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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE


September 8-14, 2010 Page A-4 Premiere Highlights


REV. WENDELL ANTHONY discusses issues with David Leyton (center), Democratic nominee for lieutenant general, and Benny Napoleon, Wayne County Sheriff.


Labor movement Given the current politi-


cal dispensation, it is hard to know if singing that labor re- frain will work. All of us can agree that what once worked will not necessarily work now.


As the demands of the times


place new questions on our approach to business and how state government should be run, so must labor. How this is done is anyone’s guess.


It becomes that much more


complicated when some Dem- ocrats are holding Nicodemus- type meetings in the dark with Snyder.


So in essence, the guberna-


torial election in November is perhaps the lasting test of the political fortitude of the labor movement.


How much clout do they


carry with their union dues that make huge campaign do- nations possible?


Even during the presidential


campaign, President Obama unashamedly declared himself a labor candidate in Detroit, and he glowingly touted the protracted struggle of unions for social justice and equal treatment in the workplace.


The question now remains


if labor can galvanize enough support from voters to turn the tide against Snyder. It would seem like an easy thing to do given how the Dillon campaign was decimated by labor forces.


More so that Snyder’s run-


ning with Brian Calley, a strong abortion oppoent and a sup- porter of making Michigan a right-to-work state, something that labor sees as a political nightmare because it removes protection from workers.


Even though Snyder has


REV. JESSE JACKSON confers with the UAW’s Jimmy Set- tles.


been very coy about taking positions on the explosive cul- tural and social issues, he will have to confront those issues at some point.


It may not be the political-


ly expedient thing to do right now, but the next governor should be straightforward with voters on the issues that tend to divide communities.


Can labor win this elec-


tion? Based on the history of grassroots labor organizing, there is a strong chance that they can. But the bigger issue is whether labor is supporting the right candidate.


Is Bernero, despite his


strong labor credentials, the right candidate for the Demo- crats at this point?


I have always been skepti-


cal of polls because they serve as a disservice to voters by in some cases preempting their choices in the election.


Polls can have an opium-


like effect no matter how be- cause they can can deceive


voters into thinking that a par- ticular candidate is the best choice, so therefore everyone should get on the bandwaga- on.


As always, the best poll is


on Election Day. Detroit has been the epicenter of the labor movement. If labor cannot get more than a hundred thou- sand Detroit voters to the polls in November,


harbinger of things to come in the future.


Let’s see if the men and


women who comprise the labor movement can make changes in this campaign season.


Let’s see how these mem-


bers who see themselves as defenders of human rights in the workplace can inject fire into the gubernatorial cam- paign.


Will reverence for the


picket line translate into high spirits and actual votes in No- vember?


E-mail Bankole Thompson


at bthompson@michronicle. com.


Little Rock Nine member Thomas dies Jefferson Thomas, one of


the nine Black high school students who braved segrega- tionist mobs to integrate the all-White Little Rock Central High School in 1957 under the protection of military forces ordered by the president of the United States, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer. He was 67.


Thomas, a retired federal


accountant, had spent the last decade of his life doing com- munity service, traveling to promote racial harmony and supporting young people in seeking higher education. He, along with other members of the group who became known as the Little Rock Nine, was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clin- ton.


Today, the eight who ac-


companied Jefferson to Cen- tral High all expressed their sadness at the passing of the man they called their brother in a unique group for the past 53 years. The nine members have remained close, and in recent years they have provid- ed college scholarships and mentoring to young people through their Little Rock Nine Foundation.


“I will miss his calculated


sense of humor. He had a way of asking a question and ending it with a joke, prob- ably to ease the pain during our teenage years at Central,” said Carlotta Walls LaNier, a member of the group and president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation. “He was a Christian who promoted racial harmony and took his respon- sibilities seriously.


Thomas was 15 years old


in 1957 when he signed up to become one of the first Black students to integrate Little Rock Central High School, whose architectural beauty and academic reputation was known throughout the coun- try. The nine students, chosen by Little Rock school system administrators for their ex- cellent grades and records of good behavior, were stunned


ciples of excellence in educa- tion for young people, espe- cially students of color, and in 1999 they created the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a non- profit organization, to further their cause.


Dates and time are pending


for a celebration of Thomas’ life in Columbus, Ohio, and Los Angeles, California. He is survived by his wife, Mary; a son, Jefferson Jr.; and step- children, Frank and Marilyn.


Statement by President


Obama on the passing of Jefferson Thomas:


Jefferson Thomas


by the presence of hundreds of rioting segregationists and the Arkansas National Guard, which had been posted at the school under the orders of Ar- kansas governor Orval Faubus to keep them out.


In an extraordinary move,


President Dwight D. Eisen- hower sent the renowned 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to escort the nine students to school and uphold the U.S. Supreme Court’s de- cision a few years earlier or- dering the desegregation of schools. On Sept. 25, 1957, the nine students, under the protection of the U.S. military, marched up the steps of Little Rock Central High School and into the history books. It was the first time that a U.S. presi- dent had ordered the military to enforce a U.S. Supreme Court decision.


The next year, Faubus


closed all Little Rock high schools to avoid integra- tion. When Little Rock high schools reopened for the 1959-60 school year, Thomas and LaNier returned to Little Rock Central High School and both graduated in May 1960.


Thomas and the other


members of the nine have re- ceived more than 100 awards for their work in championing civil rights. For more than 50 years, all nine of them have worked to advance the prin-


“Michelle and I are sad-


dened by the passing of Jef- ferson Thomas, who as one of the Little Rock Nine, took a stand against segregation and helped open the eyes of our nation to the struggle for civil rights. Mr. Thomas was just a teenager when he became one of the first African-American students to enroll in Little Rock Central High School.


“Yet even at such a young


age, he had the courage to risk his own safety, to defy a gov- ernor and a mob, and to walk proudly into that school even though it would have been far easier to give up and turn back. And through this simple act of pursuing an equal edu- cation, he and his fellow mem- bers of the Little Rock Nine helped open the doors of op- portunity for their generation and for those that followed.


“The searing images of sol-


diers guarding students from those days will forever serve as a testament to the progress we’ve made, the barriers that previous generations have torn down, and the power of ordinary men and women to help us build a more perfect union.


“Our nation owes Mr.


Thomas a debt of gratitude for the stand he took half a centu- ry ago, and the leadership he showed in the decades since.


“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”


From page A-1


it will be a


Andre Smith photos


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