'The Good Crazies'

When Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (LINK), I emailed all on my list: “Keep an eye on this guy: he’s going places!”

On Sunday, I watched C-SPAN and CNN coverage of the 42nd anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march. A dark day in our nation’s history - “Bloody Sunday” – resulted when then Alabama Governor George Wallace ordered state troopers to beat back the marchers with teargas and batons. But, they kept marching, their ranks swelling to more than 20,000 as many joined along the way. (History of the march: LINK)

Barack Obama’s address to the Brown Chapel congregation evoked for me images of great orators past.

How can Hillary top this? I asked myself – head and heart filling with Obama’s passion.

But, at nearby First Baptist Church, Hillary held her own, her every sentence punctuated with applause. (Beyond the soundbites of both speeches: LINK)

Back at the Chapel, Obama prefaced his speech by commenting that he really didn’t want to thank Dr. Lowery, because “he stole the show.”

And steal the show he did.

Dr. Joseph Lowery was appointed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as head of the delegation on that march determined to deliver voting rights demands to Gov. Wallace.

On Sunday, he told the crowd at the Chapel he could have made other plans, but he “wanted to be here with the crazies.”

“When Ebony magazine named Joseph Lowery one of the nation’s 15 greatest black preachers, they described him as ‘the consummate voice of biblical social relevancy, a focused voice, speaking truth to power.’ When the NAACP gave him an award at its 1997 convention, he was called the ‘dean of the civil rights movement.’ He is a co-founder with Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and served as president and chief executive officer from 1977 to January 15, 1998.” More on Dr. Lowery: LINK

Lowery had recently had a medical checkup where his son-in-law, a physician, explained about good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.

Using the analogy, he said people who have left their mark on history could be divided into “the good crazies” and “the bad crazies.”

He then named many who fought untiringly, often giving their lives, for civil liberties and were, in their time, labeled “crazy.”

These were “the good crazies,” Lowery told the laughing and cheering crowd.

Many on the Selma-to-Montgomery march – “good crazies” – are dead now. Some were in the congregations of the two churches.

As with fighters for human freedom throughout history, this country owes much to those marchers in those dark days.

Such sacrifices have paved the way for the possibility of a first African-American president. A first Hispanic president. A first female president.

As both Clinton and Obama pointed out, the “march” to ensure and preserve civil liberties and equality continues today.

It begins with the first step.

Postscript:

George Wallace personally apologized to Joseph Lowery in 1995 as the civil rights leader led the 30th anniversary re-enactment of the march.