“I want young men and young women who are not alive today…to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them.”–Martin Luther King Jr.
On June 21, 1964 three young men were killed, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi for trying to help black voters register to vote.
59-years ago the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, in this landmark piece of federal legislation the United States prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The fight for the right to vote for all Americans came at a high price in blood and inexplicable suffering.
Freedom Rider–James Zwerg was taken off bus and brutally beaten. The right to vote was paid for with much suffering and too much blood. This picture was taken on May 21, 1961.
Many were killed while trying to help win the right to vote for black people. To name a few:
Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, Jimmy Lee Jackson, Reverend James Reeb, Medgar Evers, and Viola Liuzzo. I hasten to add, Viola Liuzzo is the only known white woman killed during the civil rights movement. Anyone born after 1955 stands on the shoulders of these voting rights champions who were steadfast and never gave in or gave up.
I am appalled that anyone of the black race can stand without shame and tell the world they will not be voting in November 2024 presidential election.
For these nonvoters of color, clearly there is an indifference and ignorance we–voters must help them overcome.
Charles Micheaux
Atlanta*
MICHEAUX PUBLISHING 