HAUSMAN

“Folks are going crazy out there, setting fires, breaking wind ow s, and acting out their anger,” he said.

Bar ricades we re set up to better c ontrol the may hem and prevent people from entering or leaving the area. The violence and outbursts we re understandable, but oh so ter rifying for the children, F lorence, and myself.

F lorence and I we re able to reach the f amilies of all but two of the children. We assured them we would care fo r them. F lorence had an idea to calm the children and ke them saf e, e them to her home to feed them and im in her pool. fered to get us out, but initially some of the children balked at going with , confiding in us that them. our amazement, my ty suddenly and iraculously appeared at the school. Wi th police escor t we piled the children into both Mar ty ’s station wagon and F lorence’s ca r, and tr aveled to the safety and calm of her home. Fo r the most pa rt , although it was a cool April evening, the children we re delighted , sw i mming in their underclothes and being blanket-wrapped for their suppe r. It seemed they had forgotten the chaos left behind. By a belated bedtime, the children were safely home, and we could finally come up for a breath of air!

T he only other time I remember being this frightened was when Mar ty and I went to Selma to march for voting rights. This peaceful group of protesters was led by a young 25-year- old, John Lewis. Unfor tunately, Mar ty and I felt we needed to leave the march when we saw the rapid build-up of a militi a closing in around the peaceful marcher s. Some of these heroic folks wh o staye d to march we re seve rely injure d … all in the name of voting rights. That infamous day of March 7, 1965 came to be known as “Bloody Sund ay.” The onl y “good” resulting from this hor rific day of sacrifice was the eventual enactment of the Voting Rights Act wh ich passed unanimously in Cong ress.

Now, here we are in 2023, and we are again fighting for the right of all citiz ens to vote without harassment. President B iden has urged deaf-eared Re publicans to abide by wh at is provided in our Constitution — the right to vote in free, fair, and unobstructed elections

To our Cong ress, please allow for wise c ounsel and suppo rt the rights due all of us in this democra cy to pursue freedom.

May there be no need to have a designated day for racial healing! In truth we need racial healing every day.