The Isaac Woodard Story

Isaac Woodard

I believe in peaceful dialog instead of fighting and yelling.  I want to see progress towards a peaceful settlement.  I can’t always have what I want but this is what I prefer.  People sacrifice their lives for a cause because it something they believe in.  They expect certain consequences and in the process will always be remembered.  Some innocent people have given up their lives due to other people bizarre behavior.  They happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  All of us can vouch for this.  We might not have been through some extreme circumstances but we have witnessed those unforgettable occasions.  Then, there are some innocent people who simply mind their own business and become victims of another person’s hostility.  I don’t want those innocent people to be forgotten.  Isaac Woodard lost his eyesight because of racial hatred.  I can't seem to find more information on Sheriff Shull. Despite the differences that our skin complexions are different, the major barriers between the races are what we believe and think.

In February, 1946, a black soldier named Isaac Woodard, was on his way home to South Carolina.  He had just been discharged out of the Army. At a stop along the way, Woodard had a verbal altercation with the driver over permission to use the restroom.  After using the restroom, he returned to his seat without incident. At Batesburg, the next stop, the diver contacted Sheriff Linwood Shull, who forcibly removed Woodard from the bus.  After demanding to see his discharge papers, a group of officers took Woodard, still in uniform, to a nearby alleyway and beat him with nightsticks. He was then taken to jail and arrested for disorderly conduct.  Overnight, more beatings and jabs in the face with a nightstick resulted in both of Woodard’s eyes being ruptured, and the onset of partial amnesia.  The next day, Woodard was brought before a local judge, found guilty and fined fifty dollars. Not knowing where he was and still suffering from amnesia, Woodard ended up in a nearby hospital receiving substandard care.  It took his family ten days to find him.  The story eventually reached the ears of President Truman, who angrily demanded that the Attorney General take action.  The resulting trial of Sheriff Shull, who admitted he had blinded Woodard, was a shameful failure, resulting in the courtroom breaking into applause when Shull was acquitted after 30 minutes of deliberation. The Blinding of Isaac Woodard – Woody Guthrie.  Isaac Woodard was born March 18, 1919, in Fairfield County, South Carolina.  He died September 23, 1992, in the Bronx, New York.  

Here is a link to Isaac Woodard in his own words.

Prior to this event, another horrible incident took place. On July 16, 1943, an African American soldier was on his way home to LaGrange, Georgia to visit his wife and infant. He was traveling by bus from Charleston, South Carolina which made a stop in Augusta, Georgia. He got off to stretch his legs and as soon as he took his seat again the driver told him to get off without giving him an explanation. The soldier proceeded to the driver what the problem was and the driver replied by telling him “for blowing your top you will be leaving on the next bus at one-fifteen in the morning.” At that point two military policemen walked up and he asked one why he could not ride on that particular bus. One responded in a nice manner and the other insultingly. The officer who responded rudely replied to his comrade, “you let a nigger talk to you like that,” and told the soldier if he didn’t like the way things were then, he would send him back to Charleston and he ought to arrest him.

The postwar era was characterized by a total lack of response to the needs of Black Americans from the legislative branch of government. President Truman, however, was angry over the treatment of black Americans, particularly war veterans, and although his commitment to civil rights was tempered somewhat by political necessity, several milestones were achieved during his administration.  On December 5, 1946, Truman established by executive order the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. The committee was instructed to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens. Truman became the first president to address the NAACP, at the Lincoln Memorial on July 29, 1947.  On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued ExecutiveOrder 9981, banning segregation of the armed forces.  Senior military officials protested but the Korean War prompted the integration of combat units, without the predicted loss of combat effectiveness.

Here are some links to the newspapers at the time.  Each newspaper has its own spin.

http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/amyers/lighthouse.html Local Black Newspaper

http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/amyers/recordnov.html Local White Newspaper

  

If you are interested in reading more about Black Americans in the Military, read Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military by Bernard C. Nalty.  Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story Of The 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s Forgotten Heroes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton.

 Sources:   History Engine – Tools for Collaborative Education and Research

                 Civil Rights in The Postwar Era: 1946-1953 

"Already Done" - Margaret P. Douroux & The Heritage Mass Choir!

Faith can change things!  But it changes the believer most of all! Glory to God!  We all are going through struggles and when we look back, we wondered how did we get through!  Nobody but God brought us through!

The Verdict Is In – Not Guilty!

What did you expect?  Too many factors, too many biases, too many opinions shaped this trial of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman from the beginning.  The trial seemed to me that the victim was the oppressor and the oppressor was the victim.  Isn't that the current culture we seemed to be facing?  Minorities despite where you live and how they are dressed are still considered threats to society. It doesn't matter if you hold the title of President of the United States, as a minority you are a threat to the very life of this nation!  This is another polarizing trial meant to maintain the country’s segregation of the races.

It’s time we faced the racial separation in this country and have a candid, honest talk about it.  I don’t care if you married across racial lines; I don’t want to hear you say that you married one of the good ones. A segment of any population can cause stereotypes.  The penal system might house a majority of minority population, but for what reasons?  White collar crimes suffer less time and punishment than being arrested for carrying 2 joints and/or a nickel bag.

Why are we running away from a national racial discussion?  Zimmerman said that “they always get away.”  Well, Trayvon didn’t.  How many non-minorities walked that neighborhood and were never considered to me a threat to Zimmerman?  How many got away?  Zimmerman was not held accountable.

They are some complex variables that are working behind the scenes and the voters are not noticing until it’s too late.  Haven’t you noticed Congress’ actions that they are not listening to the voices of America.  They are only paying attention to the constituents in their district because they reapportioned (gerrymandered) the lines that support ultra-conservative viewpoints.  Don’t ask how they got away with it, they did it in full view while many apathetic voters sat at home.  You don’t vote, you don’t have a say.  There is a push to change laws back to the old days such as changing Voting Laws.  Reform the Immigration law but in the process let’s keep them from being a part of America until hidden agendas are obtained.  Look at how the Ultra-cons are treating women and their rights now.  What is going on?

Look at this way.  The devil knows that his time is short but his aim is to kill and destroy.  If you leave the door open to your heart.  He will enter, tear it to shreds, and have you believe that it was the right thing to do.  You didn’t do anything to stop him, slow him down, or looked to God for help.  Now that everything is turned upside down, you are still wondering what happened.  We went to sleep while the devil never sleeps.

We are directing our anger at the wrong people.  Has anyone paid attention to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)?  ALEC is an American organization composed of legislators, businesses, and foundations which produces model legislation for state legislatures and promotes free-markets, limited government, and federalism at the state level.  In other words, these groups support states sovereignty.  Give power back to the states, keep the government out an let the state make the laws.  We are already seeing the effects.  It’s amazing that the many of the members of ALEC are the same businesses that we consumers support everyday. Examples, AOL, AT&T, BP, Charter Communications, DirecTV, Dow Chemical, DuPont, EBay, Fedex, Koch Industries, Taser International, Time Warner, UPS, Verizon, Visa and a large list of people we do business with and laugh at us after they got the money.

For decades, ALEC has been a conduit for the oil, tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries to push legislation that changes the rules to limit accountability when a corporation’s products or actions cause injury or death -such as when a Koch Industries pipeline explodes and kills teenagers, or when the tobacco or pharmaceutical industries withhold evidence that their products are dangerous.

Cooler heads most prevail.  We must look at the overall picture and not let tunnel vision act out our emotions.  Diversion and distraction are a few common methods used by the media to cause or maintain confusion.  They are designed to misinform and keep the people off balance even to the point of polarization.  Race is always a hot topic, it provokes deep-seated emotions and arguments but not enough for all us to sit down and discuss.  We can get too sensitive sometimes, but it’s better to talk about our differences and understand each other.  

If the media truly cared what is happening among races in America, it will also write about possible solutions, it would cover more on the homicides in Detroit and Chicago.  From January 1^st to the 4^th of July 2013, 200 homicides have taken place.  In 2012, there were an overall number of 500 shootings.  I question if the media is concerned at all about black on black crimes when there seems to more interest in the racial aspect of the crime.  

We Americans can use this upsetting moment to be respectful of Trayvon's parents by not destroying or offending anyone.  We can do something to show unity in our struggle for equity and equality.  We must vote not only in the primaries but get out there for the midterms.  If the states want IDs and voter registrations, let's get them.  Let's show these politicians that they can not continue to use us or ignore us.  Let's exercise our civil right to vote!

Chrisette Michele – A Couple Of Forevers!

Happy Birthday, 14th Amendment! (Ratified July 9, 1868)

The 14th Amendment, now 145 Years Old, was the second of three Reconstruction Amendments passed in the years following the Civil War. The 13th banned slavery, and the 15th prohibits denying the right to vote based on race.  The 14th Amendment resolved the legal status of former slaves–it granted them citizenship and “equal protection of the laws.” Today, the 14th Amendment is referenced frequently in court cases making claims for legal equality.

XIV AMENDMENT

SECTION 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SECTION 2.

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.

SECTION 3.

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

SECTION 4.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

SECTION 5.

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Happy Fourth of July, America!

Have a blessed and safe holiday!

Who was Sarah Mae Flemming?

Too many of Columbia’s pivotal moments and landmark decisions have been forgotten. Even more stories have never been heard. A complete rendering of South Carolina's Civil Rights Movement and its dramatic impact on the quest for democracy and social justice does not exist.

In Columbia, South Carolina's capital city, courageous student activists, attorneys, and civil rights organizations waged a tenacious campaign to transform our community. Facing stiff opposition, these freedom fighters took action and forever changed a city, state, and nation.

Keep in mind that there are good and mislead people in all races.  We do not fault the whole because of a part.  Remember the rain falls on everyone, even if you have an umbrella, and the sun shines on us all.  Do your best not to carry ill-feelings towards one another.

An unknown heroine, lost in obscurity, like so many others, was returned to the forefront recently. Sarah Mae Flemming Brown (June 28, 1933-June 16, 1993), an African American woman was expelled from a bus in Columbia, South Carolina, seventeen months before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955. Flemming's lawsuit against the bus company played an important role later in the Parks case. But it never received the press that it deserved.

On June 22, 1954, Flemming boarded a bus to go to work. She took the only empty seat, which she believed began the rows in which black riders were allowed to sit. The bus driver, challenged and humiliated her. The kind and caring house worker signaled to get off at the next stop. The bus driver blocked her attempt to exit through the front of the bus and punched her in the stomach as he ordered her out the rear door. Considering how packed the back of the bus was, the easiest exit was through the front door. But, I suppose the bus driver felt that most domestics are to enter and leave through the back doors on buses like they did in the homes they took care of, including the children. It was unfortunate that medical records associated with this assault were not found.

Local civil rights activists heard of ordeal and enlisted attorney Phillip Wittenberg, a white attorney in Columbia, to represent her. Flemming v. South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE and G) was filed on July 21, 1954 in U.S. District Court. The allegation was that Flemming's Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection had been violated. On February 16, 1955, Federal District Judge George Bell Timmerman, Sr. dismissed the case. 

His son, George Bell Timmerman, Jr., became the 105th governor of South Carolina from 1955 to 1959. He governed the Statehouse in a time of profound and painful social change after the Supreme Court's ruling in 1954 declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Mr. Timmerman fought the changes brought by the decision as a defender of what he called "the integrity of the races" and "our customs and institutions."  He took office as the state's last segregationist Governor, urging Congress to limit the authority of the United States Supreme Court. He regarded Northern insistence on racial integration as hypocritical. He continued his father’s practices of maintaining segregation through any means necessary.  He wanted to keep African-Americans separated and no where close to being equal.

Ms. Flemming appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and her case was argued on June 21, 1955. The Fourth Circuit reversed Judge Timmerman on July 14, 1955 and "remanded the case for further proceedings."

SCE and G appealed the decision of the Appeals Court. On April 23, 1956, the United States Supreme Court dismissed SCE and G’s appeal, and on June 13, 1956, Judge Timmerman dismissed the case once again. Due to imtimidations, threats, and cross-burnings, Mr. Wittenberg decided not to handle a second appeal and turned the case over to Thurgood Marshall and Robert Carter of the NAACP.  He later moved out of Columbia.  For the third trial, Lincoln Jenkins, Jr. and Matthew J. Perry represented Ms. Flemming and the jury quickly found in the bus company's favor, SCE and G. By that time, the Montgomery bus boycott and the decision in Browder v. Gayle had been rendered, so a third appeal was not filed. Let’s note that this case was heard before a three-judge panel in Montgomery Alabama, not before one judge. That court ruled on June 13, 1956, that bus segregation was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment protections for equal treatment

During her legal case, Sarah Mae Flemming married John Brown of Gaston County, North Carolina. The couple had three children. Sarah Mae Flemming Brown died of a heart attack brought on by diabetes on June 16, 1993, just before her 60th birthday. She was buried in the Goodwill Baptist Church cemetery in Eastover, South Carolina.

In 2005, a documentary titled Before Rosa: The Unsung Contribution Of Sarah Mae Flemming aired on PBS stations across the United States.

Mrs. Flemming vowed to never ride on SCE and G buses after the lawsuit and she never did. We should find ways to respect our unsung heroes and heroines but do so that they will never be forgotten.  Here's another link from civil rights activists in 2005 acknowledging Ms. Flemming to Congress James Clyburn.

Twisted - A Part Of Things

So many twists and turns we take in this journey called life.

We are bound together in this short time through

experiences, loves, and betrayals brought on by deceptions.

The words we say don’t always match

the actions that we mean.

These living cells that made us are temporary

and our abused pasts

don’t always release the anger and bitterness.

The opportunity crossing paths are God-given

and should be cherished.

When we part,

let’s accept that at one time in our lives,

we were bound together for that specific moment.

We only withstood the trials, tests, and storms

because our ties were three-cord strong.

But always in the end,

it is life that will separate us.

Even then don’t let go of the pleasant memories.

A Part of Things ©

The Learning Circle

Brother G. Peralta shared some wisdom and charts with me and I want to pass it on!  For each defining-moment event that happens in our lives, whether good or bad, we need to look it as our learning circles.  Over time, these moments should resemble an open slinky.  There are many coils in the slinky but they are all attached and still able to attain unique shapes.  Certainly, our character defines the type of person we are.

Observe the moment, reflect on it, discuss it with confidants, ask God what was His will and what should you do to bring out His glory.  Plan what you need to do to resolve, rectify, or recuperate, hold yourself accountable, seek affirmation from your confidants, and act.  Do not observe and act, over reaction could cause bigger issues.  Split the circle in half, repent if necessary after observing, reflecting, and discussing.  On the opposite side, believe from your question, plans, accountability acceptance, and act accordingly.

Thanks, Brother G!  The learning circle works for all defining moments if used correctly.  I know that I will use it.  Understand that Brother G, is using Jesus Christ as his spiritual guide.  Many of us are doing the same.