| SELMAPOSTHERALD.COM |
Selma, Ala.- Sunday March 4, 2012 before the commemoration of Bloody Sunday Brown Chapel A.M.E.
Church was host to a delegation with Faith and Politics attending the regular Sunday morning worship
services that featured musical selections by the Boys Choir of Tallahassee and a sermon by the
Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lisa P. Jackson who is also an A.M.E. After
greetings from Congresswoman Teri Sewell, Mayor George Evans and Jesse Jackson Congressman John
Lewis introduced Mrs. Jackson. She used the first chapter of the book of Joshua as her scriptural reference
and reflected on when President Barack O’Bama was in the same pulpit in 2007 before he became
President and referred to this generation as the “Joshua Generation” After quoting a few passages she
expressed her gratitude to the Lord “Today I am grateful beyond words to be in such a sanctified, holy and
historic place.” She spoke about how her generation is mindful of the sacrifices of the generation before did
and how they take seriously the responsibility of carrying the torch from that generation and living up to their
standards. She went on to talk about “walks”. “It’s a beautiful day for walking and I want to reflect on some of
the places I’ve walked”. Jackson said she was three years old when people gathered in Selma standing for
her rights, “As they were standing across the bridge I was just learning to walk” She said she was just a few
months old when James Meredith tried to gain admittance to the University of Mississippi and one year old
when the black students were admitted to the University of Alabama. She said growing up in Louisiana her
parents watched the events unfold on television and in the news and knew the foundation was being laid for
her to be able to go to college, She said she couldn’t remember watching the I Have A Dream speech but
feels like she can because her mother still talks about it like it was yesterday and how the whole
neighborhood watched it and talked about it at each others homes and as she got older her and her
brother would watch the speech every August 28, the anniversary of the march on Washington. She
remembered her first day at school and thought it was “cool” that police officers were there to escort her not
realizing that desegregation was taking place. “I was too young, too naïve and too blessed to realize they
were there because of the threat of violence.” Jackson said she was six years old when Dr. King was
assassinated and could not remember her parents being more shocked and frightened. As an adult Mrs.
Jackson says she reflects on the sacrifices people made in order for her to be able to attend a university
and get a good job. She said one of her earliest dreams was to work for the post office because her father
was a mailman and he was one of the first examples she saw of what it meant to be a public servant. “So his
steps, my dad’s footsteps were some of the first I ever wanted to walk in”. She said that now she sits in the
office of the Postmaster General of the United States in Washington to which she received a long applause,
“Every time I pass the seal of the U.S. Postal Service I think about my dad and what he taught me about
service”. Her father died several years ago and she wondered what he would think of her being in her
position and that the path that got here there is the one he started her on. After going through a list of black
heroes and sheroes and events she spoke admiringly of her mother who is still alive and she recounted how
she and all of those mothers endured segregation and how her mother sat in a wheel chair and watched
Catholic Ministries remove everything from her house after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She started
her conclusion by saying “It is because of these things that I have the extraordinary honor to serve as the
first African American Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and to work for
the first African American President of these United States, to which the audience gave another long
applause. “My role in this Joshua Generation to make sure that when we reach the Promised Land that its
not going to be a place where pollution weighs heavily on our children’s health or our posterity’s. After her
speech the service ended with brown Chapel’s Pastor Rev. Tony Scott inviting people to accept Christ and
he asked Rev. Al Sharpton to help lead We Shall Overcome.
Church was host to a delegation with Faith and Politics attending the regular Sunday morning worship
services that featured musical selections by the Boys Choir of Tallahassee and a sermon by the
Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lisa P. Jackson who is also an A.M.E. After
greetings from Congresswoman Teri Sewell, Mayor George Evans and Jesse Jackson Congressman John
Lewis introduced Mrs. Jackson. She used the first chapter of the book of Joshua as her scriptural reference
and reflected on when President Barack O’Bama was in the same pulpit in 2007 before he became
President and referred to this generation as the “Joshua Generation” After quoting a few passages she
expressed her gratitude to the Lord “Today I am grateful beyond words to be in such a sanctified, holy and
historic place.” She spoke about how her generation is mindful of the sacrifices of the generation before did
and how they take seriously the responsibility of carrying the torch from that generation and living up to their
standards. She went on to talk about “walks”. “It’s a beautiful day for walking and I want to reflect on some of
the places I’ve walked”. Jackson said she was three years old when people gathered in Selma standing for
her rights, “As they were standing across the bridge I was just learning to walk” She said she was just a few
months old when James Meredith tried to gain admittance to the University of Mississippi and one year old
when the black students were admitted to the University of Alabama. She said growing up in Louisiana her
parents watched the events unfold on television and in the news and knew the foundation was being laid for
her to be able to go to college, She said she couldn’t remember watching the I Have A Dream speech but
feels like she can because her mother still talks about it like it was yesterday and how the whole
neighborhood watched it and talked about it at each others homes and as she got older her and her
brother would watch the speech every August 28, the anniversary of the march on Washington. She
remembered her first day at school and thought it was “cool” that police officers were there to escort her not
realizing that desegregation was taking place. “I was too young, too naïve and too blessed to realize they
were there because of the threat of violence.” Jackson said she was six years old when Dr. King was
assassinated and could not remember her parents being more shocked and frightened. As an adult Mrs.
Jackson says she reflects on the sacrifices people made in order for her to be able to attend a university
and get a good job. She said one of her earliest dreams was to work for the post office because her father
was a mailman and he was one of the first examples she saw of what it meant to be a public servant. “So his
steps, my dad’s footsteps were some of the first I ever wanted to walk in”. She said that now she sits in the
office of the Postmaster General of the United States in Washington to which she received a long applause,
“Every time I pass the seal of the U.S. Postal Service I think about my dad and what he taught me about
service”. Her father died several years ago and she wondered what he would think of her being in her
position and that the path that got here there is the one he started her on. After going through a list of black
heroes and sheroes and events she spoke admiringly of her mother who is still alive and she recounted how
she and all of those mothers endured segregation and how her mother sat in a wheel chair and watched
Catholic Ministries remove everything from her house after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She started
her conclusion by saying “It is because of these things that I have the extraordinary honor to serve as the
first African American Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and to work for
the first African American President of these United States, to which the audience gave another long
applause. “My role in this Joshua Generation to make sure that when we reach the Promised Land that its
not going to be a place where pollution weighs heavily on our children’s health or our posterity’s. After her
speech the service ended with brown Chapel’s Pastor Rev. Tony Scott inviting people to accept Christ and
he asked Rev. Al Sharpton to help lead We Shall Overcome.
EPA ADMINISTRATOR LISA P. JACKSON
Sunday March 4, 2012 thousands marched
across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to
commemorate Bloody Sunday (the first
attempt of the Selma to Montgomery March in
1965 that resulted in the beating and tear
gasing of unarmed protesters) to include the
widow of Robert Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy and
approximately thirty Kennedy family members
and Congressman John Lewis along with a
Congressional delegation with Faith and
Politics and a host of other dignitaries and
people from all over the world.
across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to
commemorate Bloody Sunday (the first
attempt of the Selma to Montgomery March in
1965 that resulted in the beating and tear
gasing of unarmed protesters) to include the
widow of Robert Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy and
approximately thirty Kennedy family members
and Congressman John Lewis along with a
Congressional delegation with Faith and
Politics and a host of other dignitaries and
people from all over the world.
l to r Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin L. King, III, U.S. Senator Steny Hoyer.
Rev. H.K. Matthews, Dick Gregory
Rev. H.K. Matthews, Dick Gregory
| RECORDED 2011 |
| EPA HEAD SPEAKS AT BROWN CHAPEL A.M.E. |
ETHEL KENNEDY (center) LISTENS AS
CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS TELLS WHAT
HE EXPERIENCED ON BLOODY SUNDAY
CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS TELLS WHAT
HE EXPERIENCED ON BLOODY SUNDAY
| CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS RECOUNTS BLOODY SUNDAY |
File recording form 2011