Celebration of the Life of James Forman (1928-2005)
Celebration of the Life of James Forman (1928-2005)
Held Saturday, February 5, 2005
For those of you who do not know the name, James Forman was the Executive Secretary of the Student NonviolentCoordinating Committee (SNCC). He was one of the most critical elements in the success of SNCC's work to enfranchise Black voters in both the South and other parts of the country. Members of SNCC and Friends of Jim Forman and others gathered yesterday to honor his work and his memory and to rededicate ourselves to the continuation of his work. The Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ was packed.
I was not involved in SNCC directly back in the 60's, although I was involved in a range of civil rights work in Texas, in Iowa, and in Washington, DC. I was at the 1963 "I have a dream" march, which Jim helped to organize. I met Jim when he came to live in Washington, DC, and he joined in our work to enfranchise the citizens of DC. We marched, we met, we discussed our differences in point of view, we wrote letters, we worked together as part of the group of activists focused on these issues. His dedication to his work was unparalleled.
The Celebration was presided over by Julian Bond, who talked about his own experiences with SNCC, and introduced his fellow SNCC activists eulogizing Jim. The many speakers, Mildred Page, Dorothy Zellner, Marion Barry, Bob Moses, Dorie Ladner, Willie Ricks, Martha Norman, Kathleen Cleaver, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Bill Pritchett, Annie Pearl Avery, gave their personal memories of working with Jim during the SNCC days. (Representative John Lewis, one of the chairmen of SNCC, and well-known for the abuse he endured during the fight for civil rights was in the audience, along with at least another 50 SNCC members, who stood up as each year's"class" was called.) They recalled the dangers they endured, and described the home-grown terrorism perpetrated by the segregationists they faced. They were universal in their praise of Jim's capacity to organize people and actions, and also to keep an eye on the big picture. Chaka Forman and James Forman Jr., gave their personal views of their father.In between, we were graced with the stirring songs of the times, led by the "SNCC Freedom Singers."
One of the news items that Eleanor Holmes Norton brought us was a partial report of the meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus with President Bush this past week. She asked Mr. Bush about his plans for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, parts of which need to be renewed during this term. His reply was that he was not familiar with that Act. She called upon us all to make Mr. Bush familiar with the Act; we in the audience roared our assent. Just to be clear, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a permanent act and does not need to be renewed. However, there is Section5, which has a time limit on it that will be up in 2007. This section requires jurisdictions to submit to the U.S. Attorney General any changes they make to their voting procedures. Many jurisdictions have refused to do so over the last 20-some years and the laws have not been enforced. Many of the voting irregularities that we have been seeing in the past two elections may very well come under this Section of the law, but I don't have those details at this time. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I felt honored to be there, to meet some of the luminaries of the civil rights movement, greet folks I had not seen in a while, and pay my respects to the work of a lovely, principled, effective, revolutionary, James R. Forman.
Warmly,
Anne
P.S. There is a short biography of Jim at www.thehistorymakers.com. One of his books, "The Making of Black Revolutionaries," is availablethrough Amazon.com. If anyone wants to support the James Forman Archival Project or the James Forman Civil Rights Scholarship Fund, they can send donations to his son, Chaka Forman at 2554 Lincoln Blvd, #729, Venice, CA 90291.
Anne Anderson
Co-Coordinator
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
208 I St. NE, Suite BWashington, DC 20002-4340
(202) 543-5347
(202) 543-5348 fax
anderson@psysr.org
www.psysr.org
Held Saturday, February 5, 2005
For those of you who do not know the name, James Forman was the Executive Secretary of the Student NonviolentCoordinating Committee (SNCC). He was one of the most critical elements in the success of SNCC's work to enfranchise Black voters in both the South and other parts of the country. Members of SNCC and Friends of Jim Forman and others gathered yesterday to honor his work and his memory and to rededicate ourselves to the continuation of his work. The Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ was packed.
I was not involved in SNCC directly back in the 60's, although I was involved in a range of civil rights work in Texas, in Iowa, and in Washington, DC. I was at the 1963 "I have a dream" march, which Jim helped to organize. I met Jim when he came to live in Washington, DC, and he joined in our work to enfranchise the citizens of DC. We marched, we met, we discussed our differences in point of view, we wrote letters, we worked together as part of the group of activists focused on these issues. His dedication to his work was unparalleled.
The Celebration was presided over by Julian Bond, who talked about his own experiences with SNCC, and introduced his fellow SNCC activists eulogizing Jim. The many speakers, Mildred Page, Dorothy Zellner, Marion Barry, Bob Moses, Dorie Ladner, Willie Ricks, Martha Norman, Kathleen Cleaver, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Bill Pritchett, Annie Pearl Avery, gave their personal memories of working with Jim during the SNCC days. (Representative John Lewis, one of the chairmen of SNCC, and well-known for the abuse he endured during the fight for civil rights was in the audience, along with at least another 50 SNCC members, who stood up as each year's"class" was called.) They recalled the dangers they endured, and described the home-grown terrorism perpetrated by the segregationists they faced. They were universal in their praise of Jim's capacity to organize people and actions, and also to keep an eye on the big picture. Chaka Forman and James Forman Jr., gave their personal views of their father.In between, we were graced with the stirring songs of the times, led by the "SNCC Freedom Singers."
One of the news items that Eleanor Holmes Norton brought us was a partial report of the meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus with President Bush this past week. She asked Mr. Bush about his plans for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, parts of which need to be renewed during this term. His reply was that he was not familiar with that Act. She called upon us all to make Mr. Bush familiar with the Act; we in the audience roared our assent. Just to be clear, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a permanent act and does not need to be renewed. However, there is Section5, which has a time limit on it that will be up in 2007. This section requires jurisdictions to submit to the U.S. Attorney General any changes they make to their voting procedures. Many jurisdictions have refused to do so over the last 20-some years and the laws have not been enforced. Many of the voting irregularities that we have been seeing in the past two elections may very well come under this Section of the law, but I don't have those details at this time. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I felt honored to be there, to meet some of the luminaries of the civil rights movement, greet folks I had not seen in a while, and pay my respects to the work of a lovely, principled, effective, revolutionary, James R. Forman.
Warmly,
Anne
P.S. There is a short biography of Jim at www.thehistorymakers.com. One of his books, "The Making of Black Revolutionaries," is availablethrough Amazon.com. If anyone wants to support the James Forman Archival Project or the James Forman Civil Rights Scholarship Fund, they can send donations to his son, Chaka Forman at 2554 Lincoln Blvd, #729, Venice, CA 90291.
Anne Anderson
Co-Coordinator
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
208 I St. NE, Suite BWashington, DC 20002-4340
(202) 543-5347
(202) 543-5348 fax
anderson@psysr.org
www.psysr.org
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