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Tonya
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Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 05:13 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Obama and Clinton fight for black vote


Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will both speak in Selma

By Toby Harnden in Selma, Alabama
Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 02/03/2007

Looking up at the bridge that leads out of Selma, the Reverend F.D. Reese recalled a defining moment in the civil rights struggle in the Deep South.

"I saw blood flowing that day," said the Baptist pastor, his voice quivering with emotion. "The state trooper with their billy clubs clutched in each hand charged us, toppling us over like pins in a bowling alley.

"Pandemonium broke out in the crowd and there was a sense of disbelief that this could happen in these United States of America. Then they got out their gas canisters...they pushed us back across the bridge to the church, beating us on the heads and shoulders."

On Sunday, in the pulpit of that same Brown African Methodist Episcopal church, on what has since been renamed Martin Luther King Avenue, Barack Obama, the man who could next year become the first black president of those same United States, will address the congregation.

It was 42 years ago that the civil rights marchers were attacked on "Bloody Sunday" in a display of brutality that shocked America, as well as much of the rest of the world, and led to President Lyndon Johnson outlawing voter literacy tests that excluded blacks.

Now, Mr Reese, 77, a civil rights leader in Selma who marched alongside Mr King, is contemplating another historic breakthrough. "Even then, I was hoping," he said. "We looked forward to the time when in our country a president could be elected based on his ability and not the colour of his skin."

Mr Obama, who has closed the gap on Hillary Clinton in the stakes for the Democratic nomination and is experiencing a surge in black support, was not even four years old that day.

The son of a white mother from Kansas and a Kenyan who met while they were studying in Hawaii, he has no family connection to the civil rights movement. Neither were his ancestors slaves, such as those who were brought by the Scots-Irish settlers of Selma to toil on the cotton plantations.

But the people of Selma are ready to embrace Mr Obama as one of their own, dismissing contemptuously the notion that he "isn't black enough" because of his biracial heritage and his lack of direct connection to central aspects of the African-American experience.

"I think he's black enough and we've got to get away from colour being the badge of support," said Mr Reese.

It will be Mr Obama's first visit to Selma, though he travelled to Birmingham, Alabama - which also has iconic status in civil rights history - three years ago. Also, making a first visit as a politician will be Mrs Clinton, who only announced her trip this week after Mr Obama's plans were publicised.

"The timing speaks for itself," said Representative Artur (CORR) Davis, the local congressman and a prominent Obama supporter. "Senator Clinton had been extended the invitation a number of months ago and had not responded."

She will speak at the First Baptist Church, also on Martine Luther King Avenue and just a few yards away from where Mr Obama will be.

Mrs Clinton's husband Bill was so popular among African-Americans that in 1998 the singer Toni Morrison described him as "our first black president". The former First Lady's presence in Selma underscores her determination to secure the same overwhelming black support.

"Bill Clinton had that little touch that blacks could identify with," said the Rev James E. Jackson, 62, minister at Brown church. "Hillary will probably try to capitalise on his success with blacks and use that to her advantage. Whether she can remains to be seen. Certainly, she doesn't have any inside track."

Selma is now majority black but it remains in practical terms a segregated town. In the plushest restaurant one evening this week, there was not a single black face to be seen. On the wall hung a newspaper tribute to Joe Smitherman, the segregationist mayor in 1965 who was not voted out until 2000.

Mr Jackson said Mr Obama's candidacy had created a stir in Selma but his race still presented obstacles. "It will be crazy busy on Sunday. A lot of women have been calling. I guess it's his charisma and his appeal.

"Quite a few white women have called and want to come along and be a part. He exudes a lot of power and there's something about powerful men that attracts women."

But Alabama is still divided. "I don't think the whites in the south are ready," he said. "A few years ago I wouldn't have said it was because he is black. Now I don't think so but in terms of their politics middle class whites have bought into the Republican philosophical ideology."

Mr Davis, however, said that race will not be a central issue in the 2008, largely because Mr Obama was able to appeal across traditional lines. "He has an enormous intelligence and the ability to convey complex ideas to people in an understandable way. It's the same combination that Bill Clinton had."

Whether Mrs Clinton can use family loyalty to win black support or whether Mr Obama can capture the voters who backed her husband in 1992 and 1996 are just two of the pivotal questions in the 2008 White House race.

But for the time being, Selma is proud that the eyes of the world will be on it once again as it plays a part in electing what could be either the first black president or the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.

James E. Jackson, a maintenance man at Brown church who skipped school as a 14 year old to attend the march, said that the spirit of Mr King would be with Mr Obama on Sunday. "If he was alive, he'd be right there beside him. There's no doubt in my mind."

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Yukio
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Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 05:19 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

oh god...this fool called toni morrison a singer...ignorance!
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Tonya
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Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 05:26 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

...I agree, but not just because of the author with his Toni Morrison comment.
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Chrishayden
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Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2007 - 11:49 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

oh god...this fool called toni morrison a singer...ignorance!

(You're right--he should have called her a jive ass n***a--she will burn for her "First Black President" Bushwah!
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Savant
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 11:48 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Barack's speech from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama will be broadcast live on C-Span today at approximately 12:30 pm EST.
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 12:02 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Thanks! I'm dying to see if he'll "play the race card".
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 12:50 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)



~"I won't complain cuz God's been good to me"~

--- preacher, at the church.

I never heard such shit in my life!
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 12:53 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


Thanks Savant - I'm watching it now.

Tonya - You know you need Jesus!!!
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Savant
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 01:55 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Hillary's on right now---same channel, C-Span.
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:00 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Obama's Speech:

The speech was good but he really came alive at the end when he was talking about how nasty and lazy "cousin Pookie" is. Boy, that cousin Pookie's a thug.
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:04 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


As if white people know who Pookie is
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:14 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


Slick Hillie is so phoney. I can't believe ppl buy her bullcrap
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:18 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Hilary's speech:

She's no orator but she kicked the ball out the park:

The March Ain't Over!

Moses ain't far from the start.

Hilary won hands down (IMO).
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:36 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


Bullshit! She sucked. Did you notice how she tried to sound "BLACK"? "I'm a sister in spirit" or whatever stupid shit she said. Phoney !
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:41 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

And I'm glad she picked up on Obama "playing the race card". She had EVERY RIGHT to play her card as well. It was fucking brilliant.
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 02:48 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


Notice how C-SPAN isn't taking any call-ins. They received on call from a woman who said that Obama brought tears to her eyes, and they cut that short so they could air Slick Hillie.


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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 04:03 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

As if white people know who Pookie is.

Poor thing...

...Youll catch up one day...perhaps. Just keep watching the news (snicker).
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Mzuri
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 04:20 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


You know what I meant
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Cynique
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 04:37 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Hillary needs to modulate her harsh nasal midwestern accent. To me, both of their speeches were very well-crafted and - contrived. Not suprising. This will, indeed, be an interesting race, and I don't see either one of these candidates emerging from the competition as a "good sport".
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Yukio
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 04:55 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

i only heard bits and pieces of both...i don't like hilary, so i am clearly bias. but i do think she was trying too hard.
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Cynique
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 05:12 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

If one positive thing comes from this rivalry between Hillary and Barak, it's that it raises the bar, and they both have to hit just the right note with all voters. Anybody who has enough skill and finesse to transcend the "race" issue, deserves to win.
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 06:00 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

I especially liked the part when Obama summed up The Struggle as that which afforded men like his father the opportunity to shack up with white women. That was absolutely beautiful. Now folks have someone to quote when they make the same argument.
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Cynique
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 06:02 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

LMAO.
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Tonya
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 06:07 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

:-)
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Savant
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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 08:00 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

If you missed it, Barack's speech will repeat tonight at 9:30 on C-Span.
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Abm
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 01:52 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Tonya: "I especially liked the part when Obama summed up The Struggle as that which afforded men like his father the opportunity to shack up with white women."


Dude had a White mother and was raised by White and other non-Black foks. But what does he marry and make babies with: A BLACK woman.

So give dudes some credit, for Christ Sake.

Tonya. The more you post, the more apparent your hatred of Black men appear.
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Tonya
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 04:20 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

"The more you post, the more apparent your hatred of Black men appear."

Because I took up for a woman that was being abused by a Black man---NOW, I'm some hater of Black men?? Right?? ANY WOMAN that speaks up against the abuses of a man--and ignore color--is somehow a hater of Black men. Well, I think it's the complete OPPOSITE. I say ANY MAN that supports another man abusing a woman--regardless of color---is a womanizer himself. And seriously, honestly, frankly, and with all due respect, I think this is YOUR pathology, bro.

You don't like ANY woman "forgetting her place".

It is the honest to god truth, ABM. And it was obvious to me way before I ever started posting here. Which is why I anticipated you & me bumping heads now 'n then--I simply do not subscribe to that notion... Ill take any position I want!
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Tonya
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 04:34 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

"You don't like ANY woman "forgetting her place".

Ditto to your disdain for Hilary!

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Abm
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 05:16 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Tonya: "You don't like ANY woman "forgetting her place"."

That's bvllshyt feministic dogma used to taint what a man says before he's even allowed the courtesy of expressing his TRUE views.


And please. Cut the sh*t, already. Like you give a dayam about Obama's dead White mother. You're only PRETENDING to spin it into so bvllshyt reason to slam Barack.

As if Barack had a gotdayam thing to do with what went down between his parents. Hell. For all we know, his mother was a ballbustin' b*tch.


And my disdain for Hillary don't have a gotdayam thing to do with her being female. It's is based on sh*t she and her husband have actually DONE while they've been on the national scene. And it's based on my belief that she does NOT have enuff positives to make up for her negatives.

Why the hell should we invite back into our lives the bvllshyt the Clinton's wrought last decade? They had their turn and, in my eyes, they blew it. I want to give someone else - man or woman - a turn at the big chair.
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Tonya
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 06:59 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

ABM: "The more you post, the more apparent your hatred of Black men appear.

"That's bvllshyt [womanizing] dogma used to taint what a [woman] says before [s]he's even allowed the courtesy of expressing [her] TRUE views."

And please. Cut the sh*t, already. Like you give a dayam about Obama's dead White mother. You're only PRETENDING to spin it into so bvllshyt reason to slam Barack.

When did I pretend to care about Obama's mama???

I'll tell you when:

NEVER.

And did I really SLAM Barack Obama or his mama, Abm?

NO I DID NOT. That's just the bvllshyt womanizing dogma you use ANYTIME a woman says ANYTHING about a Black man that you don't like. You do this all the time, Abm. Next thing you know I'll be BASHING ALL BROTHAS; cuz you're THAT predictable. (The nerve of you projecting yourself onto someone else!)

As if Barack had a gotdayam thing to do with what went down between his parents. Hell. For all we know, his mother was a ballbustin' b*tch.

You're TRYING to make an argument out of something that's not there. I never commented on Barcks heritage. It was a statement that he made about what The Struggle really meant to him that I commented on. And NOW you wanna turn it into some disparaging remark that SUPPOSEDLY I made about his roots?

...The same SHIT you do whenever someone says anything unfavorable about a Brotha, as if Black men are above reproach! And it's not like I haven't also said some very kind things about Obama. I guess I'm only supposed to have all good things to bestow upon THIS Brother WHO HAPPENS TO BE A POLITICIAN!! one that's RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR GOD's SAKE!!

Why the hell should we invite back into our lives the bvllshyt the Clinton's wrought last decade?

You don't HAVE TO invite anybody anywhere. And neither do I.
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Tonya
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Posted on Monday, March 05, 2007 - 07:34 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

.......here's a little something to let you know that I ain't STAYIN nowhere:


BARACK HUSSIEN OSAMA--OOPS, I MEANT TO SAY OBAMA--IS A KERMIT THE FROG LOOKING CRACKHEAD.

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Ntfs_encryption
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Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 05:24 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

"That's bvllshyt feministic dogma used to taint what a man says before he's even allowed the courtesy of expressing his TRUE views.

And please. Cut the sh*t, already. Like you give a dayam about Obama's dead White mother. You're only PRETENDING to spin it into so bvllshyt reason to slam Barack."


True...........


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Abm
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Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 07:53 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Ntfs,

Barack is half White. Was raised by White and other non-Black foks. And has an Ivy League education. If there's ANY one who should have married a White (or other non-Black) woman and lived the White life, it's him.

But what does Obama do?

He marries a lovely Black woman and a darkskinned and (I suspect) nappyheaded one at that. His wife Michelle appears to be everybit as as smart, capable and industrious as he is. And they make 2 beautiful (If my maths right, 3/4th's) Black daughters together.

He volunteers at Black churches, works as a civil rights attorney and accumulates a commendable progressive legislative voting record.

Everything about the man's personal and professional life suggests he's pro-Black and pro-Woman.

Yet. You've got crazy, Clintonian bootlickin' Black foks questioning his commitment to Blackness. And you've got feminazi, I-sho'-hate-me-a-man a$$ Black women inferring he's misogynistic.


See. THIS is the kind of sh*t that turn some Black foks into Republicans.
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Ntfs_encryption
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Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 08:04 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

"Ntfs,

Barack is half White. Was raised by White and other non-Black foks. And has an Ivy League education. If there's ANY one who should have married a White (or other non-Black) woman and lived the White life, it's him.

But what does Obama do?

He marries a lovely Black woman and a darkskinned and (I suspect) nappyheaded one at that. His wife Michelle appears to be everybit as as smart, capable and industrious as he is. And they..................................

See. THIS is the kind of sh*t that turn some Black foks into Republicans."


Understood bro. But these race baiting Negroes are so caught up in their own skin color and racial schizophrenia, that their arguments and rants never rise to the level of serious or intelligent political discourse. They focus and arrogantly pontificate on the most meaningless and pointless aspects of Obamas existence. The mans skin color and racial heritage takes precedence over real issues such has national security, education, immigration or our failed foreign policies. His parents genetics is more important to them. Only Negroes are capable of such self defeating ignorance and mindlessness.



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Tonya
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Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 03:59 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/youth/classic/TheStoryofLittleBlack Sambo/chap1.html
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Tonya
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Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 04:10 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)


Abm,

why don't you suck the man's dick already, damn!



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Tonya
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Tonya
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Tonya
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Text of the speeches:

Speech by Barack Obama

Here today, I must begin because at the Unity breakfast this morning I was saving for last and the list was so long I left him out after that introduction. So I'm going to start by saying how much I appreciate the friendship and the support and the outstanding work that he does each and every day, not just in Capitol Hill but also back here in the district. Please give a warm round of applause for your Congressman Artur Davis.

It is a great honor to be here. Reverend Jackson, thank you so much. To the family of Brown A.M.E, to the good Bishop Kirkland, thank you for your wonderful message and your leadership.

I want to acknowledge one of the great heroes of American history and American life, somebody who captures the essence of decency and courage, somebody who I have admired all my life and were it not for him, I'm not sure I'd be here today, Congressman John Lewis.

I'm thankful to him. To all the distinguished guests and clergy, I'm not sure I'm going to thank Reverend Lowery because he stole the show. I was mentioning earlier, I know we've got C.T. Vivian in the audience, and when you have to speak in front of somebody who Martin Luther King said was the greatest preacher he ever heard, then you've got some problems.

And I'm a little nervous about following so many great preachers. But I'm hoping that the spirit moves me and to all my colleagues who have given me such a warm welcome, thank you very much for allowing me to speak to you here today.

You know, several weeks ago, after I had announced that I was running for the Presidency of the United States, I stood in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois; where Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech declaring, drawing in scripture, that a house divided against itself could not stand.

And I stood and I announced that I was running for the presidency. And there were a lot of commentators, as they are prone to do, who questioned the audacity of a young man like myself, haven't been in Washington too long.

And I acknowledge that there is a certain presumptuousness about this.

But I got a letter from a friend of some of yours named Reverend Otis Moss Jr. in Cleveland, and his son, Otis Moss III is the Pastor at my church and I must send greetings from Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. but I got a letter giving me encouragement and saying how proud he was that I had announced and encouraging me to stay true to my ideals and my values and not to be fearful.

And he said, if there's some folks out there who are questioning whether or not you should run, just tell them to look at the story of Joshua because you're part of the Joshua generation.

So I just want to talk a little about Moses and Aaron and Joshua, because we are in the presence today of a lot of Moseses. We're in the presence today of giants whose shoulders we stand on, people who battled, not just on behalf of African Americans but on behalf of all of America; that battled for America's soul, that shed blood , that endured taunts and formant and in some cases gave -- torment and in some cases gave the full measure of their devotion.

Like Moses, they challenged Pharaoh, the princes, powers who said that some are atop and others are at the bottom, and that's how it's always going to be.

There were people like Anna Cooper and Marie Foster and Jimmy Lee Jackson and Maurice Olette, C.T. Vivian, Reverend Lowery, John Lewis, who said we can imagine something different and we know there is something out there for us, too.

Thank God, He's made us in His image and we reject the notion that we will for the rest of our lives be confined to a station of inferiority, that we can't aspire to the highest of heights, that our talents can't be expressed to their fullest. And so because of what they endured, because of what they marched; they led a people out of bondage.

They took them across the sea that folks thought could not be parted. They wandered through a desert but always knowing that God was with them and that, if they maintained that trust in God, that they would be all right. And it's because they marched that the next generation hasn't been bloodied so much.

It's because they marched that we elected councilmen, congressmen. It is because they marched that we have Artur Davis and Keith Ellison. It is because they marched that I got the kind of education I got, a law degree, a seat in the Illinois senate and ultimately in the United States senate.

It is because they marched that I stand before you here today. I was mentioning at the Unity Breakfast this morning, my -- at the Unity Breakfast this morning that my debt is even greater than that because not only is my career the result of the work of the men and women who we honor here today. My very existence might not have been possible had it not been for some of the folks here today. I mentioned at the Unity Breakfast that a lot of people been asking, well, you know, your father was from Africa, your mother, she's a white woman from Kansas. I'm not sure that you have the same experience.

And I tried to explain, you don't understand. You see, my Grandfather was a cook to the British in Kenya. Grew up in a small village and all his life, that's all he was -- a cook and a house boy. And that's what they called him, even when he was 60 years old. They called him a house boy. They wouldn't call him by his last name.

Sound familiar?

He had to carry a passbook around because Africans in their own land, in their own country, at that time, because it was a British colony, could not move about freely. They could only go where they were told to go. They could only work where they were told to work.

Yet something happened back here in Selma, Alabama. Something happened in Birmingham that sent out what Bobby Kennedy called, “Ripples of hope all around the world.” Something happened when a bunch of women decided they were going to walk instead of ride the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry, looking after somebody else's children. When men who had PhD's decided that's enough and we're going to stand up for our dignity.

That sent a shout across oceans so that my grandfather began to imagine something different for his son. His son, who grew up herding goats in a small village in Africa could suddenly set his sights a little higher and believe that maybe a black man in this world had a chance.

What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation. It worried folks in the White House who said, You know, we're battling Communism. How are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world? If right here in our own country, John, we're not observing the ideals set fort in our Constitution, we might be accused of being hypocrites. So the Kennedy's decided we're going to do an air lift. We're going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.

This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama.

I'm here because somebody marched. I'm here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we've got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn't cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You'll see it. You'll be at the mountain top and you can see what I've promised. What I've promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I've fulfilled that promise but you won't go there.

We're going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens. There are still battles that need to be fought; some rivers that need to be crossed. Like Moses, the task was passed on to those who might not have been as deserving, might not have been as courageous, find themselves in front of the risks that their parents and grandparents and great grandparents had taken. That doesn't mean that they don't still have a burden to shoulder, that they don't have some responsibilities. The previous generation, the Moses generation, pointed the way. They took us 90% of the way there. We still got that 10% in order to cross over to the other side. So the question, I guess, that I have today is what's called of us in this Joshua generation? What do we do in order to fulfill that legacy; to fulfill the obligations and the debt that we owe to those who allowed us to be here today?

Now, I don't think we could ever fully repay that debt. I think that we're always going to be looking back; but, there are at least a few suggestions that I would have in terms of how we might fulfill that enormous legacy. The first is to recognize our history. John Lewis talked about why we're here today. But I worry sometimes -- we've got black history month, we come down and march every year, once a year, we occasionally celebrate the various events of the civil rights movement, we celebrate Dr. Kings birthday but it strikes me that understanding our history and knowing what it means is an everyday activity.

Now, I don't think we could ever fully repay that debt. I think that we're always going to be looking back, but there are at least a few suggestions that I would have in terms of how we might fulfill that enormous legacy. The first is to recognize our history. John Lewis talked about why we're here today. But I worry sometimes -- we've got black history month, we come down and march every year, once a year. We occasionally celebrate the various events of the Civil Rights Movement, we celebrate Dr. King's birthday, but it strikes me that understanding our history and knowing what it means, is an everyday activity.

Moses told the Joshua generation; don't forget where you came from. I worry sometimes, that the Joshua generation in its success forgets where it came from. Thinks it doesn't have to make as many sacrifices. Thinks that the very height of ambition is to make as much money as you can, to drive the biggest car and have the biggest house and wear a Rolex watch and get your own private jet, get some of that Oprah money. And I think that's a good thing. There's nothing wrong with making money, but if you know your history, then you know that there is a certain poverty of ambition involved in simply striving just for money. Materialism alone will not fulfill the possibilities of your existence. You have to fill that with something else. You have to fill it with the golden rule. You've got to fill it with thinking about others. And if we know our history, then we will understand that that is the highest mark of service.

Second thing that the Joshua generation needs to understand is that the principles of equality that were set fort and were battled for have to be fought each and every day. It is not a one-time thing. I was remarking at the unity breakfast on the fact that the single most significant concern that this justice department under this administration has had with respect to discrimination has to do with affirmative action. That they have basically spent all their time worrying about colleges and universities around the country that are given a little break to young African Americans and Hispanics to make sure that they can go to college, too.

I had a school in southern Illinois that set up a program for PhD's in math and science for African Americans. And the reason they had set it up is because we only had less than 1% of the PhD's in science and math go to African Americans. At a time when we are competing in a global economy, when we're not competing just against folks in North Carolina or Florida or California, we're competing against folks in China and India and we need math and science majors, this university thought this might be a nice thing to do. And the justice department wrote them a letter saying we are going to threaten to sue you for reverse discrimination unless you cease this program.

And it reminds us that we still got a lot of work to do, and that the basic enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, the injustice that still exists within our criminal justice system, the disparity in terms of how people are treated in this country continues. It has gotten better. And we should never deny that it's gotten better. But we shouldn't forget that better is not good enough. That until we have absolute equality in this country in terms of people being treated on the basis of their color or their gender, that that is something that we've got to continue to work on and the Joshua generation has a significant task in making that happen.

Third thing -- we've got to recognize that we fought for civil rights, but we've still got a lot of economic rights that have to be dealt with. We've got 46 million people uninsured in this country despite spending more money on health care than any nation on earth. It makes no sense. As a consequence, we've got what's known as a health care disparity in this nation because many of the uninsured are African American or Latino. Life expectancy is lower. Almost every disease is higher within minority communities. The health care gap.

Blacks are less likely in their schools to have adequate funding. We have less-qualified teachers in those schools. We have fewer textbooks in those schools. We got in some schools rats outnumbering computers. That's called the achievement gap. You've got a health care gap and you've got an achievement gap. You've got Katrina still undone. I went down to New Orleans three weeks ago. It still looks bombed out. Still not rebuilt. When 9/11 happened, the federal government had a special program of grants to help rebuild. They waived any requirement that Manhattan would have to pay 10% of the cost of rebuilding. When Hurricane Andrew happened in Florida, 10% requirement, they waived it because they understood that some disasters are so devastating that we can't expect a community to rebuild. New Orleans -- the largest national catastrophe in our history, the federal government says where's your 10%?

There is an empathy gap. There is a gap in terms of sympathizing for the folks in New Orleans. It's not a gap that the American people felt because we saw how they responded. But somehow our government didn't respond with that same sense of compassion, with that same sense of kindness. And here is the worst part, the tragedy in New Orleans happened well before the hurricane struck because many of those communities, there were so many young men in prison, so many kids dropping out, so little hope.

A hope gap. A hope gap that still pervades too many communities all across the country and right here in Alabama. So the question is, then, what are we, the Joshua generation, doing to close those gaps? Are we doing every single thing that we can do in Congress in order to make sure that early education is adequately funded and making sure that we are raising the minimum wage so people can have dignity and respect?

Are we ensuring that, if somebody loses a job, that they're getting retrained? And that, if they've lost their health care and pension, somebody is there to help them get back on their feet? Are we making sure we're giving a second chance to those who have strayed and gone to prison but want to start a new life? Government alone can't solve all those problems, but government can help. It's the responsibility of the Joshua generation to make sure that we have a government that is as responsive as the need that exists all across America. That brings me to one other point, about the Joshua generation, and that is this -- that it's not enough just to ask what the government can do for us-- it's important for us to ask what we can do for ourselves.

One of the signature aspects of the civil rights movement was the degree of discipline and fortitude that was instilled in all the people who participated. Imagine young people, 16, 17, 20, 21, backs straight, eyes clear, suit and tie, sitting down at a lunch counter knowing somebody is going to spill milk on you but you have the discipline to understand that you are not going to retaliate because in showing the world how disciplined we were as a people, we were able to win over the conscience of the nation. I can't say for certain that we have instilled that same sense of moral clarity and purpose in this generation. Bishop, sometimes I feel like we've lost it a little bit.

I'm fighting to make sure that our schools are adequately funded all across the country. With the inequities of relying on property taxes and people who are born in wealthy districts getting better schools than folks born in poor districts and that's now how it's supposed to be. That's not the American way. but I'll tell you what -- even as I fight on behalf of more education funding, more equity, I have to also say that , if parents don't turn off the television set when the child comes home from school and make sure they sit down and do their homework and go talk to the teachers and find out how they're doing, and if we don't start instilling a sense in our young children that there is nothing to be ashamed about in educational achievement, I don't know who taught them that reading and writing and conjugating your verbs was something white.

We've got to get over that mentality. That is part of what the Moses generation teaches us, not saying to ourselves we can't do something, but telling ourselves that we can achieve. We can do that. We got power in our hands. Folks are complaining about the quality of our government, I understand there's something to be complaining about. I'm in Washington. I see what's going on. I see those powers and principalities have snuck back in there, that they're writing the energy bills and the drug laws.

We understand that, but I'll tell you what. I also know that, if cousin Pookie would vote, get off the couch and register some folks and go to the polls, we might have a different kind of politics. That's what the Moses generation teaches us. Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes. Go do some politics. Change this country! That's what we need. We have too many children in poverty in this country and everybody should be ashamed, but don't tell me it doesn't have a little to do with the fact that we got too many daddies not acting like daddies. Don't think that fatherhood ends at conception. I know something about that because my father wasn't around when I was young and I struggled.

Those of you who read my book know. I went through some difficult times. I know what it means when you don't have a strong male figure in the house, which is why the hardest thing about me being in politics sometimes is not being home as much as I'd like and I'm just blessed that I've got such a wonderful wife at home to hold things together. Don't tell me that we can't do better by our children, that we can't take more responsibility for making sure we're instilling in them the values and the ideals that the Moses generation taught us about sacrifice and dignity and honesty and hard work and discipline and self-sacrifice. That comes from us. We've got to transmit that to the next generation and I guess the point that I'm making is that the civil rights movement wasn't just a fight against the oppressor; it was also a fight against the oppressor in each of us.

Sometimes it's easy to just point at somebody else and say it's their fault, but oppression has a way of creeping into it. Reverend, it has a way of stunting yourself. You start telling yourself, Bishop, I can't do something. I can't read. I can't go to college. I can't start a business. I can't run for Congress. I can't run for the presidency. People start telling you-- you can't do something, after a while, you start believing it and part of what the civil rights movement was about was recognizing that we have to transform ourselves in order to transform the world. Mahatma Gandhi, great hero of Dr. King and the person who helped create the nonviolent movement around the world; he once said that you can't change the world if you haven't changed.

If you want to change the world, the change has to happen with you first and that is something that the greatest and most honorable of generations has taught us, but the final thing that I think the Moses generation teaches us is to remind ourselves that we do what we do because God is with us. You know, when Moses was first called to lead people out of the Promised Land, he said I don't think I can do it, Lord. I don't speak like Reverend Lowery. I don't feel brave and courageous and the Lord said I will be with you. Throw down that rod. Pick it back up. I'll show you what to do. The same thing happened with the Joshua generation.

Joshua said, you know, I'm scared. I'm not sure that I am up to the challenge, the Lord said to him, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you. Be strong and have courage, for I am with you wherever you go. Be strong and have courage. It's a prayer for a journey. A prayer that kept a woman in her seat when the bus driver told her to get up, a prayer that led nine children through the doors of the little rock school, a prayer that carried our brothers and sisters over a bridge right here in Selma, Alabama. Be strong and have courage.

When you see row and row of state trooper facing you, the horses and the tear gas, how else can you walk? Towards them, unarmed, unafraid. When they come start beating your friends and neighbors, how else can you simply kneel down, bow your head and ask the Lord for salvation? When you see heads gashed open and eyes burning and children lying hurt on the side of the road, when you are John Lewis and you've been beaten within an inch of your life on Sunday, how do you wake up Monday and keep on marching?

Be strong and have courage, for I am with you wherever you go. We've come a long way in this journey, but we still have a long way to travel. We traveled because God was with us. It's not how far we've come. That bridge outside was crossed by blacks and whites, northerners and southerners, teenagers and children, the beloved community of God's children, they wanted to take those steps together, but it was left to the Joshua's to finish the journey Moses had begun and today we're called to be the Joshua's of our time, to be the generation that finds our way across this river.

There will be days when the water seems wide and the journey too far, but in those moments, we must remember that throughout our history, there has been a running thread of ideals that have guided our travels and pushed us forward, even when they're just beyond our reach, liberty in the face of tyranny, opportunity where there was none and hope over the most crushing despair. Those ideals and values beckon us still and when we have our doubts and our fears, just like Joshua did, when the road looks too long and it seems like we may lose our way, remember what these people did on that bridge.

Keep in your heart the prayer of that journey, the prayer that God gave to Joshua. Be strong and have courage in the face of injustice. Be strong and have courage in the face of prejudice and hatred, in the face of joblessness and helplessness and hopelessness. Be strong and have courage, brothers and sisters, those who are gathered here today, in the face of our doubts and fears, in the face of skepticism, in the face of cynicism, in the face of a mighty river.

Be strong and have courage and let us cross over that Promised Land together. Thank you so much everybody.

God bless you.

Speech by Hillary Clinton

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. And I want to begin by giving praise to the Almighty for the blessings he has bestowed upon us as a congregation, as a people, and as a nation. and I thank you so much, Reverend Armstrong, for welcoming me to this historic church.

And I thank the First Baptist Church family for opening your hearts and your home to me and to so many visitors today. I have to confess that I did seek dispensation from Reverend Armstrong to come because you know, I'm a Methodist. And I'm in one of those mixed marriages. And my husband, who sends greetings to all of you today, felt it necessary to call the Reverend to make sure that was all right. And thank you, reverend, for being so broad-minded and understanding.

It is also a great honor to be here with so many distinguished members of the clergy, elected officials, leaders of the civil rights movement, today, tomorrow, and yesterday. President Steele, I could have listened all afternoon. That pulse that you found so faint you have brought back to life. And all of us owe you and SCLC a great deal of gratitude.

I think everybody in the sanctuary has been introduced. But I want to just say a word of recognition to some of my colleagues in government who have traveled a long way to be here with us today. Congressman Rahm Emanuel from Illinois and his son Zach. Congressman Anthony Weiner from New York. Congresswoman Gwendolyn Moore from Wisconsin. Congressman Linda Sanchez from California. And the chair of all the mayors in the country, Mayor Palmer from Trenton, New Jersey. I thank them for coming to join with us.

And I have to say, Chairman Chestnut, thank you for the history lesson and for the welcome. I thank all of the board of deacons, the board of trustees and the deaconesses and I appreciate that we are gathered here for another commemoration that is important for us once again to re-enact so we never forget.

I also want to ask for our prayers on behalf of all those who lost their lives in the terrible tornadoes that swept through this state and others and particularly for those young people, those eight students of Enterprise High School who lost their lives, for their families, and on behalf of all those who may still be missing.

I come here this morning as a sister in worship, a grateful friend and beneficiary of what happened in Selma 42 years ago. I come to share the memories of a troubled past and a hope for a better tomorrow.

One that is worthy of the sacrifices that were made here. Today marks that 42nd anniversary. but it also marks, as we have heard, the 50th anniversary of SCLC and the 50th anniversary of the integration of Central High by the Little Rock Nine.

And I have friends with me today from Arkansas who have been with my husband and me for all those years. We know, as President Steele reminded us, that America's march to freedom, equality and opportunity has been marked by milestones -- milestones like the creation of SCLC and the integration of Central High and that fateful Sunday with that march across the Pettis Bridge. But those are just milestones. They do not mark the end of the journey. In fact, it is not over yet. and I believe that for many people today who are mistaken that Bloody Sunday is a subject for the history books, it is our responsibility to make it clear to them it is just as relevant today as it was 42 years ago.

Yes, that long march to freedom that began here has carried us a mighty long way. But we all know we have to finish the march. That is the call to our generation, to our young people. As a young girl, I had the great privilege of hearing Dr. King speak in Chicago. The year was 1963. My youth minister from our church took a few of us down on a cold January night to hear someone that we had read about, we had watched on television, we had seen with our own eyes from a distance, this phenomenon known as Dr. King.

He titled the sermon he gave that night "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution." some of you may have heard it because he delivered it more than once. He described how the literary character Rip Van Winkle had slept through the American Revolution. And he called on us, he challenged us that evening to stay awake during the great Revolution that the Civil Rights Pioneers were waging on behalf of a more perfect union.

It was sweeping our country, and we would sleep through it at our risk and detriment. Now, I know we've been at this a long time. And after all the hard work, getting rid of the literacy tests and the poll taxes, fighting for the right to vote, bringing more people into the economic mainstream, a body does get tired.

But we've got to stay awake. we've got to stay awake, because we have a march to finish. a march toward one America, that should be all America was meant to be. That too many people before us have given of themselves time and again, to make real. How can we rest while poverty and inequality continue to rise? How can we sleep, while 46 million of our fellow Americans do not have health insurance? How can we be satisfied, when the current economy brings too few jobs and too few wage increases and too much debt? How can we shrug our shoulders and say this is not about me, when too many of our children are ill-prepared in school for college and unable to afford it, if they wish to attend?

How can we say everything is fine when we have an energy policy whose prices are too high, who make us dependent on foreign governments that do not wish us well, and when we face the real threat of climate change, which is tinkering with God's creation?

How do we refuse to march when we have our young men and women in uniform in harm's way, and whether they come back, their government does not take care of them the way they deserve?

And how do we say that everything is fine, Bloody Sunday is for the history books, when over 96,000 of our citizens, the victims of Hurricane Katrina, are still living in trailers and mobile homes, which is a national disgrace to everything we stand for in America?

You know, Dr. King told us -- Dr. King told us our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Well, I'm here to tell you poverty and growing inequality matters. Health care matters. the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans matter. Our soldiers matter. Our standing in the world matters. Our future matters, and it is up to us to take it back, put it in to our hands, start marching toward a better tomorrow!

Now, 42 years ago, from this church and from brown, brave men and women first tried to march. Two days later, Dr. King tried again. Getting as far as the bridge. Then on the third day, armed with judge Frank Johnson's order, more than 3,000 people crossed the Pettis Bridge. And by the time they got to Montgomery, they were 25,000 strong.

Now, my friends, we must never forget the blows they took. Let's never forget the dogs and the horses and the hoses that were turned on them, driving them back, treating them not as human beings.

But also don't forget about the dignity with which they bore it all. They understood the right to vote matters. Now, five months later the voting rights act was enacted by Congress and signed by President Johnson, but we all know it was written on the march from Selma to Montgomery.

It was written by men and women with tired feet and swollen ankles. And it was first signed with their blood, sweat, and tears. We cherish the few, including my good friend, Congressman John Lewis, who still remain with us today, to cross the bridge again. But let us not forget those who have passed on -- Dr. King and Coretta, Viola, Ralph Abernathy, Josea Williams and all the others. We remember, too, Jimmy Lee Jackson, whose killing near here was one of the events that ignited the march. and we were the support of this great church and of Reverend Fred, who helped to lead people into justice for all.

So many prayed and stood up for the right to vote. Dr. King said quality for African-Americans would also free white Americans of the staining legacy of slavery. And so it has. In 2000, my husband said here that those who walked across the bridge made it possible for the south to grow and prosper and for two sons of the south, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, to be elected president of the United States.

The Voting Rights Act gave more Americans from every corner of our nation the chance to live out their dreams. And it is the gift that keeps on giving. Today it is giving Senator Obama the chance to run for president of the United States. And by its logic and spirit, it is giving the same chance to Governor Bill Richardson, an Hispanic, and yes, it is giving me that chance, too.

You know, this may be interesting for the legislators who are here, but before Selma and the Voting Rights Act put quality front and center, it was illegal under Alabama law for women to serve on juries. I know where my chance came from, and I am grateful to all of you, who gave it to me.

But in the last two presidential elections we have seen the right to vote tampered with, and outright denied to too many of our citizens, especially the poor and people of color. Not just in Florida, Ohio, and Maryland, but in state after state. The very idea that in the 21st century, African-Americans would wait in line for 10 hours while whites in an affluent precinct next to theirs waited in line for 10 minutes, or that African-Americans would receive fliers telling them the wrong time and day to exercise their constitutional right to vote. That's wrong. It is simply unconscionable that today young Americans are putting their lives at risk to protect democracy half a world away when here at home their precious right to vote is under siege.

My friends, we have a march to finish. I will be reintroducing the Count Every Vote Act, to ensure that every voter is given the opportunity to vote, that every vote is counted, and each voter is given the chance to verify his or her vote before it is cast and made permanent.

We have to stay awake. We have a march to finish. On this floor today, let us say with one voice the words of James Cleveland's great freedom hymn, "I don't feel no ways tired/I come too far from where I started from/Nobody told me that the road would be easy/I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me."

And we know -- we know -- we know, if we finish this march, what awaits us? St. Paul told us, in the letter to the Galatians, "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due seasons we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." The brave men and women of Bloody Sunday did not lose heart. We can do no less. We have a march to finish. Let us join together and complete that march for freedom, justice, opportunity, and everything America should be. Thank you and God bless you.

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Business/Barack_Obama_Hillary_Clinton_Selma_Race_F or_Black_And_White_Votes__2997.asp
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"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm

Post Number: 8669
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 12:50 pm:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Tonya,

Why? So you can lustfully stroke your cl*t while watching?

Hahahahaha!!!


Honestly. You're like SUCH a little girl. But for some reason, I kinda dig that about you.

I guess it's because inspite of all your hellacious bluster I know you're only one good dyck away from getting your mind (and cQQchie) straightened out.


Here's hoping that happens for you sooner rather than later, babe.
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Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption

Post Number: 1997
Registered: 10-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, March 09, 2007 - 02:16 am:   Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Figure the odds of that happening. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

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