Episode 2354: Reverend Clarence Varner ~ Youth Marcher, Vietnam Veteran talks bout the Impact TODAY on Voter's Rights since Historical Selma to Montgomery Marches

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Nat'l Media , Historic Event, Dr. Martin Luther Kings Foot Soldiers were many times KIDS

I am BOTH a Northerner & present Washingtonian who was born after the Historic Marches for My Civil Rights to Vote, Education, Public Accommodations,, Transportation & Employment. I have  only READ about the Civil Rights Movement & marches. I truly appreciate those that sacrificed their own lives for my Rights to a Better Life.

Major Media Nationally & Internationally  covered in the Marches. Citizens & Celebrities also participated:
Joan Baez, James Baldwin, Ina Balin, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billy Eckstein, Dick Gregory, Lena Home, Mahalia Jackson, Alan King, William Marshall, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Laine, Gary Merrill, Julius "Nipsey" Russelll, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone, Susan Sarandon, Pernell Roberts, Odetta, Peter,Paul & Mary....

My Guest is the Reverend Clarence Varner who was in Grade School when he joined the Marches for Civil Rights in the 1960's. Although it cost Him is Part-Time Job while a Teenager, He held on to his Beliefs to Stay in the Fight, even getting Arrested Several times & Tear Gassed, Cattle Prod Shocked, Attack Dogs & Fire Hosed because he stood with others to Petition the the Governor for the Right for Blacks to Vote.

Reverend Varner's Opinion's Personal, Political he States are HIS Own based on his life Experiences.

Rev. Clarence Varner served  The United States in the Marine Corps for 8 years & served in during Vietnam during the War , he was wounded. Today he serves his God,  Country & Community in the continued fight for Civil Rights.

There were many people who participated at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King

*In 1965, Blacks could not: 

*go to eat AT McDonald's or any fast food , Dine In Eatery, Blacks were served at the Side or Back Door.
*Social Movie Theatres, & Clubs too
*Schools in the South & other State were Segregated
*Housing was Segregated in Much of America. Redlining was the norm.
* Thriving Middle Class Black Business's in Black Communities were forced out of Business due to the Federal Highway's that were built OVER that land.
* Separate water Fountains & Bathrooms
*Separate Transportation on Buses & Trains, etc.
* Upper Corporate Jobs were not opened to most Blacks

There were THREE Marches across the Edmund Pettis Bridge to get to the State Capitol of Montgomery, The fist TWO times, Marchers were turned away  by valence's by State Troopers or Locals. The Marches were ignited by the Death of SCLC local Jimmie Lee Jackson

What did Jimmie Lee Jackson accomplish?

Jimmie Lee Jackson, was a Vietnam veteran, Baptist deacon, activist and martyr of the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson, active in the fight for equal rights, had tried multiple times to register to vote in Alabama and was denied each time.

When Jimmie Lee Jackson saw his frail 80-year-old grandfather rudely turned away from the registrar’s office in 1962 after attempting to register to vote in Marion, Ala., the young man became angry. He knew he had to join the civil rights movement.

On Feb. 18, 1965, he was among more than 200 people participating in a night march in Marion. Before they had walked a block, they were confronted by state troopers and the police chief, who ordered them to disperse.

The marchers halted at the chief’s order, and suddenly all the streetlights on the square went out. A black minister at the head of the march knelt to pray and was struck on the head by a trooper. Other troopers began swinging their clubs, and the marchers panicked, running for cover.

Jackson and his mother huddled for safety in a café. When Jackson’s grandfather entered the café bloodied and beaten, the young man tried to take him to a hospital. But they were quickly shoved back by a crowd of club-swinging troopers and terrified marchers.

The troopers began knocking out the café lights with their clubs and beating people. Jackson saw a trooper strike his mother, and he lunged for the man. He was clubbed across the face and slammed him into a cigarette machine. Another trooper pulled his pistol and shot Jackson in the stomach. It was two hours before Jackson arrived at the hospital in Selma. He died eight days later.

Forty-five years later, former trooper James Bonard Fowler pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to six months in jail but was released early due to poor health. Fowler claimed he shot Jackson in self-defense.

At one of two services for Jackson, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told a crowd of 2,000: “Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly to make the American dream a reality. His death must prove that unmerited suffering does not go unredeemed.”

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