Robert Moses.
MR. WEST: OUR DEAR BROTHER MR. MOSES CONSTITUTES A HIGH LEVEL OF SPIRITUAL ACC EXCELLENCE, ONE OF THE FIRST BLACK PEOPLE TO GET A PHD FROM HARVARD, BUT ALSO GREAT SENSITIVITY TO PUBLIC LIFE. THAT IS WHAT THE LEGACY OF ELEVATOR OF A BAKER AND OTHERS ARE LIKE. DYNAMIC PEOPLE. MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH THE UNBELIEVABLE CHALLENGE FOR THE PARTY AND ALSO THE PLATFORM DRAFTING COMMITTEE. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT PEOPLE'S POWER. YOU TALK ABOUT THE GROUNDS UPON WHICH EVERY DAY PEOPLE STRUGGLING FOR LIFE'S WITH DECENCY ARE TO HAVE TRUST WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, GIVEN THE HISTORY LAID OUT, EVEN THE RECENT HISTORY, COMPLICITY IN MASS INCARCERATION, UNDERMINING WELFARE RIGHTS OF EVERYDAY PEOPLE, THE RELATIONSHIP OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE HISTORICALLY AND CONTINUE TO DO IN MISSISSIPPI AND THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT, WHAT ARE THE GROUNDS, IN YOUR OWN MIND, FOR HAVING TRUST IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, GIVEN WHERE WE ARE IN THE PRESENT ?
(As you can see, this is unedited voice recognition.)
MR. MOSES answering:
MR. MOSES: TO BE TRUTHFUL, THE ONLY GROUNDS, FOR ME, ARE ACTUALLY WHAT I THINK OF AS EARNED INSURGENCIES THAT COME FROM THE BOTTOM UP. I THINK WE HAVE TO EARN OUR INSURGENCIES IN THIS COUNTRY. THAT WAS OUR EXPERIENCE IN MISSISSIPPI. WE HAD TO EARN IT IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS. FIRST, WE HAD TO EARN FROM THE SHARECROPPERS AND THE FARMERS THAT WE WERE WORKING WITH, THEIR TRUST KERRY IT REALLY SIMPLE. EVERY TIME WE GOT KNOCKED DOWN, WE HAD TO STAND BACK UP. FINALLY, THEY DECIDED THAT WE MEANT WHAT WE WERE SAYING. WE ALSO HAD TO EARN SOMETHING FROM THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. YOU REMEMBER THE 1957 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT. THE MAJORITY LEADER, JOHNSON, AND EISENHOWER WAS PRESIDENT. THAT SET UP THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. THAT ACT WAS ABOUT THE IDEA THAT TUSKEGEE PROFESSORS, WHO QUALIFY UNDER ANY STANDARD, SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO VOTE. THEY DID NOT HAVE SNCC IN MIND. THEY PUT IN IT THAT ANYONE ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE TRYING TO VOTE, STATES COULD NOT ARREST THAT. THAT ACT GAVE SNCC A LITTLE WHAT I CALL LEGAL CRAWLSPACE. IT ENABLED US TO DO THE WORK ON THE GROUND SO EVERY TIME THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI LOCKED OF UP, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CAME AND GOT US OUT. WE HAD TO EARN THE TRUST. IT DID NOT SAY THAT WE WERE REQUIRED TO DO THAT. THEY WERE PERMITTED TO DO THAT. WE HAD TO EARN THE RIGHT TO BE PEOPLE THAT THEY WOULD GO BACK FOR. THEN, WE HAD THE RIGHT TO CALL ON THE COUNTRY TO COME TAKE A LOOK AT ITSELF. WE HAD THE RIGHT -- TO EARN THE RIGHT TO CALL ON COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO COME DOWN IN FACE OF DANGER. AS YOU KNOW, THREE OF THEM WERE MURDERED THAT SUMMER. WE HAD TO EARN THE RIGHT TO DO THAT. WE NEED, IN THIS COUNTRY, EARNED INSURGENCIES. THAT IS WHAT IT WILL TAKE, I THINK, TO GET THE POLITICAL PARTIES, INCLUDING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, UP AND MOVING ON THESE ISSUES.
That seems to have been mostly it for today, Hekate. There are a bunch of unidentified speakers, and he may have asked questions or whatever at other times.
= new reply since forum marked as read
