Lee Saunders, Memphis Sanitation Workers Join Thousands in March to Protect Voting Rights
by Eli Magana | March 08, 2012
On the steps of the Alabama state Capitol, sanitation worker Rodriguez Lobbins (center), a member of AFSCME Local 1733, delivers a message of workers' rights – and immigration rights – to thousands who participated in the re-enactment of the historic Selma to Montgomery march last Friday. Surrounding Robbins are (left to right) Felton Shy, Debbie Hines, Hebert James, and Larry Pirtlem. (Photo by Khalid Naji Allah)
On Wednesday, AFSCME members joined Rev. Al Sharpton, Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders and thousands of other activists, union members, civil rights organizations, and faith leaders in reenacting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic march from Selma to Montgomery.
They marched in a show of solidarity against the recent right-wing attacks on voting rights and immigrants. Participants, including members of AFSCME Local 1733, Georgia Local 3 and Local 1644, will take turns marching portions of the 54 mile route from Selma to Montgomery as Dr. King did in 1965. When they arrive in Montgomery they’ll take part in workshops and rallies through the end of the week.
Saunders rallied the marchers, calling out politicians who claim their attempts to pass laws disenfranchising voters are an effort to end voter fraud.
“It’s really about ending the right to vote – stealing that right from people who don’t look like them and who don’t share their philosophy that the poor should be faceless, voiceless and powerless,” Saunders said. “But we refuse to let them do it.”
Dr. King’s 1965 Selma to Montgomery march called international attention to oppressive laws in the South that prevented African-Americans from voting. Upon arriving in Montgomery, after an arduous journey from Selma during which he and other marchers peacefully resisted acts of police brutality, Dr. King delivered his famous “How Long, Not Long” speech on the steps of Alabama’s State Capitol.
Participant Rod Lobbins, a sanitation worker for the city of Memphis, felt the weight of Dr. King’s legacy Wednesday.
“I’m taking action to stop those forces who want to roll back Dr. King’s work and the progress we’ve made over the last four decades,” Lobbins said. “We are united in this struggle.”
Secretary-Treasurer Saunders appeared live on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation to discuss the march and the continued attacks from extreme right-wing groups on working families. Watch the video here:
