[Think Black] “Hands That Once Picked Cotton & Primed Tobacco”

Black History Month forces us to think Black. Like so many in the past, the month is filled with important events that are not so recognized at the time of their occurrence. Climbing into the “way back time machine” and transporting back a short period in our nation’s history brings us to one of those times.  

It was February 10, 1984, and Rev. Jesse Jackson of Operation Push fame, Chicago community organizer and assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, was running in the Democratic Presidential Primary against the likes of Ohio Senator John Glenn and Former Vice President Walter Mondale.  Jackson was in Alabama and in a rousing speech said “hands that once picked cotton, will now pick a President.”   

Always a man ahead of his time who was a master advocate and organizer for the needy ultimately proved correct.  On February 10, 2007, twenty-three years later Chicago community organizer and newly minted Illinois Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency.  It was something about Chicago community organizers and presidential campaigns that seemed to always converge.  But before these moments of inspiration and final triumph were the years of terror and sacrifice by citizens yearning to be free and accepted.    

During the sixties, there were so many episodes of hate and brutality as were the many years before, but television was now able to spread the images far and wide. The horrific images often repeated such as the home of Medgar Evers in Jackson Mississippi on June 12, 1963, where he was killed by a sniper,  The Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, where Congressman John Lewis was beaten, the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis Tennessee where Dr. Martin Luther King was killed on April 4, 1968.  The Poor People’s March on Washington May – June 1968.

One of note is US Rep. Eva Clayton, having graduated from an HBCU (Johnson C. Smith University) and becoming North Carolina’s first Black congressperson since reconstruction.  She served five terms in the US House of Representatives and then became Assistant Director-General of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization based in Rome, Italy.  

These were times of deadly actions against US citizens who were Black.  Yet there was little to no support, cover, or assistance from local and state law enforcement officials to protect these citizens.  Know that by no means did I dare to list all the significant, important, or memorable episodes of civil rights, but encourage you to seek out all information possible to educate yourself and your family.  

You must know what struggle advocates like Medgar Evers, Dr. King, and Jesse Jackson fought and their commitment in many instances till death they held.  It could be rightfully said that Rosa Parks helped set off the struggle during that period with the Montgomery bus protest and boycott and later Fannie Lou Hammer’s advocacy for the right to vote at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, where she said “I’m tired of being sick and tired” encapsulating the feelings of Black across America as regards political participation.   

What a foundation of studs and beams of dedicated humanity, wisdom, and courage for us to build on.  They invested and had faith in the future and we have reaped some benefits, Three Black US Senators, one Black President, and Vice President, and numerous US Representatives.

But we can’t forget our state heroes and sheroes who came through that same period and carried on thereafter.  One of note is US Rep. Eva Clayton, having graduated from an HBCU (Johnson C. Smith University) and becoming North Carolina’s first Black congressperson since reconstruction.  She served five terms in the US House of Representatives and then became Assistant Director-General of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization based in Rome, Italy.  

She is a case study in perseverance and determination and an inspiration for those who truly aspire to PUBLIC service.  Find your motivation in the life story of Black Americans this month who made America great despite the resistance.  

Let us know who we should recognize for their efforts in the voting rights and redistricting struggles we are experiencing.

__________________________________________________

Attorney Larry D. Hall served as Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs under Gov. Roy Cooper from 2017 through January 2021. In the NC House of Representatives as the member from NC’s 29th House district (Durham), Hall served from 2006 through 2017. Secretary Hall earned a B.S. with Honors in Political Science and Business from Johnson C. Smith University and a J.D. from the School of Law at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon undergrad graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the US Marine Corps. A decorated officer, Secretary Hall served 16 years in the Marines and Marine Corps Reserves and served in the support of the Operations in the Middle East in Lebanon and Iran. He is currently the Deputy Industrial Commissioner at the NC Department of Insurance.