8/23/2013 MLK 50 - SCLC and Rainbow Push Convention on Poverty - The night I prayed with Reverend Jesse Jackson

I arrived to the introduction of Reverend Jessee Jackson.  I took a seat in the very front. He began by telling a story of the last meeting with Dr. King before the March.  The message he said was he was tired and had a migraine and felt like he couldn't go on.  That his own friends were rallying against him. He continued to talk about the reason for the March on Washington was for Legislative Action and that today 50 years later we shouldn't be marching in memory and nostalgia - we should be demanding legislation for the 15th amendment to be explicit in its right to vote.  He spoke about how President Carter who monitors elections worldwide can't monitor our own elections because there are different rules in  every state.  He said you can ref a basketball game in Chicago or L.A. to the same rules.  But you can't vote with the same rules.
The panel which included 4 congressmen and women from the national black Caucus including Rep John Conyers all conveyed their understanding of the meaning of it being 50 years since and that the fight continues.  There was lots of talk about voting rights in Texas and Nevada and other states in light of the recent supreme court ruling now taking back on the progress that has been made.  Rep Jackson was adamant about the idea that because black people turned out in such high numbers and so did Latinos for the President Obama that gerrymandering and new voting rules are attempting to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands.

I was sitting next to Jineea Butler- hall of fame basketball player from New Jersey Long Beach College who is making a difference everyday by innovating and blazing her own path.  She has started a we discussed both being coaches and also having a similar mission for STEM education.  We plan on reconnecting.

I talked to Darnell Moore whose poetry has been highlighted by President Obama he is a writer, teacher, activist who writes for feminist magazine among many other.  We spoke about teaching and about feminism. He asked me to write about WOMEN IN STEM for his publication.  Or did I ask him?

I spoke to Allen Shae who had just met with Mark Cuban for his 5 different inventions.

Lastly I asked Rep John Conyers the founding member and dean of the CBC congressional black caucus.

Reverend Jackson closed the evening with a prayer for the people who lost their life in the struggle. People like .....