Guilty Verdict Today in Voting Rights Activists' Deaths

[demodonkey]

On the 41st Anniversary of the deaths of these Voting Rights patriots...

Mississippi Jury Convicts Ex-Klansman in 1964 Killings
The New York Times
http://digbig.com/4dsfg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4116870.stm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1567855&mesg_id=1567855

These killings happened in Mississippi... but I was in Selma AL this spring and walked across the Pettus Bridge where there is now a grassroots memorial park on the side where the "Bloody Sunday" attack happened. In the park there are trees dedicated to voting rights activists who gave their lives for this cause, including for Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner as well as those who died during the Selma marches.

It was very moving... made me really think about the importance of what we all are doing now to continue the work for election reform and voting rights in our time.

NGU.

[emlev]

1. Thanks for this news! n/t

[AtLiberty]

2. Nothing would honor those boys more than election reform

Forty years later...still fighting for the fundamental right to vote and to have that vote count.

[garybeck]

3. don't forget Athan Gibbs n/t

[autorank]

4. People died for the cause of voting rights. Should never be trivialized

by pseudo intellectual mockery of our current voting rights efforts. This is THE foundational right for all Americans. Without it, we are finished; and it appears we've been without it (despite Republican propaganda) for some time now.

We were a party to be proud of back then. There was little or no disagreement among the majority of Democrats that these murders were very wrong. The sacrifice they made was profound. Thank you for honoring it!