By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Tuesday, December 1, former Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, will make her second campaign stop in Alabama, this time to headline the National Bar Association’s 60th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott’s Commemoration Tour.
Mrs. Clinton will speak at a public event titled, “The Role Lawyers Played in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement.” Hillary Clinton will speak at 12:00 noon at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, 454 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104
Prior to the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, it was illegal in Alabama for a Black person to sit in front of a White person on a bus. Then then Secretary of the Montgomery NAACP Chapter, Rosa Parks (then age 43) was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus so a White man could have her seat. Outrage led to tens of thousands of African Americans boycotting the bus service in Montgomery and sparked the Civil Rights Movement which ultimately led to the end of state segregation laws in housing, voting, construction, employment, etc. The boycott ultimately led to the US Supreme Court ordered the full integration of the Montgomery bus system.
Secretary Clinton visited Alabama in October when she was in Hoover to speak at the Alabama Democratic Conference convention on voting rights.
On Tuesday, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) announced that it would be endorsing Clinton for President. The union said it made the decision after polling the membership and a vote by the union’s executive board. Union President Terry O’Sullivan said in a statement, “LIUNA members are deeply concerned about the direction of our country and are looking for a real leader who will create good jobs, rebuild our country, and grow our economy. Secretary Clinton’s record proves that she is a tough and tested fighter for our nation and for working men and women.” Most union endorsements have gone to Secretary Clinton to this point.
On Tuesday, Clinton called for an intensification of the war against ISIS with more air strikes, “We must end their murderous reign and prevent them from not only continuing to wreak havoc, terror and violence in the area where they are operating, but export it.” Clinton did say that she was not for sending 100,000 ground troops to the Middle East.
The National Bar Association was founded in 1925 and is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 60,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students. The NBA is organized around 23 substantive law sections, 9 divisions, 12 regions and 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world. For more information, visit their website: www.nationalbar.org
The other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for President are US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).
