On Memorial Day we think of those that served in the Armed Forces and died for the freedom that all of us in the United States enjoy today. But there are others that fought for freedom and an equal right to vote who also lost their lives. These “freedoms” did not exist in the South before 1965.
Thinking about the influence of family and role models inspired me to “finally” publish a post that I’ve been working on for a while called “Selma and the Transformation of a Segregationist”. My father’s second cousin was Gov LeRoy Collins of Florida. Gov Collins was Florida’s 15th governor but he is probably best known for his stance on Civil Rights during a period of great racial unrest in the South during the 60s.
Given the riots that we are witnessing from Ferguson to Baltimore, I began to read about Selma and the courageous stance that was taken by many Americans and those that died fighting for civil rights.