So many Black people and their allies who put their lives on the line for the right to exercise this most cherished of American freedoms.
Here is a retrospective on the painful path that was trod by those who would take nothing for their journey in their quest to obtain what they had a right to as U.S. citizens.
**************************************************************************************************
Voting Rights Act, the first page. (SOURCE)
Voting Rights Act, last page.
Civil rights protestors challenging the bankruptcy and brutality of Jane Crow segregation.
Protestors carrying American flag sin the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama March, 1965.
May 7, 1963: Birmingham Police arrest Parker High School student Mattie Howard in front of the Carver Theatre. Youths became an integral part of the civil rights movement when the Children’s Crusade began on May 2.
NEWS FILE/NORMAN DEAN (SOURCE)
May 3-9, 1963: Youths are pummeled by water from a fire hose during a Children’s Crusade demonstration in downtown Birmingham. (SOURCE)
President Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks at the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6,1965.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Timeline
| 1965 |
1965 – Voting Rights Act Voting has In 1965, however, the Voting Rights Act was passed, and it suspended in certain areas the use of literacy tests and similar devices as prerequisites to. Conflict between Private and Public Rights of the Law For example, specific …Voting Rights Act Voting has In 1965, however, the Voting Rights Act was passed, and it suspended in certain areas the use of literacy tests and similar devices as prerequisites to. Conflict between Private and Public Rights of the Law For example, specific Amendments to the US Constitution address issues such as voting rights for all regardless of race, gender or ethnicity and national Gang Prevention Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act workshop is designed to …
From Voting Rights Essay |
|
Mar 7, 1965 – He died eight days later. To protest, activists decided to march from Selma to the state’s Capitol in Montgomery. The confrontation on March 7, 1965, or Bloody Sunday, led to the Voting Rights Act. “It’s a very important case, because his death led to the …He died eight days later. To protest, activists decided to march from Selma to the state’s Capitol in Montgomery. The confrontation on March 7, 1965, or Bloody Sunday, led to the Voting Rights Act. “It’s a very important case, because his death led to the voting rights march,” District Attorney Michael W. Jackson said Wednesday in an interview. “This event helped trigger the Voting Rights Act, which helped enfranchise a lot of people. I’ma direct benefit of it.”
|
|
Aug 6, 1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965. (Broadcast media note: Vanderbilt has a campus broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and a radio ISDN line) VOTING RIGHTS ACT RESONATES …
From Media Advisory — Voting Rights Act resonates today: Vanderbilt black … sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2005/07 … |
|
Oct 19, 1965 – SELMA, Ala., — An Al abama judge has ruled that the 1965 Voting Rights Act. which resulted in the sending of feder al voting examiners into a score of Southern counties to register Negroes, is unconstitutional. Circuit Judge Jumes Hare, in a ruling Monday, declared the law to be in …
From 1965 Voting Rights Act Ruled Unconstitutional By Alabama Judge Hare . news.google.com/newspapers?id=YSgmAAAAIBAJ … |
|
Oct 22, 1965 – WASHINGTON — The government, voking a rarely used constitutional power, asked the Supreme Court yesterday to affirm constitutionality of the 1969 Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department action also asks the court to end obstruction of the voting law by Alabama, Mississippi and …
From High Court Asked To Affirm 1965 Voting Rights Act . news.google.com/newspapers?id=q_EnAAAAIBAJ … |
|
Nov 6, 1965 – The Supreme Court Friday night permitted South Carolina to file an original suit contesting constitutionality of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. High Court Agrees to Hear Suit. Testing Voting Rights Act Validity. WASHINGTON So-The Supreme Court Friday night permitted South Caro– lina to …
From High Court Agrees to Hear Suit Testing Voting Rights Act Validity pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/501037472 … |
|
Nov 24, 1965 – A panel of three Federal judges ruled today that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 must be presumed constitutional and that state court injunctions against … II The Federal judges said it s the duty of the probate judges “to comply in all respects with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. …
From U.S. COURT BACKS VOTING RIGHTS ACT; Voids Alabama Injunctions … select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res … |
|
Dec 5, 1965 – The Civil Rights Commission found Saturday that much of the South is beginning to comply with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, hut urged new federal action in some areas. Despite Apparent Success, US Commission Urges New Federal Action for Some Areas. BY DON IRWIN. Times Staff Writer …
From South Complying With Vote Law, Study Shows pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/501255082 … |
| 1982 |
Jun 30, 1982 – By MICHAEL PUTZEL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) – Calling the right to vote ” the crown jewel of American liberties,” President Reagan yesterday signed a quarter – century renewal of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. ‘ After witnessing the four – minute signing ceremony …
From Reagan renews Voting Rights Act of 1965 digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/default … |
| 2006 |
Jul 13, 2006 – By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY. WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Thursday to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act, overcoming an attempt by conservatives to ease restrictions they said are no longer necessary. The 390-33 vote preserves for 25 years a law enacted …
From USATODAY.com – House renews 1965 Voting Rights Act http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-07-13 … |
Yes, those were powerful days. Days when many Black people left their homes, and never knew if they would return alive to their loved ones.
Powerful days, when young Black school children were bowled over by high pressure water hoses that could peel the skin off their innocent bodies.
Powerful days when many Black people challenged a racist nation, when Black people demanded their rights as citizens—-to be able to vote.
The Voting Rights Act is often forgotten but, its impact is lasting, when the precious privilege we all enjoy to vote is something that should never be treated with callous disregard nor ignored.
We all have the right to vote, but, lest we forget————-the many who put their lives on the line so that we may have that most beautiful of rights as American citizens.
REFERENCES:
“Powerful Days In Black and White“
“Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement: Images of a People’s Movement“
“The Voting Rights Act of 1965: A Selected Annotated Bibliography“
(5)
