What an inspiration Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer must have been to African Americans during the 1960s. Her first hand account of the beating and abuse she received after trying to register to vote in Mississippi is horrific. Even after this trauma she continued to play a major role in helping African Americans register to vote and have their voices be heard. I think I would have been in fear for my life if I had experienced this racist beating and there would be no way that I would feed comfortable having my story broadcasted on national television. I'm so glad she kept pushing forward and trying to help her fellow African Americans by establishing the National Women's Political Caucus and Freedom Farm Cooperative. It is unfortunate that the leaders at the Democratic National Convention in 1964 would not seat members from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party. If they had allowed these members into the convention you wonder how different things may have been in South.
- Oct 2020
-
www.americanyawp.com www.americanyawp.com
- Sep 2020
-
www.americanyawp.com www.americanyawp.com
-
We have to limit fortunes. Our present plan is that we will allow no one man to own more that $50,000,000. We think that with that limit we will be able to carry out the balance of the program. It may be necessary that we limit it to less than $50,000,000. It may be necessary, in working out of the plans that no man’s fortune would be more than $10,000,000 or $15,000,000. But be that as it may, it will still be more than any one man, or any one man and his children and their children, will be able to spend in their lifetimes; and it is not necessary or reasonable to have wealth piled up beyond that point where we cannot prevent poverty among the masses.
I think Huey P. Long's heart was in the right place to try and eliminate poverty after the Great Depression. The "Every Man a King" plan seemed like a Robin Hood plan to take from the wealthy and give to the poor. No doubt every American deserves the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as described in the Declaration of Independence but that shouldn't be at the detriment of the more wealthy Americans. By allowing there to be a cap on the accumulated wealth of Americans only hurts the country as a whole. The American Dream would die with this type of Economic plan. Socialism and welfare could still be accomplished without limiting the success of other Americans.
-
-
www.americanyawp.com www.americanyawp.com
-
The question then comes: Is it possible, and probable, that nine millions of men can make effective progress in economic lines if they are deprived of political rights, made a servile caste, and allowed only the most meagre chance for developing their exceptional men? If history and reason give any distinct answer to these questions, it is an emphatic No.
This is my favorite part of DuBois speech. When I read this, I think about the well know saying, "There is power in numbers" but what power can millions of African American have when they have no political rights. They were set free from slavery in 1865 but they were never truly allowed all the "unalienable rights" that the founders of our country described in the Declaration of Independence.
-