not a single white elected official is present on the stage or in the VIP seating for the event. Also, there are less that ten local white citizens involved in the Bridge Crossing Jubilee program. There is no school in the Alabama Black Belt, an area of majority Black population that teaches Black History!”
    Commenting on the recent tornados, Toure said, “Mr. President. Not only must we build back Selma better, but we must also build back Selma fairer, if we are interested in justice and progress for the people of Selma and surrounding communities.
    Toure also told the President, “I do not think you are too old to run again. My mother said the Blacker the berry; the older the berry, the sweeter the juice … “
    A number of the people on the stage and in the VIP seating for the President’s address, had participated earlier in the annual Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast. Among them, Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was in a wheelchair, Congresswoman Terri Sewell and other members of the Black Congressional Caucus, Rev. William Barber of the Poor Peoples Campaign, Dr. Joseph Mitchell, President of Wallace Community College, Barbara Arnwine of the Transformative Justice Coalition, Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Cliff Albright, Black Voters Matter, and many others.

  • 57th annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma March 3 to 6

    The 57th Bridge Crossing Jubilee will be held next week in Selma, Alabama to commemorate “Bloody Sunday”, the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March and the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

    The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is the largest continuing celebration of civil rights, voting rights and human rights in America.
    Parts of the Jubilee will be held in person and others will be virtual due to the lingering presence of the coronavirus.

    Faya Rose Toure, a major organizer of the Jubilee said, “Because of the mounting attacks on voting rights and the adoption of voter suppression legislation in many states, this year’s Jubilee takes on greater significance to defend the right to vote and fight-back against these attacks on Black, Brown, young and poor people’s rights. We invite you to attend the our many events and the march on Sunday.

    In addition to the commemorative march from Brown’s Chapel Church across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday afternoon, there will be a recreation of the full march from Selma to Montgomery from March 7 to 11, coordinated by major civil rights organizations,
    including NAACP, SCLC, National Action Network, Black Voters Matter and others.

    Among the scheduled events are:

    Thursday, March 3
    7 p.m.-9 p.m. – Mass Meeting, Tabernacle Baptist Church, 1431 Broad St. Speakers: TBA
    Friday, March 4
    6:30 a.m. – Jubilee Golf Tournament, Valley Grande Golf Course, 1009 Warrior Dr., Valley Grande, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Dr. Leroy Maxwell, 334-412-8090, Fee: $50
    9 a.m.-12 p.m. – Education Summit: Theme: TBA, Dallas County Courthouse and Virtual Zoom Sessions Presenters: TBA
    9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Children’s Sojourn, Virtual Sessions. Fee: $7
    3 p.m.-4:00 p.m. – Induction in Legal Guardians and Women’s Hall of Fame, (NVRM) 6 Hwy 80 East, Inductees: TBA
    5 p.m.-7p.m. – Mock Trial, Dallas County Courthouse, 105 Lauderdale St. Expert Witnesses: Texas Southern Law School Students – Whether the ban on critical race theory (Black history) is in violation of the 14th Amendment
    7 p.m.-9 p.m. – Public Conversation, Dallas County Courthouse, 105 Lauderdale St. Speakers: TB
    Saturday, March 5
    8 a.m.-10 a.m. – Foot Soldiers Breakfast, Selma Amphitheater, Tickets: $5
    8 a.m.-10 a.m. – Jubilee Parade, Begins: Concordia College-2180 Broad St. to Edmund Pettus Bridge on Water Ave.
    9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. – Intergenerational Summit, Selma Amphitheater Guests: TBA
    9 a.m.-2 p.m. – Various workshops (see workshop schedule) Virtual Zoom Platform
    11 a.m.-7 p.m. – Jubilee Street Festival (Blues, Gospel, Hip Hop, R&B), Water Ave. Foot of the Pettus Bridge
    7 p.m.-10 p.m. – Freedom Flame Awards Gala, Selma Amphitheater Selma, AL Honorees: TBA, Tickets: $50 (per person) $450 (per table) Performance by: TBA
    Sunday, March 6
    7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. – Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast, WCCS, 3000 Earl Goodwin Pkwy. Tickets: $25
    10 a.m.-1 p.m. – Sunday Morning Services, various churches in Selma – Tabernacle Baptist Church, Clinton Chapel, Brown Chapel Church, First Baptist Church
    1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. – Pre-march rally, Brown Chapel AME Church, 410 Martin Luther King St.
    2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. – Reenactment of “Bloody Sunday” march starting from Brown Chapel over Edmund Pettus Bridge
    3:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m. – Post-march rally, foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge
    4 p.m.-6:30 p.m. – Post-march gospel concert: Gospel tribute to foot soldiers, gospel: TBA, Foot of the Pettus Bridge, Tickets: $10 donation

  • Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed Against DA Michael Jackson of Selma

    For Immediate Release: Friday, January 21, 2022

    Selma, AL – Attorney Hank Sanders announced today that a million dollar-plus lawsuit had been filed against Michael Jackson in his individual capacity. Jackson is the district attorney for the five-county Fourth Judicial Circuit.

    The lawsuit springs from slanderous and libelous statements maliciously made by Jackson in 2021. Jackson falsely accused Attorney Faya Rose Toure of theft, fraud, being crooked, and stealing more money than Jesse James.

    Sanders said that a letter was sent in September of 2021 to Jackson demanding he retract the statements. Jackson did not retract the statements and did not respond to the letter. “It makes no sense for someone who is supposed to enforce the law to intentionally and maliciously break the law,” Sanders said.

    The situation occurred when Jackson sent a letter to Faya Rose Toure threatening her with criminal action concerning a $200 ad for his wife, Maya Jackson, who was a candidate for Mayor of Selma. Jackson alleged that the ad was not run in the Jubilee newsletter when in fact it had. Faya Rose had not solicited the ad and was no longer the director of the Jubilee as she had retired from her volunteer position as coordinator of the Jubilee. However, the ad had in fact run.

    When given a copy of the newspaper with the ad in it, Jackson continued making malicious false statements. He specifically said Faya Rose Toure was a fraud, was crooked, was stealing money, and had stolen more money than Jesse James, all of which are false. He also accused her of forgery and stated that she had created a new newspaper, which she had not. The ad ran in every copy of the Jubilee newspaper.

    Jaskson’s statements were on multiple television stations, in the local newspaper, on radio stations, and online. Sanders said, “Elected officials must be held accountable even if they are making malicious statements in their individual capacity rather than their official capacity. Jackson has refused every opportunity to retract his malicious lies. When presented with the truth, he compounded his previous lies with new lies.”

    The lawsuit was filed today in Dallas County Circuit Court. The press conference was held at 11:00 a.m. today in the conference room of Chestnut, Sanders & Sanders at 1 Union Street in Selma.

    CONTACT: Hank Sanders, (334) 782-1651 and hank23sanders@gmail.com

  • Calls for AG Steve Marshall to resign SOS leaders protest Alabama Attorney General’s joining Texas lawsuit to challenge legally cast Black votes

    A group of leaders of the SaveOurselves Movement for Justice and Democracy protested Tuesday, December 15, in front of Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office at 501 Washington Street in Montgomery.
    The protest was to denounce and question Marshall’s decision to join with 17 other Republican Attorney Generals from around the nation, in a Texas lawsuit to question absentee voting in four states – Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania – and throw out the legally cast votes, many by Black and Brown people in those states.
    The United States Supreme Court, wisely rejected and declined to hear the Texas lawsuit, which was part of a continuing campaign by President Trump and his backers to disenfranchise legitimate votes and take away the election victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on November 3, 2020.
    The protestors carried signs that said: AG Marshall you must resign;
    Marshall you abused your powers, you acted lawlessly; Prosecute yourself – AG Marshall; You betrayed the voters of Alabama.
    Faya Rose Toure, SOS leader and attorney from Selma said, “We are demanding that Attorney General Marshall resign. He used Alabama funds backing a frivolous law to challenge the legitimate votes of Blackfolks in four other states. He joined a lawsuit to challenge legal actions in other states, who voted for Biden, even though we did the same things in Alabama, where Trump won.”
    John Zippert, SOS Steering Committee member from Greene County said, “Who authorized Attorney General Marshall to spend time and money on lawsuits to fight things that many Alabama citizens support. Not only did he join this recent lawsuit against other states voting rights but he joined the lawsuit to rule the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, which will deny healthcare coverage to millions of people in Alabama and around the nation.
    Zippert also read portions of a letter sent by Bernard Simelton, President of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP to Attorney General Marshall. The letter says, “We are outraged that you chose to involve the state of Alabama in a baseless and frivolous lawsuit aimed at overturning an American Election. If the citizens of this state and nation do not have the right to vote in an American Election, we call upon you to explain to us why.”
    The letter concludes saying, “It is very disturbing to see you take such a bold step to support a lawsuit that is racist on its face. The unmitigated gall to invalidate millions of votes cast by African Americans and people of color is insulting at best and criminal at worst – we are grateful that the Supreme Court twice rejected you and 106 Congresspersons, and hope we can get back to the business of addressing real voter suppression in the state of Alabama instead of chasing down unsubstantiated claims in other states.”
    This letter was signed by SOS, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Alabama Arise, Greater Birmingham Ministries, in addition to the NAACP.

  • Nine more arrested at Tuesday’s SOS protest for Medicaid Expansion at State Capitol in Montgomery

    By: John Zippert,
    Co-Publisher

    The SaveOurselves Movement for Justice and Democracy (SOS) held its bi-weekly protest on the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama to call for Governor Kay Ivey to expand Medicaid; for state and federal officials to intensify their response to the coronavirus, especially by increasing testing, contact tracing and support for the Alabama Black Belt counties, and Black, Brown and poor communities, who are dying from the virus at disproportionately higher rates; releasing non-violent detainees from jails and prisons to reduce the spread of coronavirus and other concerns.

    Nine people were arrested by the City of Montgomery Police when they began painting “Good Trouble” and “Expand Medicaid” over the light gray paint that the City had painted over “Black Lives Matter” and “Expand Medicaid” written by SOS protestors in a similar demonstration on July 16, 2020.
    Fewer than half of those individuals were actually painting – or attempting to paint. Several were arrested for simply standing on the gray painted pavement in front of the Capitol that does not block any traffic. The police closed in and started making arrests before the protestors could complete writing full words.
    The SOS protest yesterday, July 28, 2020, was also directed at the Mayor, Police Chief and staff of the City of Montgomery Police Department for their humiliating treatment of five SOS and Black Lives Matter activists who turned themselves in to the police on Monday, July 20, 2020. The two women were strip searched and all were required to dress in jail jumpsuits and were placed in holding cells. During their five hours in custody, they were exposed to the coronavirus by jailers and detainees, who were not wearing masks
    The nine who were detained at Tuesday’s protest were SOS leaders and members as well as some supporters from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Poor People’s Campaign for a Moral Revival. The nine arrested were: Hank Sanders, Selma attorney and former Alabama State Senator, Faya Rose Toure (Sanders), his wife and civil rights attorney, Martha Morgan, retired University of Alabama law professor, Queen Tate, Yomi Goodall and Judson Garner, SOS members; Ellen Degnan and Danna Sweeny with SPLC, and Stephanie Bernal-Martinez with the Poor People’s Campaign.
    All who were arrested on Tuesday, were released in a span of two hours on their own recognizance. One White male was made to strip down to his underwear and put on a prison jumpsuit. No-one in custody was strip searched this time. At press time it is not clear what charges will be brought against the nine who were arrested.
    The five SOS and BLM activists, Karen Jones, Faya Rose Toure, Johnny Ford, John Zippert, and Kamasi Amin (Juan McFarland II ) were charged with “defacing public property”, a misdemeanor, for the early incident of writing in the street. They have been assigned a September 21st court date.
    Attorney, Civil Rights Activist and former Municipal Judge Faya Rose Toure, who was the only person arrested at both protests, said: “My arrest and jailing on Monday was the most humiliating experience of my life. I have been arrested multiple times in various cities in this state and country over more than five decades in civil disobedience protests in the fight for human rights, but never was I strip searched and never was I exposed to danger like I was in Montgomery in the city jail.
    “The five of us all wore masks, but none of the other inmates with whom we were held wore masks not nor did all of the jail employees. This is dangerous not only for us but also for our families and all those with whom we come in contact. In addition to being embarrassing and dangerous, it was also hurtful to me because I was almost arrested in Montgomery last year for passing out voting materials during the campaign in which Steven Reed was elected Mayor. But I intend to keep fighting for human rights. I intend to keep fighting to expand Medicaid. I intend to keep fighting to save lives in Alabama.”
    “Former Tuskegee Mayor and State Representative Johnny Ford said: “We have been fighting for the expansion of Medicaid in Alabama year after year after year. Alabama must expand Medicaid to save lives in Alabama. Expanding Medicaid would save the lives of an estimated 700 Alabamians per year – and that is before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.”
    Several parents of children murdered while in the custody of the City of Montgomery Police and Jail voiced their complaints about the injustices of the city’s jail and justice system. The parents of Steven Matthew Seal and Tony Lewis Jr. gave testimonies about the unfair treatment of their children.
    Persons interested in joining or supporting SOS in future demonstration may contact SOS through their website, Facebook page or by writing: SOS Survival Fund, 838 So. Court Street, Montgomery, Alabama 36104; phone: 334-262-0932.

  • Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee names new Principal Coordinator

    Drew Glover a California native is the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee’s new Principal Coordinator.
    Glover replaces Faya Rose Toure, who co-founded the Jubilee with her husband and former State Senator Hank Sanders. Toure was the Jubilee’s unpaid coordinator for the last 28 years.
    “It is an honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of giants who have come before me and who have kept this powerful and important event strong for decades,” Glover said in a release. “Because of them, I have this opportunity as well as the Civil Rights that I and other people of color have today.”
    Glover, a Santa Cruz, California native, has a background in nonviolence education and addressed social inequities around issues of race and systemic oppression.
    The 56th annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee is scheduled for March 4-7, 2021. The events include the annual crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Miss Jubilee pageant and Freedom Flame Awards.
    Glover said he plans to bring new events to the jubilee, including a venture summit for young entrepreneurs, a new educational symposium on social change and virtual portal for people around the world to participate in the celebration.
    “In a moment in history when police brutality and systemic racism are prevalent across the nation, what is clear is the tremendous work still left to do,” Glover said. “The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is something everyone should experience because it educates, uplifts and reminds us of the power of the people when they unite in the fight for justice.”

  • Selma Attorney Faya Rose Toure arrested for removing a campaign sign illegally placed in front of Tabernacle Baptist Church

    fayaRoseToure.jpg

    Toure Remains in Jail Protesting the Unjust and Illegal Actions of the City of Selma Against Her and Other Selma Residents

    Editors Note: We are printing this press release as it was received from Senator Hank Sanders concerning the unjust arrest of his wife, and the unjustifiable $2,000 cash bond imposed by the City of Selma for her release. We are also pleased to report that Jimmy Nunn, Black candidate for Probate Judge of Dallas County, was successful in winning the Democratic nomination in yesterday’s runoff election by a vote of 6,305 to 4,635 for his opponent Nicolas D. Switzer.

    Statement of Senator Hank Sanders, Toure’s Attorney and Husband

    Montgomery, AL –Several weeks ago, someone called our law office multiple times and threatened to kill Faya Rose Toure. The same person also called the Z105.3 FM radio station and threatened to kill Faya Rose. Complaints were made to Selma’s Chief of Police, and Faya has not heard anything back from the police in dealing with the death threats against her.
    But on July 16th, the Selma Police Department had someone follow Faya Rose in an unmarked city vehicle. Prior to this, Faya Rose had complained on multiple occasions to Selma city officials that they were discriminatory in their removal of campaign signs on public right of ways. They were leaving the signs of White candidates on the right of ways while removing the signs of Black candidates placed in the same areas. Toure told them that if they continued to discriminate in enforcement of the law, she would then remove the signs left on public right of ways. The City of Selma has an ordinance that holds that political signs cannot be on public right of ways.
    On Monday, July 16th, Faya Rose was driving by Tabernacle Baptist Church with our 11-year-old granddaughter, and there was a sign right in front of the Church on a public right of way. She stopped the car, got out and removed the sign. A Tabernacle Church Deacon thanked her for removing the sign. He said they had objected to the sign’s being there to no avail, but because it was on public right of way they had not removed it.

    Tabernacle Baptist Church is a very historic church and was central and critical to the Voting Rights Movement of the 1960s. Tabernacle was the site of the first mass meetings for Voting Rights during the Movement during times when mass meetings meant great risk, including the risk of death, for all involved.
    As Faya Rose left Tabernacle, someone in an unmarked vehicle began to follow her, and, when he turned on flashing lights, Toure decided not to stop until she was in a location where other people were. When she stopped, she was in front of the campaign office of the African American candidate for probate judge, Jimmy Nunn, who is now Probate Judge-elect for Dallas County.
    Because she had ensured that the “Vote or Die” campaign was in no way affiliated with any individual’s campaign, Faya decided to move her car and circled the block to an area where more people were. She pulled into a parking spot at the corner of Selma Avenue and Broad Street. Eventually, nine or so policemen came in masse to arrest her, one 73-year-old Black woman.
    Because she had our 11-year-old granddaughter with her, she asked them if she could call someone to come and pick her up. The police refused, and they left our 11-year-old granddaughter alone downtown with people she did not know. Faya also told the police that her wrist had been broken and was still painful, so she asked them to put the handcuffs on in front of her instead of behind her so her injury would not be aggravated. Instead, they went ahead and put the handcuffs on behind her back and then forcefully tightened them.
    The police report states she was arrested for shoplifting in the fourth degree for removing a sign illegally placed on a public right of way in front of Tabernacle Baptist Church. When I learned of her arrest, I went the site of her arrest and got our granddaughter, who was crying, and comforted her and made sure she was safe. Our car was still there, so I asked the police if I could move it to our law office. They said it was evidence and refused to allow me to move it. However, they did not take it to the police station but had a tow truck come to move it to a tow yard, where one of my daughters immediately went and paid $150 to get it.
    I then went to the city jail to see Faya Rose as her attorney as well as her husband. The police refused to allow me to see her or talk to her. The police asked me several times if I was going to make the $2,000 cash bond for her. I told them: “I don’t know. You will not let me meet with her.”
    Later, she briefly appeared and asked me to go find the witnesses at Tabernacle Baptist Church who had thanked her for removing the sign. The police subsequently moved her to the Dallas County Jail, where she has spent the last two nights and where she remains right now. She has refused to post an unjust $2,000 cash bond for an unjust and illegal arrest. She was and is protesting her own situation as well as the unconstitutional, much more outrageous bond conditions that others in Selma and Dallas County have endured for years. She also was and is protesting the fact the police prohibited her from calling anyone to take care of her 11-year-old child whom the police just left on the street corner.
    All of this reminds me of the arrest of the Selma City Councilman, who has disagreed with the Mayor on various occasions, for allegedly urinating in the street, which he has denied. There is a pattern of the city police department targeting individuals. Faya Rose’s arrest was not an isolated incident. I also believe the timing of it – the day before the Run-off Election for the Democratic Primary – was not coincidental. Throughout this election the city has selectively enforced its laws regarding political signs against Black candidates while ignoring them as to White candidates. Moreover, the City has the manpower to send nine or so policemen to arrest one 73-year-old Black woman while murders go unsolved and while death threats are completely ignored.
    I saw Faya Rose this morning, and she was encouraged by Jimmy Nunn’s election and the support she has received from so many people. She remains in jail protesting the unjust and illegal practices done to her and to many others by the City of Selma. Faya hopes her circumstances will bring attention and change to the injustices that have been ongoing in the city.

  • Thousands attend Bridge Crossing Commemoration and Jubilee in Selma

    Special to the Democrat by: John Zippert,  Co-Publisher

     

    Pictured above : 21st Century Youth join thousands in Commemorative March over Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma at the 53rd Anniversary of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March on Sunday, March 4, 2018. Shown L to R: Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Senator Kamala Harris, Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Senator Doug Jones brought greetings at the Unity Breakfast; Rev. William Barber of the Poor’s People Campaign with Rev. Liz Theoharris at the Commemorative March in Selma.; Jamia Jackson, Greene County High Senior, brought greetings at the Unity Breakfast on behalf of 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement.

     

    The Bridge Crossing Jubilee lived up to its billing as the largest continuing commemoration of civil rights activities in the nation. More than 20,000 people marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to celebrate the 53rd. anniversary of the 1965 ‘Bloody Sunday March’ which crystallized the voting rights movement and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
    Faya Rose Toure, major organizer of the Jubilee said, “We did not come just to celebrate but to rededicate ourselves to the struggle for voting rights, civil rights and human rights in 2018 in our nation.

    We need to revitalize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which the U. S. Supreme Count ruled unconstitutional. We need to reverse the many steps taken by states to roll back voting rights and institute voter suppression. We need to redirect the national agenda to be more concerned about Black, Brown and poor people.”
    Every one of the more than forty events that made up the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, were crowded with people who came to learn from history and to make new history going forward. All of the mass meetings, breakfasts, panels, dinners, the street festival and other activities were well attended.
    Rev. William Barber Jr., and his staff with the ‘Poor Peoples Campaign – A National Moral Revival’ participated in a number of events and used the Jubilee to recruit participants in the revival of the Poor People Campaign. The group is planning forty days of massive civil disobedience, around the issues of poverty, beginning on Mother’s Day, May 13 and continuing into June, to refocus the nation’s attention on the problems and issues facing poor people in our country.
    At a mass meeting on Saturday evening at First Baptist Church, Rev. Barber pointed out that due to racialized gerrymandering, Republicans controlled 23 states with 46 U. S. Senators and 170 electoral votes.
    “They have a good start to win any national election and they put up extremist candidates who win by cheating through gerrymandering and suppressing the vote. There was no discussion by Republicans or Democrats in the 2016 Presidential campaign of voter suppression, the need to restore Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act or the continuing problems of persistent poverty in urban and rural areas. The Poor Peoples Campaign is designed to bring these issues forward into the national consciousness for discussion and resolution,” said Barber.
    At the Martin and Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast on Sunday, at Wallace Community College many speakers discussed the importance of reviving and revitalizing the Voting Rights Act to prevent voter suppression.
    Senator Kamala Harris of California was the breakfast keynote speaker. She is also considered a possible Democratic candidate for President in 2020. Harris said that the people who marched in Selma in 1965 were “patriots fighting for the ideals of the America we love. They laid the foundation for us to follow. Selma laid a blueprint when they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and paved the way for the bridges we must build to the future.
    “We must address adversity and inequalities of our time. We need inspiration from the DACA children, from reports that show continuing problems of home-ownership, employment and poverty in America, and actions of the NRA promoting gun violence among our children. We must fight for justice and against injustice in each generation. Do not despair – roll up our sleeves and go to work,” she said.
    Senator Doug Jones in his talk said that the lessons of Selma, show the best of America. “We must continue to work for stronger public education for all of our children, health care for all people, keeping our rural hospitals open and other steps that will unify our people.” Congresswoman Terry Sewell of Alabama made similar comments.
    Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California called for the impeachment of President Trump in her remarks. “ I come to Selma, almost every year for the Jubilee, it keeps me grounded. I will not be intimidated by the person in the White House. It is clear from what he says and what he does that he has a mental illness and is unstable. He mocked a disabled journalist, he called Carly Fiorina ugly, he said to grab women by their private parts. He is unfit to be President by temperament and policy. Get ready for Impeachment No. 45,” she shouted.
    Rev. Jesse Jackson said that we cannot allow voter suppression and voter apathy to hold us back. “We must register every high school student, when they turn 18; we must register the 4 million Black voters in the South who are still unregistered; we must get the 2.5 million Black voters in the South, who are registered but did not vote in the last election to wake up and vote.”
    More on the Bridge Crossing Jubilee events and program next week.