Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

NOTE: Sen. Hank Sanders has written a weekly column for papers in his legislative district for the past twenty years. These rural, weekly papers lack a web presence, and links to the columns are not typically otherwise available. The column below is provided by Sen. Sanders’ office for inclusion in the Daily News Digest.

Senate Sketches # 1082

By

Senator Hank Sanders

**************************

The rain was pouring down as I drove through the counties of Choctaw, Marengo, and Dallas to Perry County. I thought about both the power of the right to vote and the hundred of years we struggled for that right.

I was on my way to the Jimmy Lee Jackson Memorial Program, the initial event in the three weeks plus National Voting Rights Celebration. The Celebration also includes the Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma (scheduled this year for March 6-10), the Selma to Montgomery March, and other events between the third Sunday in February and the second week in March. It lifts the struggles for the right to vote from the beginning of this country to this very moment.

As I rode, I was acutely reminded by the recent death of Rev. James Orange, of how the 1965 Voting Rights Act came about. In February 1965, Orange, a young organizer for SCLC, was in jail in Marion because of his efforts to organize Blacks in Perry County around voting. Word had spread that some local Whites planned to murder him that night. Black leaders called a night march with the intentions of leaving the church, marching to the jail, and spending the night outside the jail to prevent the murder.

As marchers left the church, lawmen went wild, beating every Black person in sight. Many were injured and more than 300 arrested. Among those beaten was Cager Lee, the 80-year-old grandfather of Jimmy Lee Jackson. Jimmy Lee tried to assist his grandfather and then ran to get help. State troopers and others ran after him, following him from the church, down the street to the funeral home and up two flights of stairs to a restaurant. There, a state trooper shot him in the stomach. He died a couple of weeks later.

The night march saved James Orange’s life but ended in the death of Jimmy Lee Jackson. This series of events led to Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Of course, voting rights struggles across the South laid the foundation for these events and the eventual success of the voting rights struggle.

I was particularly focused on the power of the vote. Jimmy Lee Jackson was killed by a state trooper for just trying to get medical attention for his 80-year-old badly injured grandfather. Nothing was done about the killing in spite of two (2) all-White grand juries considering the matter.

When I arrived at the memorial program, I was informed that the trial of James Bonard Fowler, the state trooper who killed Jimmy Lee Jackson, will soon take place, some 43 years after the killing. Without the power of the vote, it would not have come even now.

Because of the success of the right to vote struggle, I was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1983. By 2004, 35 members (or 25 percent) of the 140-member legislature were African American. Because of the right to vote, Michael Jackson, who is African American, was elected as District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in 2004, which includes Perry County.

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to the Attorney General of Alabama and the District Attorney for Perry County. I urged them to investigate the killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson and prosecute if appropriate. At my request, the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus joined the effort, held a press conference and sent a letter.

This moment would not have occurred without a confluence of voting rights events: the jailing of James Orange, who dropped out of high school in Birmingham to work full time in the voting rights struggle; the killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson, whose death spurred some 550 persons, mostly from Perry County to attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery; the bloody beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge now known as Bloody Sunday; the Selma to Montgomery March; the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; the election of 35 African Americans to the Alabama Legislature; and the election of a district attorney willing to seek long-denied justice. This attempt at justice for Jimmy Lee Jackson was wrought by the power of the vote.

The denial of the right to vote contributed to the atmosphere that allowed Jimmy Lee Jackson and others to be killed. Because African Americans could not vote and possessed little of the other traditional sources of power, some felt they could do anything to Black people without consequences. They failed to realize that circumstances may one day change. The power of the vote forged that change.

I participate in the Jimmy Lee Jackson Memorial Program each year because it reminds me of the high price some paid for our right to vote. I participate in the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and the Slow Ride from Selma to Montgomery because it reminds me that I stand on the shoulders of James Orange and others who went before me, investing great effort at the risk of their lives. If I reach a little higher or see a little farther, it’s because I stand on their shoulders.

For some, the National Voting Rights Celebration is an opportunity to hear good singing and great speeches, a chance to consume tasty food and drink, an occasion to share one to another. For me, it is a time to broaden my understanding and deepen my commitment. What is it for you?

Now on to the Daily Diary.

Saturday - I worked on various issues before traveling to Bay Minette for the funeral of my aunt, Gussie McReynolds. I made stops in Daphne, Jackson, and Thomasville before arriving back in Selma. It was night but I went back to my office to work. In between, I talked to lots of leaders by phone.

Sunday - I did Radio Sunday School with Dr. Margaret Hardy before traveling to Choctaw County to speak at a Black History Program, then to Marion for the Jimmy Lee Jackson Memorial Program, then to Montgomery for a Black history matter and back to Selma.

Monday - I was at my office by 6:15 a.m. and in Lowndes County by 8:00 a.m. I returned to Selma to work on several issues before going to Greene County and back to Selma. In between, I participated in a conference call on Black farmers and talked with various leaders including the following: Lowndes County School Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd; Greene County School Superintendent Isaac Atkins; Greene County School Board member Lester Brown; Dr. Carol P. Zippert of the Greene County Democrat Newspaper; Senator Lowell Barron; Bob Johnson of the Associated Press; Senator Phil Poole; and Senator Zeb Little. I worked into the night.

Tuesday - I traveled to Montgomery for the following: Alabama Public School and College Authority Incentive Bond Council Meeting; Senate Democratic Caucus meeting; meeting with Lieutenant Governor Jim Folsom, Jr, Senate President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem, and others; a Senate Session; and a Caucus dinner. I also talked to the following: State School Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton and Assistant Superintendent Craig Pouncey; Senator Hinton Mitchem; Norris Green and Joyce Bigeee of the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO); Eli Seaborn of Lowndes County; Senator Arthur Orr; Representative Richard Lindsey; Laddi Jones of the Greene County Democrat; Senator Vivian Davis Figures; Senator Wendell Mitchell; and Senator Zeb Little. I participated in a conference call concerning the National Voting Rights Celebration/Bridge Crossing Jubilee, returned to Selma and worked into the night.

Wednesday - I went to Montgomery for the following meetings: Education Committee; Finance and Taxation Education Committee; Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee; Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Judiciary Committee where my bill on Judicial override was favorably considered. I returned to Selma for the radio program, Law Lessons, and two other meetings. In between I talked to the following: Quinton Riggins of the Alabama Business Council; Senator Rodger Smitherman; Senator Roger Bedford; Consultant Rick Dent; Senator Myron Penn; former Senator Gary Tanner; and former Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) President Barbara Pitts. I worked into the night.

Thursday - I was at my Selma office early and in Montgomery by 8:00 a.m. for the following meetings: Senate leaders; Senate Democratic Caucus; Education Budget issues with Representative Richard Lindsey and Joyce Bigbee; Budget Chairs; Sally Howell and Lisa Tucker of the Alabama Association of School Boards; AMSTI leaders; and Forest Kimball and others of Alabama ARISE. I participated in a conference call on the Bridge Crossing Jubilee as I returned to Selma. I talked to many senators and others including Representative John Knight. As I watched the Democratic Presidential Debates at work with my 10-month old granddaughter (Azalie), her mother (Malika), and grandmother (Faya). I continued to work.

Friday - I began writing Sketches and talked to various leaders including the following: Judge Marvin Wiggins; George McMillan of Birmingham; Julian Smith of Alabama Power Company; Bob Johnson and Phil Rawls of the Associated Press; Anya Johnson of Choctaw County; Arzula Johnson of Wilcox County; Dr. James Mitchell of Wallace Community College Selma (WCCS); and Businessman Jim Hodo. I participated in a Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) Board meeting and attended a play at WCCS to see my 10-year-old granddaughter, Askari and others. I received the news from Sharon Wheeler that the Alabama Supreme Court had ruled in the 17-month-old lawsuit where they were trying to remove me and three other senators from the 2006 General Election ballot.

EPILOGUE - We never know how or when the power of something will manifest itself. Sometimes it’s weeks, months, years, decades, generations, centuries. It took a generation and a lot of changes to commence the process of justice for Jimmy Lee Jackson.

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