Here's What The Big Deal Was About At That Bridge In Alabama This Weekend. I Told You About It 8 Years Ago.

Original Blogpost Airdate : January 15, 2007

Free At Last, They Took Your Life. They Could Not Take Your Pride.

At the danger of repeating myself, damn you used to come up with the best lines Bono. Used to.

In case you're wondering why there's no mail today, I'll tell you a little story that might go a ways towards explaining:

In 1965, some smart people in Selma, Alabama noticed something. Only around half of the people in their town were registered to vote, and it seemed that most of those that weren't were black folks. As smart as they were they couldn't seem to figure out why. They all knew Ninety-five years earlier these words were put into the United States Constitution, which meant there was no way the black folks could possibly be being kept from voting on purpose:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

"Maybe it's some sort of typo", some thought. Others said that maybe no one bothered to tell the crackers in the state capital of Montgomery that these words had been put in the document that is the supreme law of this country. They knew the crackers weren't very smart, so maybe no one had bothered to explain to the crackers what the big words in the 15th Amendment actually meant. They decided to walk over to Montgomery to ask the crackers what was up. Here's what happened:





The man in the light coat on the ground is John Lewis. The cops were so jealous of how smart he was they fractured his skull trying to get a look at his brain. Later that year Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which told the not so bright crackers in language they could understand that they had to let black folks vote. The end of the Voting Rights Act Reads:

"P.S. -We mean it this time. Seriously."

There's one more picture I want you to see that will tell you how the story ended. Take a look:



That's Congressman John Lewis getting sworn in this month to his 10th term by Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi. That's right my friends, today the Drugmonkey actually told you a story with a happy ending. May you remember it long after the bills resume their flight to your mailbox.