As a young, 22 yr. old newly married woman from Peoria, Illinois, I found myself living in Pensacola, Florida in 1962. My husband was a Naval cadet in flight training school and the apartment we lived in had no washing/drying facilities. So, on one of my first days there, I found myself , clothes basket in hand, heading to the local, small laundromat. I was the only one there and there were only 6 washing machines. The first three were labeled "White" and the last three were labeled "Colored"! I was taken aback, but followed the instruction and put my white clothes in one of the three labeled such and my colored clothes, likewise where they were asked to be placed. I was a college graduate from the midwest who was unaware of the atrocities that occurred in the South at that time. Your story brought that memory fresh to my mind this morning, Michael. I would have loved your mom as a friend and I vowed after realizing the cruelty of that moment that my children would be aware of much more than I at a young age. And, they were! That's the good news. I love reading your youthful reflections and thoughts. Thanks for all you do to keep us on the "aware" path!
On reflection after all these years, I am thankful for that innocence which was a product of the town and associations I had growing up. The news was either slow coming to our area or I was so involved in growing up that I paid little attention. I am still amazed at my naive outlook on the world as a young adult. Where was I? Looking back on a trip through Birmingham, Alabama on the train in 1963. I was traveling with my firstborn baby who was three months old. We were allowed to get off the train to rest. I did and encountered those horrific water fountains labeled the same as the washing machines in Pensacola. This time, I knew, but it would take me years , until I was 50 to wear the proud mantle of "Activist"! I was "born " again, I think!
I just sent your article to Senators Sinema and Manchin. And yes, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins need to get on board with this. I just don't understand how the supposed leaders of our country can be such lemmings. Cowtowing isn't leadership...such a shame.
100% in agreement. I don't understand why the Dems aren't making alliances with the likes of Portman and others who have already announced that they will not run again. I will call his offices tomorrow to surge him to "do the right thing"....why wouldn't they ? - are they really that cowardly in the face of the Bully?
I had to stop 3 times, 3 times! from reading your article... crying, sobbing, Christ sake... Romney is a sh*t head because he knows better. Where is his religious morality? Murkowski! What the hell? I find these Republican senators, Manchin, and Sinema truly vomit! My stomach is churning as I speak. Oh, Michael, what a great article. You've inspired me to write one now. Hotter than fire and brimstone, my heart, mouth, and soul are seething for the injustices going on in our country, especially, today. Oh my! How ashamed I am of our Republican senators and a couple of Dems, too. Imagine what the world thinks of us today!
Every time I think you have reached as deep into our conscious as one could go, you strike even more deeply than before. My parents educated me with our “Washington trip” much as yours did. My respect for our flag, our congress, our military, were cemented in the education we received post WWII. My god Michael, how can we have strayed so far from the kids we were who put our hands across our chests each morning and when we recited the pledge of allegiance we were proud and grateful.
If Biden doesn’t have the strength to lead we will need to find amongst the Democrats a strong armed strong willed leader or our Democracy will suffer a wound so deep our streets will run with the blood of those who stand in the way of freedom.
That leader, be it Biden or someone else had better emerge damn soon.
You won't find him among the career 'men' who have been doing everything necessary to remain in office. If a new dynamic leader is to emerge, it appears it will have to a woman. Elizabeth Warren along with her able and highly motivated former student, Katie Potter, would straighten the path this nation must follow.
She's an interesting person to be sure and would make a wonderful companion, but more admirable yet is her spunk, intelligence and orderly mind. I can quickly see the relationship (chemistry) between her and Elizabeth Warren. Can you imagine what that duo could accomplish in the White House? I can dream can't I?
Are white people so fragile and so sick as to support this hate against the people they brought over as slaves? Or are we overwhelmed with disgust at what racism has achieved? We must change the whole system of social life to acknowledge that the worship of power is killing us all.
"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice;..." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
These stories are so important. They're the REAL history. Your Mom was fantastic. That explains a LOT. Here is a story from my family. My aunt joined the WACs in 1942 and was sent to basic training in Alabama. A well-brought up girl from the Bronx, she was on a bus off-base and gave up her seat for an elderly Black lady who'd just gotten on. The bus driver with the help of some ol' boys punched her and threw her off the bus. She was in uniform in wartime, but extreme racism is a much higher calling than patriotism. Thank you for sharing your stories. Can't seem to get the tears to stay out of my eyes.
I was 13 years old the spring that Viola Liuzzo was killed. I remember reading a few days before that she had traveled to Selma to be part of the "freedom" rides. And I desperately wished that I could have gone down there with her. The next thing I knew she had been assassinated. I will never forget Viola. Shout out to your mom too, Michael. She was a Boss! I think she would be SO PROUD of you! What's happening in our country today is that the invisible putrid, festering social cancer has been made more visible. I am hoping and praying for individuals with moral decency and the charismatic, intelligent gift of leading us politically to regain our footing and push onward. and especially the rest of us - continuing to step forward to do the right thing.
This is excellent. Thank you Michael, again, for telling the truth...and in a first person account. Powerful, well written and persuasive, hopefully. I too experienced "the South" in 1960 riding a Greyhound bus from NJ to Florida to visit my mother's sister after her husband, my father died
unexpectedly of a heart attack, when I was sixteen. My mother didn't express the outrage and shock I felt, seeing the white and black waiting rooms and restrooms, never seen before in our Northern NJ experiences. Your mother was brave and principled, and gave you a legacy to be proud of...and inspiration for what you do today. I admire her, and you, for continuing the fight.
It is frightening and horrifying to see where our country seems to be headed, led by ignorance and hatred. May we survive as a country and a people, despite truth and reason being trampled by the ignorance and fear being spread by the "social" media mega companies who care only for profits. Heaven help us. Keep speaking the truth. I will spread this widely. Thank you.
So enjoyed your short story history of the Voting Rights Act. I still can’t believe how many MAGA followers exist in our country today, nor militias. We can thank those miserable Supreme Court Justices for that. If we don’t get this important issue passed during Biden’s term, it will be a colossal shame. Keep doing what you do so well, Mr. Moore.
What a great column! And yes, the departed Mrs. Moore sounds like an amazing and courageous woman--my hat is definitely off to her.
My (white) parents were also involved in Civil Rights--probably as a result of having taught at a Black university in segregated Virginia in the Fifties. My father and a group of his friends, at no small risk to themselves, drove to Alabama to participate in the Selma march in 1965. Fortunately they made it back in one piece but he said that there were some very scary moments. I, too, am glad he is not around to see what is going on now. (He had plenty of choice words about "Chump" before he died in 2017!)
What those two "DINOS" are doing is appalling. And yes, this very morning, I was thinking about how Pres. Johnson would have handled someone like those two. He probably would have made them "an offer they couldn't refuse" and somehow gotten them to step into line. Unfortunately, Mr. Biden seems to lack the capacity to do that--apparently this pair is more afraid of--or enticed by--prevailing forces on the other side than by the leader of their own party. This is a crying shame, and the entire country will suffer for it.
Thanks, Michael, as always, for your insight and passion. I hope that someday this country gets back on the right track again but I'm becoming less optimistic by the day.
I never knew your mother but I LOVE her ! Thank you SO much for writing this, sharing from your past - so many take-aways from this - not the least of which - your mom had you reading the newspaper nightly ! God bless her ..
President Donald Trump, his family and corrupt members of his former Cabinet BELONG IN PRISON.
Trump openly admitted to journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately downplayed COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. The U.S. death count from COVID-19 is now over 717,000 people. Some health experts believe that if Trump had acted immediately, he could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
The Trump Organization, the former president's family business, is facing criminal charges alleging significant tax fraud. Trump has directed some of his former aides to ignore subpoenas from the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And the Trump campaign still owes millions to some cities for expenses they incurred during rallies.
Most of all, Trump incited the violent insurrection in Washington, D.C., in January. People died that day, and serious damage was caused to the U.S. Capitol building.
How can YOU; The U.S. attorney general ignore all of this and not act immediately to place Trump, who I believe to be dangerous, in prison? Why does everyone else have to follow the law, but Trump is still allowed to be in public? Our laws must be followed by everyone, without exception! I believe that Trump should have a life sentence in prison and should never be allowed to run for any office again.
I fear that our democracy will be damaged forever if Trump does not pay for the many, many crimes I believe he has committed in our country..
Don't forget the rest of his mob, congressman/women and senators as the all belong in prison as most of our "world leaders". I understand there's plenty of room in sing sing. They can join a chorus and sing sing until they're out of oxygen.
IF THE "FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT" IS NOT ALREADY IN PLACE EARLY ENOUGH BEFORE THE MIDTERM ELECTION THIS YEAR THEN REPUBLICANS WILL WIN TOTAL CONTROL OF CONGRESS.
If that happens, Republicans will REVERSE everything that President Biden has accomplished including the "BUILD BACK BETTER ACT" (Should it become law before then) And TRUMP will be back in the white house in 2024.
And because Republicans have passed Anti Voting laws in their favor, they will win in all future elections.
President Biden must lead a massive campaign to ABOLISH THE FILIBUSTER AND PASS THE FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT..
.
THE "FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT" WILL REVERSE ALL REPUBLICANS ANTI VOTING LAWS BUT IT WILL NEVER PASS IF THE FILIBUSTER IS NOT ABOLISHED.
WITHOUT the FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT, Democrats will no longer be able to win elections.
SO FAR Republicans have passed over 400 new anti voting laws in 49 states using false allegations of voter fraud. Making it much harder for people to vote..
THEY are using the FILIBUSTER to continue to block our CIVIL LIBERTIES, including VOTING RIGHTS, HEALTHCARE, VACCINATIONS, ABORTION RIGHTS, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS, ANIMAL RIGHTS, GUN SAFETY, LGBT RIGHTS, SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION, TAXING THE RICH, ETC.
As a young, 22 yr. old newly married woman from Peoria, Illinois, I found myself living in Pensacola, Florida in 1962. My husband was a Naval cadet in flight training school and the apartment we lived in had no washing/drying facilities. So, on one of my first days there, I found myself , clothes basket in hand, heading to the local, small laundromat. I was the only one there and there were only 6 washing machines. The first three were labeled "White" and the last three were labeled "Colored"! I was taken aback, but followed the instruction and put my white clothes in one of the three labeled such and my colored clothes, likewise where they were asked to be placed. I was a college graduate from the midwest who was unaware of the atrocities that occurred in the South at that time. Your story brought that memory fresh to my mind this morning, Michael. I would have loved your mom as a friend and I vowed after realizing the cruelty of that moment that my children would be aware of much more than I at a young age. And, they were! That's the good news. I love reading your youthful reflections and thoughts. Thanks for all you do to keep us on the "aware" path!
I love this story Vi! How innocent, sweet and beautiful you were.
On reflection after all these years, I am thankful for that innocence which was a product of the town and associations I had growing up. The news was either slow coming to our area or I was so involved in growing up that I paid little attention. I am still amazed at my naive outlook on the world as a young adult. Where was I? Looking back on a trip through Birmingham, Alabama on the train in 1963. I was traveling with my firstborn baby who was three months old. We were allowed to get off the train to rest. I did and encountered those horrific water fountains labeled the same as the washing machines in Pensacola. This time, I knew, but it would take me years , until I was 50 to wear the proud mantle of "Activist"! I was "born " again, I think!
Your mother was an amazing person. For a woman in the 1960’s to take a racist gas station owner to task was remarkable.
I just sent your article to Senators Sinema and Manchin. And yes, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins need to get on board with this. I just don't understand how the supposed leaders of our country can be such lemmings. Cowtowing isn't leadership...such a shame.
Because power is a mighty aphrodisiac. They know that if they lose the "basket of deplorables" they will never be reelected.
Looks like you have to be a moron to be a republican Senator or congressman/woman. They pass the test.
Unless you're very wealthy, you certainly have to be a moron to vote for one of them.
There are many ways to be a wearlthy moron, it's sometimes called inbreeding.
When you call them morons, they object to being called "morans" (sic).
100% in agreement. I don't understand why the Dems aren't making alliances with the likes of Portman and others who have already announced that they will not run again. I will call his offices tomorrow to surge him to "do the right thing"....why wouldn't they ? - are they really that cowardly in the face of the Bully?
I had to stop 3 times, 3 times! from reading your article... crying, sobbing, Christ sake... Romney is a sh*t head because he knows better. Where is his religious morality? Murkowski! What the hell? I find these Republican senators, Manchin, and Sinema truly vomit! My stomach is churning as I speak. Oh, Michael, what a great article. You've inspired me to write one now. Hotter than fire and brimstone, my heart, mouth, and soul are seething for the injustices going on in our country, especially, today. Oh my! How ashamed I am of our Republican senators and a couple of Dems, too. Imagine what the world thinks of us today!
Every time I think you have reached as deep into our conscious as one could go, you strike even more deeply than before. My parents educated me with our “Washington trip” much as yours did. My respect for our flag, our congress, our military, were cemented in the education we received post WWII. My god Michael, how can we have strayed so far from the kids we were who put our hands across our chests each morning and when we recited the pledge of allegiance we were proud and grateful.
If Biden doesn’t have the strength to lead we will need to find amongst the Democrats a strong armed strong willed leader or our Democracy will suffer a wound so deep our streets will run with the blood of those who stand in the way of freedom.
That leader, be it Biden or someone else had better emerge damn soon.
How can we have strayed so far? Indeed. Indeed.
You won't find him among the career 'men' who have been doing everything necessary to remain in office. If a new dynamic leader is to emerge, it appears it will have to a woman. Elizabeth Warren along with her able and highly motivated former student, Katie Potter, would straighten the path this nation must follow.
I assume you mean my girlfriend, Katie Porter.
She's really not my girlfriend, but I'd like to be her boyfriend.
She's an interesting person to be sure and would make a wonderful companion, but more admirable yet is her spunk, intelligence and orderly mind. I can quickly see the relationship (chemistry) between her and Elizabeth Warren. Can you imagine what that duo could accomplish in the White House? I can dream can't I?
Me, too. I was torn between Senator Warren and my Uncle Bernie. I could go with either.
But if you get any ideas about Katie, I'm in line ahead of you.
I'll keep that in mind. lol.... I tend to go with Elizabeth in any case.
We had and have such a leader, and he continues to do his powerful best. Name of Sanders.
I agree except for the words “strong armed.”
Are white people so fragile and so sick as to support this hate against the people they brought over as slaves? Or are we overwhelmed with disgust at what racism has achieved? We must change the whole system of social life to acknowledge that the worship of power is killing us all.
Well-said.
Jimi Hendrix echoed the prophets:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, there will be peace."
The Judaic prophet Jesus refused worldly power to serve God that we might also.
(Matthew 4:1-11)
But too many refuse to resolve their fear, hate and anger.
"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice;..." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Me, too.
Like Sinema and Manchin:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/15/opinions/mlk-white-moderates-voting-rights-filibuster-ray/index.html
These stories are so important. They're the REAL history. Your Mom was fantastic. That explains a LOT. Here is a story from my family. My aunt joined the WACs in 1942 and was sent to basic training in Alabama. A well-brought up girl from the Bronx, she was on a bus off-base and gave up her seat for an elderly Black lady who'd just gotten on. The bus driver with the help of some ol' boys punched her and threw her off the bus. She was in uniform in wartime, but extreme racism is a much higher calling than patriotism. Thank you for sharing your stories. Can't seem to get the tears to stay out of my eyes.
bless you, David, for your tears and this story!
I was 13 years old the spring that Viola Liuzzo was killed. I remember reading a few days before that she had traveled to Selma to be part of the "freedom" rides. And I desperately wished that I could have gone down there with her. The next thing I knew she had been assassinated. I will never forget Viola. Shout out to your mom too, Michael. She was a Boss! I think she would be SO PROUD of you! What's happening in our country today is that the invisible putrid, festering social cancer has been made more visible. I am hoping and praying for individuals with moral decency and the charismatic, intelligent gift of leading us politically to regain our footing and push onward. and especially the rest of us - continuing to step forward to do the right thing.
This is excellent. Thank you Michael, again, for telling the truth...and in a first person account. Powerful, well written and persuasive, hopefully. I too experienced "the South" in 1960 riding a Greyhound bus from NJ to Florida to visit my mother's sister after her husband, my father died
unexpectedly of a heart attack, when I was sixteen. My mother didn't express the outrage and shock I felt, seeing the white and black waiting rooms and restrooms, never seen before in our Northern NJ experiences. Your mother was brave and principled, and gave you a legacy to be proud of...and inspiration for what you do today. I admire her, and you, for continuing the fight.
It is frightening and horrifying to see where our country seems to be headed, led by ignorance and hatred. May we survive as a country and a people, despite truth and reason being trampled by the ignorance and fear being spread by the "social" media mega companies who care only for profits. Heaven help us. Keep speaking the truth. I will spread this widely. Thank you.
So enjoyed your short story history of the Voting Rights Act. I still can’t believe how many MAGA followers exist in our country today, nor militias. We can thank those miserable Supreme Court Justices for that. If we don’t get this important issue passed during Biden’s term, it will be a colossal shame. Keep doing what you do so well, Mr. Moore.
What a great column! And yes, the departed Mrs. Moore sounds like an amazing and courageous woman--my hat is definitely off to her.
My (white) parents were also involved in Civil Rights--probably as a result of having taught at a Black university in segregated Virginia in the Fifties. My father and a group of his friends, at no small risk to themselves, drove to Alabama to participate in the Selma march in 1965. Fortunately they made it back in one piece but he said that there were some very scary moments. I, too, am glad he is not around to see what is going on now. (He had plenty of choice words about "Chump" before he died in 2017!)
What those two "DINOS" are doing is appalling. And yes, this very morning, I was thinking about how Pres. Johnson would have handled someone like those two. He probably would have made them "an offer they couldn't refuse" and somehow gotten them to step into line. Unfortunately, Mr. Biden seems to lack the capacity to do that--apparently this pair is more afraid of--or enticed by--prevailing forces on the other side than by the leader of their own party. This is a crying shame, and the entire country will suffer for it.
Thanks, Michael, as always, for your insight and passion. I hope that someday this country gets back on the right track again but I'm becoming less optimistic by the day.
I never knew your mother but I LOVE her ! Thank you SO much for writing this, sharing from your past - so many take-aways from this - not the least of which - your mom had you reading the newspaper nightly ! God bless her ..
Prison for the Trumps and their allies. And I'm being kind.
OPEN LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
DEAR SIRS
President Donald Trump, his family and corrupt members of his former Cabinet BELONG IN PRISON.
Trump openly admitted to journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately downplayed COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. The U.S. death count from COVID-19 is now over 717,000 people. Some health experts believe that if Trump had acted immediately, he could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
The Trump Organization, the former president's family business, is facing criminal charges alleging significant tax fraud. Trump has directed some of his former aides to ignore subpoenas from the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And the Trump campaign still owes millions to some cities for expenses they incurred during rallies.
Most of all, Trump incited the violent insurrection in Washington, D.C., in January. People died that day, and serious damage was caused to the U.S. Capitol building.
How can YOU; The U.S. attorney general ignore all of this and not act immediately to place Trump, who I believe to be dangerous, in prison? Why does everyone else have to follow the law, but Trump is still allowed to be in public? Our laws must be followed by everyone, without exception! I believe that Trump should have a life sentence in prison and should never be allowed to run for any office again.
I fear that our democracy will be damaged forever if Trump does not pay for the many, many crimes I believe he has committed in our country..
Charles Roehm
Penn Township
Don't forget the rest of his mob, congressman/women and senators as the all belong in prison as most of our "world leaders". I understand there's plenty of room in sing sing. They can join a chorus and sing sing until they're out of oxygen.
bsts regards
Michael Mayer
Yes Absolutely
IF THE "FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT" IS NOT ALREADY IN PLACE EARLY ENOUGH BEFORE THE MIDTERM ELECTION THIS YEAR THEN REPUBLICANS WILL WIN TOTAL CONTROL OF CONGRESS.
If that happens, Republicans will REVERSE everything that President Biden has accomplished including the "BUILD BACK BETTER ACT" (Should it become law before then) And TRUMP will be back in the white house in 2024.
And because Republicans have passed Anti Voting laws in their favor, they will win in all future elections.
President Biden must lead a massive campaign to ABOLISH THE FILIBUSTER AND PASS THE FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT..
.
THE "FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT" WILL REVERSE ALL REPUBLICANS ANTI VOTING LAWS BUT IT WILL NEVER PASS IF THE FILIBUSTER IS NOT ABOLISHED.
WITHOUT the FREEDOM TO VOTE ACT, Democrats will no longer be able to win elections.
SO FAR Republicans have passed over 400 new anti voting laws in 49 states using false allegations of voter fraud. Making it much harder for people to vote..
THEY are using the FILIBUSTER to continue to block our CIVIL LIBERTIES, including VOTING RIGHTS, HEALTHCARE, VACCINATIONS, ABORTION RIGHTS, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS, ANIMAL RIGHTS, GUN SAFETY, LGBT RIGHTS, SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION, TAXING THE RICH, ETC.
THIS IS NOT DEMOCRACY!!
Nicely Said
Thank you
thanks for trying to raise the consciousness, and help us bend the arc toward justice!