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Johnson: Here’s what I remember from the 1963 March on Washington

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Johnson: Here’s what I remember from the 1963 March on Washington


Rev. Peter Johnson(Michael Hogue)

I am sitting in my office on August 28 remembering the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that took place on this date in 1963.

I have so many wonderful memories of that day. I see the faces of so many people of every race, ethnicity, gender and religion. I’ve been part of hundreds of marches in my lifetime, but the March on Washington is still that march, that event, that experience that continues to remind me of what America can be if we all work together.

There are some things about that march which are not well-known. First, I was a skinny, handsome teenager fresh out of high school when I attended the march. I helped to organize a group from my hometown of Plaquemine, La., and surrounding areas. We had more than four charter buses headed from the bayous of Louisiana to the capital.

We were happy and yet hesitant at the same time. Interstate travel with integrated buses was against the law in the South. We knew many of us would not make it to the march because of being arrested by state police in Louisiana, Mississippi or Georgia. We had already raised bail money before we left, and we needed it!

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One of the speakers to be featured that day, Dr. James Farmer, who was head of the Congress of Racial Equality, was not able to speak at the march because he was in jail in my hometown. He was there with us as we protested the stifling voting laws in our parish. The protests led to my home church being tear-gassed by state troopers while we were having a meeting. They busted through the doors and windows riding horses throughout the sanctuary, beating us with cattle prods and billy clubs. The local police arrested Farmer and would not release him.

Another interesting item is that one of the biggest supporters of the march was Charlton Heston. He was close friends of Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Sammy Davis Jr. He was standing up front with most of the Hollywood celebrities like Robert Culp and Burt Lancaster. The same man who was the lead in the movie The Ten Commandments and a staunch financial supporter of civil rights later in life became the head of the National Rifle Association.

Also, we seem to forget this was not the first March on Washington. In May 1957, a march called Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom had more than 25,000 demonstrators. The march was to encourage the federal government to continue working to implement Brown vs. Board of Education. The figurehead of the 1957 and 1963 marches was A. Philip Randolph, a larger-than-life luminary of the Civil Rights Movement.

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I still laugh when I think about how the “I Have a Dream” speech came about. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had already started on a different speech when singer Mahalia Jackson, who was sitting in the background and not known for whispering, shouted, “Martin, tell them about your dream! Tell them about your dream, Martin!”

I guess she must have shouted it one too many times, because King closed his binder and delivered one of the greatest speeches of all time.

You see, Jackson had heard the speech before. Two months before the March on Washington, King stood before a large crowd in Detroit and delivered a sermon titled, “Making the American Dream a reality.” Jackson was present for that speech and shouted for Martin to deliver it again. When King closed his binder that day in Washington, D.C., and looked across the vast audience, Rev. C.T. Vivian could be heard shouting, “We’re about to go to church!”

America, the dream is still alive. I have seen great changes in our country. Do we still have more to do? Yes! But we have come a mighty, mighty long way.

So, as my mentor and one of the greatest 20th-century philosophers said, and I say with him, “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”

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Purdue lands Washington State QB transfers Evans Chuba

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Purdue lands Washington State QB transfers Evans Chuba


Another transfer quarterback has been added into the fold for Purdue heading into 2025, as former Washington State quarterback committed to the Boilermakers today.

Chuba spent one season with the Cougars after being a three-star dual threat quarterback prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, where he chose Washington State over the likes of Virginia, Toledo, Northern Illinois, East Carolina, Bowling Green, Arkansas State, Liberty and others.

In his one-year stint in the Pac-2, Chuba did not appear in a game, as Washington State’s quarterback John Mateer became one of the top signal callers in college football for then head coach Jake Dickert.

Chuba now joins three other incoming signal callers as Purdue revamps its entire quarterback room from a year ago, where its lost Hudson Card, Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila. The Boilermakers have responded by landing Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton as the presumptive starter, along with true freshmen EJ Colson and now Chuba, not to mention 2025 three-star quarterback Garyt Odom. The lone holdover in the group is Bennett Meredith, who have served as a backup to Hudson Card over the last two years.

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Will Micah Parsons play against the Washington Commanders? Latest injury update on the Dallas Cowboys star player | NFL News – Times of India

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Will Micah Parsons play against the Washington Commanders? Latest injury update on the Dallas Cowboys star player | NFL News – Times of India


Cowboys’ yet another tough season is about to end. Having won four in a row, the Washington Commanders (11-5) will face the Dallas Cowboys (7-9) at AT&T Stadium. Cowboys is eliminated from playoff race from a 41-7 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, while the Commanders are pumped up after securing their first playoff berth since 2020 with a 30-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Now, the question is, will Dallas star player Micah Parsons play the match against Washington?

Will Micah Parsons play against the Washington Commanders?

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy expects star pass-rusher Micah Parsons to play in the season finale against the Washington Commanders, despite the ongoing wrist injury. Parsons missed four games earlier this year with a high ankle sprain but has had the wrist issue for more than several weeks. His being in the game reflects his toughness and the necessity of what this means to the team as they prepare for postseason run.

Dallas Cowboys Injury News, What To Watch For & Key Players In NFL Week 18 Matchup vs. Commanders

Parsons does not carry any game status designation and is expected to play in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders.
Parsons, who was added to Thursday’s practice report with a wrist injury, was upgraded to a full participant in Friday’s practice. “When it comes to how are we going to finish … strong,” Parsons said earlier in the week. “I’m still going to give my best fight to the Commanders. This is who I am. I love this game.”

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Micah Parsons Emphasizes Health as Key to Cowboys’ 2025 Success

Parsons reflected on the team’s struggles during a season marred by injuries to key players, including himself. Despite missing games, Parsons returned to deliver his usual high-level performances but acknowledged that health is critical for the Cowboys to reclaim their dominance in the NFC.

“One, we’re gonna have to get healthy. I mean, we got 3 or 4 starters who aren’t coming back until mid next season. We got to plan for that. We got to get healthy. We got to keep coming together,” Parsons said.
His focus on health and unity highlights the foundation needed for the Cowboys’ competitive resurgence.

Cowboys-Commanders: How to Watch, Listen, Stream

For NFL fans, Fubo TV offers a comprehensive way to catch all the action. With access to Sunday afternoon games on FOX and CBS, primetime matchups on NBC and ESPN, and the NFL Network included in every plan, Fubo ensures full coverage of the season. The Pro package, priced at $79.99 per month, offers 193 channels and a free seven-day trial for new users.
Also Read: Will Saquon Barkley play against the New York Giants? Latest injury update on the Philadelphia Eagles star player
Additionally, the NFL+ app provides a mobile-friendly alternative for $14.99 per month, allowing fans to stream on devices like Roku, Apple TV, and Android TV. Don’t miss a moment of the game!





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Washington Post Editorial Cartoonist Says She Quit After Brass Rejected Her Donald Trump Sketch

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Washington Post Editorial Cartoonist Says She Quit After Brass Rejected Her Donald Trump Sketch


It appears that another high-profile member of The Washington Post‘s editorial staff has left the paper: Cartoonist Ann Telnaes, who’s been at the outlet for 16 years, announced via Substack Friday that she was quitting after the brass killed her latest illustration featuring president-elect Donald Trump.

“The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump,” the Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist wrote on Substack under the title “Why I Quit The Washington Post.”

“There have been multiple articles recently about these men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-lago,” she wrote. “The group in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner.”

Telnaes wrote that she first joined the Post in 2008 as an editorial cartoonist and has had “editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now.”

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“While it isn’t uncommon for editorial page editors to object to visual metaphors within a cartoon if it strikes that editor as unclear or isn’t correctly conveying the message intended by the cartoonist, such editorial criticism was not the case regarding this cartoon,” she continued. “To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press.”

She included a “rough of the cartoon killed” in her Substack column. You can read her full column here.

Telnaes is the latest journo to depart the Bezos-owned newspaper. Before the election, three Post journalists stepped down from the editorial board in protest over the publication’s controversial decision not to endorse a presidential candidate, with concerns that it was a way for Bezos to placate Trump. More than 200,000 readers also canceled their digital subscriptions.

Several more staffers have since departed, including managing editor Matea Gold, who’s set to become second-highest ranking leader of the New York Times Washington bureau.

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At the New York Times DealBook Summit in NYC last month, Bezos said he may not be the best owner for the paper from the perspective of “the appearance” of conflict of interest, but defended the decision not to support a candidate in the Post’s editorial pages.

“The pluses of doing this were very small and [endorsements] added to the perceptions of bias if news media are going to try to be objective and independent,” Bezos said, adding that media “is suffering from a crisis of trust.”

It should behave like a “voting machine. They have to count the votes accurately and people have to believe that they count the votes accurately.”

“Not all of it is the media’s fault,” he continued. “But where we can do something we should … We made this decision. I am proud of this decision.”

Bezos then went on to acknowledge that “I am a terrible owner for the Post from the point of view of the appearance of conflict … Probably not a single day goes by where some Amazon executive or Blue Origin executive or some Bezos Earth Fund leader isn’t meeting with a government official somewhere. And so there are always going to be appearances of conflict.”

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