Author: Reggie Jackson

“This land is your land and this land is my land From California to the New York island From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me” Woody Guthrie’s 1944 folk song In light of the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 terrorists attacks, most Americans memories of terrorism are related to that horrific day. I clearly remember that day as if it just happened. There are images and sounds from that day that will never leave my consciousness. However, we as Americans need to be clearly aware of two things....

“White people go around, it seems to me, with a very carefully suppressed terror of Black people,  a tremendous uneasiness. They don’t know what the Black face hides. They’re sure it’s hiding something. What it’s hiding is American history. What it’s hiding is what white people know they have done, and what they like doing. White people know very well one thing; it’s the only thing they have to know. They know this; everything else, they’ll say, is a lie. They know they would not like to be Black here. They know that, and they’re telling me lies. They’re...

This special series by Reggie Jackson explores his journey across four cities in Alabama, to visit historical sites that many are trying to erase from public memory so the disturbing truth about racism, segregation, and White Supremacy can be forgotten. mkeind.com/alabamajourney The plan for this trip had been percolating in my heart and mind for a number of years. I had certain expectations of what I wanted to see and how I wanted to experience those places. In the end, the events of 2020 and 2021 made the trip much more important to me. The racial reckoning that arrived...

This special series by Reggie Jackson explores his journey across four cities in Alabama, to visit historical sites that many are trying to erase from public memory so the disturbing truth about racism, segregation, and White Supremacy can be forgotten. mkeind.com/alabamajourney As I said in yesterday’s column, Tuskegee was a place I was not sure we’d have time to see on out trip. I had mostly written it off as a place to see because of our tight itinerary. I’m glad we stopped there though. Tuskegee is a very small town in the heart of Macon County, Alabama, famous...

This special series by Reggie Jackson explores his journey across four cities in Alabama, to visit historical sites that many are trying to erase from public memory so the disturbing truth about racism, segregation, and White Supremacy can be forgotten. mkeind.com/alabamajourney We continued our journey down Highway 80 over 50 miles to Montgomery from Selma, following in the footsteps of those who marched against voting restrictions in the South. This part of the journey culminated in seeing two places that I had anxiously wanted to see for many years. Several years ago when I met attorney Bryan Stevenson, I...

This special series by Reggie Jackson explores his journey across four cities in Alabama, to visit historical sites that many are trying to erase from public memory so the disturbing truth about racism, segregation, and White Supremacy can be forgotten. mkeind.com/alabamajourney Dr. King’s right hand man, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy described Selma, Alabama as the “Capital of the Black Belt.” Back in the 1950s and 60s it was the home of Selma University and Lutheran University which drew some of the youngest and brightest minds from the Black community and became a major intellectual and cultural center. Whites from...