John Lewis on Pettus Bridge, 45 Years Ago Today

[kpete]

John Lewis on Pettus Bridge, 45 Years Ago Today

The scars are there--not metaphorical or emotional ones, though these must be there, too--but physical scars, rough gashes long ago sealed over the ragged furrows that poured out a young man's blood onto the hot Alabama asphalt 45 years ago this March.







way more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/850995/-John-Lewis-on-Pettus-Bridge,-45-Years-Ago-Today

[spanone]

1. k&r

[Spazito]

2. Thanks for posting this....

my utter disgust and contempt for the teabaggers and those who incite them is beyond description.

Recommended.

[MineralMan]

3. I was there. I drove from California, a 19 year old who had

dropped out of college and traveling around the country. I did not walk across the bridge, but was at MLK's speech in Montgomery. The three days I was in Alabama changed the way I looked at the world forever.

One of the strongest memories I have from those three days happened the day I approached Selma in my 1953 Chrysler New Yorker. An old black man was walking along the road toward Selma, rather haltingly. I stopped and offered him a ride. He got in and we drove on. As we neared Selma, he told me to let him out, saying, more or less, "You better let me out here, son. If they see you carrying an old Negro, it could be bad for you."

[Scruffy1]

4. Thanks Kpete

John Lewis has more courage and class than the whole dam Republican Party. This is not a referendum on some measly health care bill but a defining moment in American History much as the civil rights movement of the 60's.

[Maat]

5. Thanks for posting this.

He's a true hero.