Friday, February 8, 2008

Attendees from Class of 1964

I am getting close to the end of the class list. Today’s list from the class of 1964 is next to the last class to be published. But believe me it is just as important as the first because the following individuals were a member of that class: Willie O. Brown, Henry Harris, Wiley F. Jones, Charlie S. Parker, Lillian B. Townsend, Gladys Z. Vaughn, and Harper B. Wilson. Two from Michigan and five from Mississippi. What was happening in Michigan and Mississippi in 1964? In Michigan, Ford rolled out the first Mustang and Malcolm X delivered his "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech. In Mississippi, the civil rights movement suffered some of its worst blows: Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were murdered and Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore were beaten to death in Meadville. But there were positive strives also: the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party registered more than 60,000 voters and sends its own delegation to the Democratic National Convention. Fannie Lou Hamer made a passionate pitch for inclusion at the convention. The delegation was not seated but their presence and argument had a lasting impact of politics. Where is the rest of the class of 1964?

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