I can’t say this information was originally researched by me. I have read about some of the following names and knew some of their stories, however after hearing a new name, and a couple of new stories by a white judge, during the opening arguments at my first jury duty, I had to make my own research and write about it.
My friends, coworkers, or anyone who decides to read this, whether or not you are a citizen of this country, jump with me for a few minutes back in history, enjoy it, and be proud of this country, its justice system, its forefathers, its history, its past. They might not be perfect, but after researching, experiencing, studying and living some of it, leads me to think that it is perhaps as good as it can possibly get. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, civil rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, deliverer of the “I have a dream” speech (in my opinion, one of the most iconic speeches in history) from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, needs no introduction. If you haven’t read about him, I really encourage you to do so.
Let me begin with some of his quotes. I find it impossible to continue mentioning only one.
In 1955, Dr. King responded to an accusation that he was ‘disturbing the peace’ by his activism:
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice”
Later, I believe in 1957 during a speech at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church he said:
“We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.”
But I want you to keep in mind the following quote, mentioned in 1967:
“The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, but It Bends Toward Justice” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
The quote above is something I took into your heart and mind. It encouraged me and will probably encourage you too. It will also make you appreciate the past, learn from it, and make us better, helping make of this old world a new world.
Approximately 8 years before Dr. King delivered his ‘I have a dream’ speech, Rosa Parks (who became known as ‘the first lady of civil rights’), on the first day of December 1955, in Montgomery, AL, after working all day, boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus. She paid her fare and took a seat in the first row of the section of the bus, reserved for blacks. Making a story short, Parks refused to obey the order of the bus driver, to give up her seat in the colored section, so a white passenger could sit on it, since the white section was filled.
The bus driver called the police who arrested her for not giving up her seat. In fact, she was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon and her friend Clifford Durr bailed her out of jail the next evening. After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but suffered hardships as a result.
The black residents of Montgomery boycotted the bus company for over 380 days, at considerable personal sacrifice. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company’s finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses.
***
100 years before the Rosa Parks refusal to move, in New Work, on a Sunday, July 16th of 1854, Elizabeth Jennings set off for the First Colored Congregational Church, where she was an organist. As she was running late, she boarded a horse-drawn street car on rails, which did not allow colored people.
The conductor ordered Jennings off the streetcar, and tried to remove her by force when she refused. Later she was ejected from the street car with the aid of a police officer. This incident sparked a movement between black residents of New York to end racial discrimination on streetcars. Her story was published by Frederick Douglass, receiving national attention.
Elizabeth Jennings filed a lawsuit against the conductor and the Third Avenue Railroad Company, and was represented by a 24 year old, recently graduated lawyer Chester A. Arthur, who later became the 21st President of the United States of America.
About a year later, in 1855, the court ruled in Jennings favor, awarding her a little over $200 dollars. A day later, the Third Avenue Railroad Company ordered its cars desegregated. By 1861, New York’s public transit was fully desegregated.
***
At the foundation of this country, only white men with property were permitted to vote. White working men, woman and all other people of color were denied the franchise.
By the time of the Civil War, most white men were allowed to vote, whether or not they owned property, thanks to the cause of frontiersmen and white immigrants who had to wait 14 years for citizenship and the right to vote.
In 1866, the 14th Amendment passed, guaranteeing citizenship to the former slaves. Later in 1869 the 15th amendment guaranteed the right to vote to black man, but still, women, independent of their race, were unable to vote.
On November 5th of 1872, Susan B. Anthony, a prominent, independent and well educated civil rights leader, illegally casted her vote in a ballot. Rumors say she dressed as man to vote. Others tell different stories. No matter which version is right, the fact is that Susan played a pivotal role in the 19th century women’s rights movement to introduce their right to vote.
On November 18 of 1872, Anthony was arrested for illegally voting in the 1872 presidential election. She was tried and convicted seven months later, despite her eloquent arguments that the recently adopted 14th Amendment, which guaranteed to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The privileges of citizenship, which contained no gender qualification, gave women the constitutional right to vote in federal elections.
Her trial was called ‘United States v. Susan B. Anthony’ and it took place in New York, before Supreme Court Associate Justice Ward Hunt, who refused to allow Anthony to testify on her own behalf, and explicitly ordered the jury to return a guilty verdict, refused to poll the jury afterwards, and read an opinion he had written before the trial even started. In response to the unfairness of the “trial”, Anthony repeatedly ignored the judge’s admonishments to stop talking at the delivery of the verdict, finally stating: “I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.”
The sentence was a $100 fine, but not imprisonment; true to her word in court (“I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty”), she never paid the fine for the rest of her life, and an embarrassed U.S. Government took no collection action against her. After her trial Anthony petitioned the US Congress to remove the fine in January 1874.
It was only in 1920, approximately 14 years after Anthony’s death that all women were allowed to vote with the adoption of the 19th Amendment.
***
Along with me, you, and many others after and before Dr. King had a dream. Many did not live to see or be part of it, but they left their marks, their sweat, their blood, their life. They each had a part and helped bend the ‘arc’.
There’s still injustice. There’s still violence and terrorism. There’s still lack of love for one another. There are still so many burdens that each of us has to carry and which are so far away from being part of a moral universe. But at the end of each day, the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. prove to be true:
“The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, but It Bends Toward Justice”
As one of Jesus’ believers, I think many of us have become too complacent of our beliefs, to help bend the arc of the moral universe.
We should wake up, make a stand, do it today just like yesterday.
We no longer look into our past with appreciation, whether in history or mostly important, in the Bible, to learn from it and help mold a better future. We no longer believe, or care, or trust it.
Each one of has have an obligation towards the arc of the moral universe. I encourage you to do your part by starting NOW.
Volunteer, help, donate, love, refrain yourself from bad morals, rescue, believe, pay your debts, be respectful and obedient, perform your duties, work, stop complaining so much, rejoice, censure yourself when needed, grow, be truthful, faithful, stand, forgive, love, PRAY…
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated.”
“The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape. …agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen. And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, “Love your enemy.” And it’s significant that he does not say, “Like your enemy.” Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, “Love your enemy.” This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it.” Martin Luther King, Jr,
Thank you for reading,
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