There is a movement to get rid of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is building steam.

AAPP says: I agree, Joe Must Go!  I have been very clear regarding my opinion of this snake for some time.

Get this, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) plans to join with Republicans to filibuster any health care bill that contains a public option. Alone, the Republicans don't have the votes for a filibuster. So by joining with them, Lieberman would be tipping the balance of power in order to sink health care reform.

We need to push the leaders of the Democratic caucus to take a tough stand against Lieberman. Tell Harry Reid to fire Joe Lieberman as chair of the Homeland Security Committee.

Last year, the New York Times quoted an anonymous "member of the Senate Democratic leadership" who said about Lieberman: "We need every vote. He's with us on everything but the war." Apparently Joe lied to the Senate Democrats.

Now is the time for Senate Democratic leadership -- Senators Reid, Schumer, and Durbin -- to stop making excuses for Joe Lieberman. 

 

Should black folks be pisssed off at our President for bailing out some of the country's largest Wall Street firms, who have now set aside billions of dollars for bonuses to executives and traders -- many of whom are the same people whose reckless risk-taking led to the current recession?

What Do You think?

 
















As reported in the wickedlocal.com,  Ayanna Pressley will be the first African-American woman to serve on the Boston City Council. Read more on Pressley HERE

According to the Boston Globe, minorities and women won big on the ballot.

As reported by the NY Times, the Chicago Sun Times,  and various blogs. After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220-215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Democrats said the legislation would provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance. Read More HERE Check out who voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

AAPP says: "Yes, we need health care reform, I only hope that the current bill passed by congress addresses the needs of affordable mental health care, AIDS treatment, Breast Cancer Treatment, drug/alcohol rehabilitation, stress management and the preventive care needs of our communities. Otherwise, it's nothing more than black elected officials telling black folks what a wonderful job they have done, without any substance."  we also have to ask, will black folks be left out of the newly revised system of health care delivery?


Let's hope the Republican "nut jobs" are wrong and Joseph Cao is right.

File this under: The Bigots are coming, The Bigot's are coming!

Well, the Tea Party folks are planning another color aroused event at capitol hill tomorrow. Let me tell you, this is NO Paul Revere event.

King and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) organized a rally Thursday that drew thousands to the west front of the Capitol, drawing chants of “Kill the Bill.” There were a handful of arrests.

“We can kill this bill and stop the government takeover of health care,” King said in a news release. “We need the help of every American willing to stand up for freedom and liberty. I urge all Americans who oppose this bill to come to Washington tomorrow morning and join us to stop this bill.”  More HERE

 

Have you had the opportunity to read and see some of the extremist images from the blog post by the Center for American Progress.Thank you Matthew Yglesias for the link.

More Here: Fox News owns the extremist images featured at Capitol Hill rally

AAPP says: Now we learn that Obama's own Homeland Security Department which was suppose to target right wing Tea Party Extremists, has let these extremist, along with ex-GOP Leader Dick Armey and other right wing  congressional wing nuts, Hot AIR types, along with lobbyist, come join together to fight with HATRRED ladden images, against our government. 

Some are asking the question, is the Tea Party Gang turning GOP Into a Party of Hate? My response: "The Republican Party has been the party of hate for some time. Now they have a black guy as the head following in the birthers down KKK lane."

Thank you blogger "This Sista's Page" for the link and your observations.Rihanna on GMA: “I Feel Ashamed…Eff Love.”

 

When she takes office, Mia B. Love will be the city's second mayor, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Saratoga Springs was incorporated in 1997 and has grown from just over 1,000 residents in the 2000 Census to an estimated 11,570 in 2007.

Both Saratoga Springs and Utah are overwhelmingly white, with blacks accounting for about 1 percent of the population. More HERE

Here is great political news. A man who I have respected since my youthful days growing up in Boston received an appropriate award last week.

As reported by CNN, Edward Brooke, the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, was honored last week with a Congressional Gold Medal. "At a time when so many doors were closed to African-Americans, others might have become angry or disillusioned," President Obama told an audience in the Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony honoring Brooke for Congress' greatest honor was held.

Brooke grew up in segregated Washington and served in the Army during World War II. Afterward, he received a law degree from Boston University and eventually ran for attorney general of Massachusetts. Read more HERE

Check out a bit of history here:

As a posted in the Dailykos, a man tased as his house burned - No kidding!

According to Sarah Steimer at at Kent News Net the resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister's room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire. He said his cousin's girlfriend was sleeping upstairs so he went back in the house to retrieve her.

"As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat," Bartlett said.

When he went got outside, Bartlett said police officers were at the end of the driveway. He said he approached them for help, but they dismissed him. As he walked toward one of his friends, he said the officers tackled and restrained him with the Taser gun, giving them no reason for their force.

According to the Kent City Police levels of resistance report, Bartlett used psychological and physical active resistance to avoid arrest. The report stated he was both combative and intoxicated. No one from the Police Department was available for comment.

Bartlett said he was not offered medical attention by the officers. Instead, he was taken directly to the police station. Bartlett went to the hospital following his court appearance Sunday. He said he was treated for first- and second-degree burns. Read More HERE

AAPP:  Get this, the Kent City Police said that Bartlett used psychological and physical active resistance to avoid arrest. Why was this man arrested for saving people's lives? Don't you think the police are out of control with these tasers?

- Police State: Cop Caught On Camera beating special education student for not having his shirt tucked in
- Police State: Florida cop attempts drive-by Tasering, runs over suspect
- Police State: 14-Year-Old Girl Tasered In The Head
- Police State: Cops Taser a 76-Year-Old Tractor Driver in Parade
- Police State: Mother Watched Son Tasered To Death
- Police State: Cops pepperspray, taser mentally challenged, deaf man, while using the toilet
- Police State: Cops Taser Child 19 Times Leaving Him in a Coma
- Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children
- Unedited Dash Cam Footage of Grandmother Being Tased
- Taser use to obtain DNA not unconstitutional: NIAGARA COURTS RULING
- Prison officer zaps children with 50,000-volt stun gun ‘to show them what a day at work is like’
- Top cop fired for allegedly using Taser on wife
- Ex-NFL Player Tasered For Pointing At Cop

The City of Atlanta will hold municipal elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3 in an effort to fill the offices for Mayor, multiple City Council seats and the Board of Education. The incumbent mayor, Shirley Franklin will be ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits on her office. As a result, the mayoral campaign has been left wide open and has led to a hotly contested race. More HERE

Now the big question is will a veteran City Council member (who is white), who hails from the largely white neighborhood of Buckhead be the next mayor of Atlanta?

Is this post-racial politics in Atlanta? No I don't think so. But as reported by The LA Times, Norwood's success among black voters has become the most important dynamic in the closing days of the contest to succeed second-term Mayor Shirley Franklin.

More HERE

In a poll Thursday of registered Atlanta voters conducted by local firm InsiderAdvantage, Norwood received 45% support overall. (A SurveyUSA poll showed her with 46%.) Among the African Americans polled, Norwood received 34% support in the InsiderAdvantage poll -- a narrow plurality.

The black support has helped place Norwood far ahead of three other serious contenders, all of them African Americans with impressive resumes. Her closest competitor is Reed, a former state senator, who had 25% overall support in the InsiderAdvantage poll.

As reported in the Atlanta Journal, For months, Franklin refused to say which candidate she supports. She's been clear she wouldn't endorse the front-runner, Councilwoman Mary Norwood. Franklin wrote a blog entry on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Political Insider column last week saying that Norwood has not demonstrated "vision, competence or integrity in her public life."

The mayor has also been critical of Norwood for not voting in June with the majority of the council in favor of raising taxes, which Franklin said was necessary to end furloughs on police officers.

ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - During an Atlanta Mayoral debate today, candidate Mary Norwood dismissed critical comments made by outgoing Mayor Shirley Franklin. More HERE

As reported by The LA Times, Norwood's commanding lead in the polls has raised the possibility that she may win more than 50% of the vote, obviating the need for a runoff. Her success has also prompted a new line of attack from foes, including Reed, who have accused her of being a closet Republican in a Democratic-leaning city.

AAPP: At the end of this day we will see if Atlanta will experience a post racial moment and elect its first white mayor in over 35 years. I can't wait to see the results, can you?

Video given to WCCO-TV late Monday night shows a man with his hands on a squad car when an officer uses a Taser on his neck.

Attorney Albert Goins is suing the City of Minneapolis on behalf of his client, Rolando Ruiz. They're asking for $75,000 and that the officer involved be reprimanded. 

The video given to WCCO starts only seconds before the Taser is used on Ruiz, not what led up to the incident. But in that time, no struggle can be seen before the officer used his Taser on Ruiz. What is seen is Ruiz with his hands on the hood of the officer's car.

The dash camera of the squad car was rolling when the officer approached Ruiz with Taser in hand.  see Video HERE

Another reason why you should join the stop taser torture movement. We need to stop Police Taser Abuse. 

“In short, despite all that has happened in the intervening decades, there is scarcely more hope now than there was those many years ago that the nation’s race-relations situation will be solved,” the company said.

Yes, I said it.  This black man will not be taking the H1N1 flu vaccine." Yes I know about the dramatic impact the pandemic appears to be having on black folks as Swine flu kicks into higher gear. I'm not going to listen to the white conservatives on this issue either. More HERE

I'm one of the 48 percent of black old schoolers who, Despite the risk, won't be getting a flu shot. No I'm not a senior yet, but the fact of the matter is black folks who are in there 40's 50's and 60's won't be getting a full shot any time soon.

 













A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Bruce Dixon

In Church Parlance, this would be the part of the service known as the “Call to Discipleship”. – Where I would stand and exhort all of you to become members of the Wichita Branch NAACP – This is when I should tell you all that we have members of our membership committee standing by outside the door waiting to take your membership and welcome you into the organization, and certainly that is important…

This is also the point in the evening when most Organizations would stand and tell you about all of the accomplishments of their branch. But I don’t want to do that this evening.

Now I could tell you about how the Wichita Branch has doubled its membership over the last year, but I won’t bore you with that.

I could tell you how the Wichita Branch received two First Place Thalheimer Awards this year, and that the Thalheimer is the highest award that the National Office can confer upon a branch. And I could tell you that the Wichita Branch was recognized for having some of the best Publications and most impactful initiatives in the Country – But I won’t do that…

I could tell you about how our advocacy led to the purchase of additional voting machines for the 2008 Presidential Election, or how our advocacy efforts to have the State come into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1994 have resulted in a streamlined voter registration process both online and at the DMV, but I won’t go into all that…

Or I could tell you about how we began with a handful of our own children – just 5 kids - and our desire to see them involved in a youth program that did more than just give them space to create dance routines or play on the internet… So we contacted and sought advice from Professor Ron Walters at the University of Maryland’s Leadership Institute. And we built a program, based on Chess and Chess principles, and expanded into debate and oratory. And we now have 63 children and a successful model that is being emulated in branches around the Country – but we’ll save that conversation for next time…

No, paradoxically, I want to take these few moments to talk to you all about yesterday and tomorrow… Yesterday because someone far wiser than I once said that ‘Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it’. And tomorrow because another someone far wiser than I once said that ’Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it Today’.

There is an imporatant lesson in these aphorisms for us… As we embark on our second century in Civil Rights with a keen eye cast towards education, I just want to take a couple minutes of your time to quickly direct your attention to the prescriptive lessons one can draw from the careful examination of our history; and particularly how those lessons can inform our current efforts to achieve our visions of tomorrow.

And it’s important that we do this and that we have this discussion because ‘Those who do not know their history are What? … doomed to repeat it…

Let me ask, by applause, how many of you have had the opportunity to take a look at the exhibits we have in the other room? If you haven’t had the opportunity to view them, please make it a point to do so before you leave here tonight. We have two really fantastic exhibitions, one is a traveling exhibit dealing with the Brown Vs. the Board decision, and the other is an exhibit assembled by our own branch historian Ms. Donna Ray Pearson, which deals with the history of race and education here in the State of Kansas.

One of the things you quickly learn when you begin looking into our State’s history on matters of race is that Kansas has a lot to be proud of…

The State of Kansas was founded in 1854 and by the time it was admitted into the Union as a Free State in 1861, The promise to provide a Quality Education for ALL children was already written into our State’s Constitution.

The City of Wichita was founded in 1870 and in 1871 the City erected its very first school built on the corner of 2nd and Emporia street. Wichita’s very First school, built only 6 years after slavery had ended, and when it opened its doors on it’s very first day, it was - integrated…

90 years before the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, - 90 years Prior – We passed the Kansas Civil Rights Act of 1874! The act prohibited discrimination throughout the State of Kansas on behalf of Race, Color, or Previous conditions of servitude.

In fact, when our Branch President Emeritus Chester Lewis filed the lawsuits that desegregated the swimming pools and desegregated the police department, going on to file some 63 lawsuits to open up facilities and institutions throughout the City of Wichita, he didn't do so on the basis of some piece of Federal legislation. While much of the country was still languishing under highly oppressive systems of institutional and interpersonal bigotry, Chester Lewis was able to fight and prevail in the Courts here in Kansas – perhaps ONLY here in Kansas – because the Kansas Civil Rights act of 1874 had already prohibited racial discrimination throughout the state nearly a century before…

But these accomplishments, these milestones, which were such anomalies for their time, beg a very serious question… If we had more than a hundred year head-start… ??

If we had activists who were progressive and fiercely committed to the idea that Kansas should be a FREE state, people who were willing to fight and shed blood to further the idea that equal rights should be extended to all who would reside here – people who were willing to fight even against our neighbors in bitter border-wars with the State of Missouri earning us the moniker of Bloody Kansas – People who willingly codified their commitment to equality and education in the Constitution of the State almost 150 years ago – People who had drafted a Statewide School code that prohibited separate and/or disparate facilities – HOW then, did we come to this place – 148 years later – in the 21st Century – with a Black Man in the White house – where we have to figure out HOW in the WORLD we’re going to get these children BACK together!?

How did we lose our way? And why do we seem unable to now conquer the forces that we had once so soundly defeated?

We have to ask ourselves these kinds of questions because ‘Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it…’

It’s easy for us to be lulled to sleep by the notion of how far we’ve come and societally we have much to celebrate; but we must be honest with ourselves in acknowledging that in the matter of Education here in the State of Kansas – We’ve gone backwards… Because you see, here in Kansas we NEVER grappled with the question of IF African American’s would be educated or HOW they would be educated – These questions were already settled and codified into law back in 1861. We have Always – and ONLY grappled with the questions of WHERE would African American children be educated - and by WHOM.

WHERE and by WHOM

So when we talk about issues like Busing – Boundary Lines – Experienced Teachers – Community folks in the schools and classrooms – it’s important that we place these conversations in their proper historical context. These are not new conversations. These are not new discussions. We are not being bold. We are not being visionary. We’ve been mired in this very conversation for 130 years – and somehow, we keep ending up back at the starting line…

I say 130 years because it was in 1879 that the Wichita Board of Education first proposed separating its Black and White students.

That year, the Board even passed a Bond Issue that raised money for the construction of 4 new schools – one of which was specifically intended to serve as a school for Black students. But an amendment to the Kansas School Code passed in that same year that Specifically forbade the segregation of students on the basis of race.

The Wichita School board filed suit – asking for the right to separate the black and white students different facilities. But all the way back in 1881 – 28 years before Thurgood Marshall was BORN, the Supreme Court of the State of Kansas upheld the Kansas School Code which expressly prohibited Wichita from maintaining segregated facilities or excluding Black children from predominantly White schools.

How then, did we get from there to here?

Now I know the simple answers – “Society changed and there was a lot of social pressure to segregate”. The only problem with that explanation is that we actually fought a war against the State of Missouri to defend our notions of equality. There was ALWAYS opposition to equality, there was ALWAYS pressure to separate and subjugate – But Kansans once refused – and defended their decision to do so with the lives….

Now others will say “well, the segregation is a function of residential housing patterns, our neighborhoods are segregated and our schools simply reflect that” But the problem with THAT argument is – it was not always so…

You see there once was a time in Wichita when we had a system made up entirely of neighborhood schools, and the Black population was pretty evenly spread between them.

In 1904 there were Black students in attendance in all of Wichita’s schools. 12 at Carleton, 56 at Emerson, 53 at Ingalls, 52 at Irving, 5 at Kellogg, 12 at Lincoln, 48 at Park, 9 at Washington, and 25 at Webster….

The truth is, we didn’t separate our children to allow them to attend schools in their neighborhoods… Our children were separated solely on the basis of their race REGARDLESS of their neighborhood.

The Board of Education here in Wichita fought against the laws of the State of Kansas for 27 consecutive years; passing ordinances, pushing for legislation in Topeka, and taking advantage of Supreme Court decisions such as Plessy Vs Fergussen, before they were able to successfully segregate the students at Park Elementary in 1906. They separated the children into different parts of the building with black students and black teachers on one side, and whites on the other. They even erected a wall to divide the playground like Berlin…

But the Black parents fought back; in 1906, Sallie Rowles filed a lawsuit demanding the right to send her children to her neighborhood school. While she initially lost that case, the community took up a collection which allowed her to appeal her case to the Kansas Supreme Court who ruled in her favor and UPHELD their earlier decisions that the City of Wichita could not legally segregate their students.

Undaunted, the Wichita Board of Education would not give up; they collected 5,000 signatures on a petition to the Legislature to allow segregation in the schools. And in 1909, the same year that the NAACP was founded – exactly 100 years ago – after 30 long years of fighting - the President of the Wichita School Board, Rudolph Hatfield, led a sucessful effort to pass Senate bill 250 which REPEALED the State laws which forbade segregation and a New educational era was born in Kansas…

In 1911 the Wichita School Board proposed a bond issue – They sold the measure by saying that this was an effort to address overcrowding – and when it passed, two new schools were built – but these schools were built specifically for the purpose of educating Black children. And in 1912, the first "Negro Schools" were officially designated.

Now they had nothing to do with where the Black community was actually located – at that time we were scattered throughout the city. Families with children looked for housing near their schools and their places of employment so while there were certainly concentrations, as I noted before our children had been represented in ALL of the schools in Wichita.

Between 1912 and 1952, the battle raged on – With Black Parents and the NAACP fighting to end legalized segregation and the school district fighting to maintain it. And as more and more people from the Black community moved away from the Downtown area and towards the Northeast, the School board responded by changing and re-designating schools to mirror the migrating population.

And in 1952, after 40 years of struggle – yet still 2 years before the Brown decision – The Wichita School Board passed a resolution to end Dejure segregation by allowing black parents to enroll their children in their neighborhood schools. But of course by that time - 73 years since the District began its efforts to segregate our children – 43 years after the laws forbidding segregation were repealed – and 40 years since the creation, designation, and manipulation of Black schools and black boundaries, Negro wards, and the like – The Black schools had BECOME the neighborhood schools…

In Just 2 years would come the Brown Decision and not long after that, the Wichita Branch filed suit against the district – recognizing that we’d been hoodwinked – bamboozled – led astray – run amuck etc…

But Ladies and Gentlemen, I told you all of that, to tell you this…

As we continue our talks about diversity in the schools, busing, and boundary lines, and neighborhoods, I want it to be said that We had it right to begin with - but at some point, we gave in.

We gave in to the forces of intolerance, we gave in to the forces of bigotry, we gave in to the evils of racism, and we IMPORTED the very system that we had so ardently defied.

We need to remember and to teach our youth that Here in Kansas, the issues of busing, and Integration, and Desegregation were not the products of a court decision in 1954, These were not simply the products of the Civil Rights movement, or some strategy born of the 1960’s – THESE questions are about the Fundamental character of WHO WE ARE – This is Kansas...

The Legacies of slavery, separation, segregation, and subjugation: those were not our legacies… We were born a FREE state – Not because the Union deemed it so, not because the laws demanded it, no – the People of this State demanded that it must be so. We once fought to defend that ideal; many bled and many died for it. And we wrote these guarantees into our laws and constitution.

The oldest Black township in America is STILL in existence, right here in Kansas – Nicodemus – where a group of escaped Kentucky slaves first settled, because here they could buy land, own property, start business, and attend schools – They founded the City of Nicodemus in the 1860’s and it remains populated to this very day.

But we gave in…

At our inception, we recognized that there is nothing moral, or just, or fair, or natural about separating children on the basis of their skin color. There is no scientific, or biological, or natural justification for doing so. It’s not based on the best interests of Children, its not based on necessity, and its not based on GOD!

This is Kansas – Ladies and Gentlemen… We didn’t wait on Brown Vs the Board of Education – We outlawed Segregation in our schools back in 1861!

But we gave in…

The tide turned with a petition to segregate signed by only 5,000 people – Ladies and Gentlemen – there are more than 5,000 people in Town East Mall RIGHT NOW! – but still we listened, and we became something else…

We imported the Hatred, the discrimination, the segregation, the intolerances, and the bigotries of the South. We caught the Separation Virus. All of us – Until eventually, you even had folks in the Black Community arguing that Separation and segregation was good for us..

But it was Frederick Nietzsche who said “Those of you who battle with Monsters should be careful that you don’t become one, for when you gaze long into the Abyss – The abyss gazes long into you…”

Mr. Superintendent, members of the Board, Brothers and Sisters... This is not who we are, This must not be our Legacy. We should not be having discussions about building more Black seats for Black kids in Black schools and telling ourselves that it’s ok - IT IS NOT

We are better than this – This is Kansas...

Now some will say, well the segregation in residential housing patterns makes it impossible for us to fix this – But of course we can fix this – we created this… But we must recognize and acknowledge that there is a Principle at stake. This is about who we are. We should be as bold in UNDOING this as the Board of 1879 was in creating it. And in doing so we honor our history.

Some will undoubtedly argue that all of this is irrelevant because we should instead be focusing on the Achievement Gap…

But that too is indicative of a misreading of history – The argument against segregation in Brown Vs the Board wasn't that separate schools couldn’t be made comparable or couldn’t reach some measure of Equity… They argued that there is a psychological and a spiritual consequence in telling Children that we would rather build separate facilities, even with all the Bells and Whistles, sparing no expense... We would rather duplicate the buildings we already have, then to be burdened by your Presence… There are real consequences for doing so that are borne only by the Child, and that is why Separate can NEVER be Equal.

“Well what about the Hispanic Children? They are segregated into certain schools aren’t they?” But when a people freely choose to cluster together to maintain a Culture or language that is one thing, but when a group of people are clustered together so that they may be avoided – that is another thing entirely…

Understand that Black families didn’t crowd themselves into the Triple A Area because we wanted our children to be educated in those few schools… - By the decree of a mere 5,000 people – we began a 43 year process of herding them there….

Ladies and Gentlemen – I am here today to tell you that a time has come when we should no longer mince words. We are faced with large and consequential decisions and it is time that we owned them. We must be clear and forthright knowing that our actions today will outlive us all; impacting the educational and life experiences of several generations to come – We have a choice to make….

We have two competing and contradictory Legacies before us and we MUST choose – One is a legacy of segregation and separation now disguised by quaint conversations about ‘Neighborhoods’ and ‘Equity’, and the other is a Defiant, unapologetic and even revolutionary Legacy of Equality – disguised by NOTHING. The former is the sweet and easy path of acquiesance that challenges nothing except our vocabularies and our ability to rationalize. And the later is the difficult and uncertain path of change; one that requires equal measures of vision and courage to shake off the excuses and to lead once more...

I know where I stand..

As the President of the Wichita Branch NAACP - I know where WE stand…

We stand with the JayHawks.

We Stand with the Kansas Supreme Court who struck DOWN segregation in 1881.

We stand with Jacob McAfee – Grand Father of Mr. Charles McAfee who went to the Legislature to fight for Equality.

We stand with Sallie Rowles who filed suit in 1906 rather consent to sending her child to a segregated school.

We stand with Branch President James Douglass and School Board member Hugh Simms who led the push which finally ended legalized segregation Wichita back in 1949.

We stand with Branch President Chester Lewis who filed 63 lawsuits to desegregate institutions throughout the City.

We stand with Ron Walters, Galyn Vessey, Prentice Lewis, Joyce Glass, Lequita Glass, Daisy Blue, Arnelle Ruffin, Ron Newby, and all of the other members of the NAACP Youth group of 1958 who conducted the Dockum Sit-In.

We stand with Mayor Bob Knight who led the National League of Cities to deal with the issue of Racism head-on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is where we stand. And all I ask of you tonight… - is that you come on back – come back home with us – to Kansas…

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your continued support in these difficult economic times...

Thank you for your courtesy and attention…

And thank you for listening…