Katrina Relief: 21st Century Civil Rights Movement
Thursday, July 26, 2007
NEW ORLEANS, Saturday 28 April (Johnson far left, Rev. S.L. Harvey, Rev. Jesse Jackson far right) Photo Credit: Blanket New Orleans, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
It was an honor to march 3 miles side by side with the Reverend S.L. Harvey (82 years old), a seminal civil rights activist who was instrumental in orchestrating the election of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Along the route from Frederick Douglass High School to the location of the breached levee in the Lower 9, Rev. Harvey shared with me some of the lessons he learned along the way as a partner with Dr. King in the fight for civil rights. Most memorably, Rev. Harvey said: “stay in the fight and don’t compromise what you believe in.”
Additionally, 2,000 people were led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial for the “Right to Return, Right To Reconstruction, Right to Rebuild” march and rally. I was grateful for the opportunity to address the rally and to share my thoughts about the need for greater self-sacrifice from every American and citizen of the World to help rebuild a truly unique city.
