We headed west into Longview, Texas where I interviewed Lori Dohanich, who is a religion teacher at St. Mary’s school here. She told me she teaches a unit to 8th graders about social justice issues, focusing specifically on the era … Continue reading →
We stopped in Marshall, Texas today where I met with Shane Johnson who has established a couple half way houses here for those in drug and alcohol recovery. Called: The Way, it’s a Christian based program that provides in-house meetings … Continue reading →
In Tallulah, Louisiana I met with Darryl Ellerbee, former local caseworker for the Youth Opportunity (YO) Program. A federally funded program, Ellerbee said a $20 million dollar grant was awarded to three parishes (counties) in Louisiana. He said people between … Continue reading →
In Vicksburg, Mississippi we talked with Mathew Emory of London, Ontario, who was here visiting the historic battle site. Mathew said in Canada there is a lot less gun violence because guns, simply, aren’t as much a part of the … Continue reading →
This week I told the Scott County Times in Forest, Mississippi that the Catholic Rural Life Association has come out with a statement calling for a moratorium on big confinement farms for cattle, chicken and so on. The farm conditions … Continue reading →
We met with Jo Anne Zettler in Meridian, Mississippi two days ago. She is past director of Mercy Associates. (They are the lay arm of the Sisters of Mercy.) Jo Anne said the Sisters of Mercy go into areas where … Continue reading →
We drove into Green County, Alabama, the poorest county in the country — and it shows. Touring downtown Boligee, Alabama, we saw a grocery, a bank, a mechanic shop and a series of other buildings, all closed. Some reduced to … Continue reading →
A front page story about the campaign ran in The Demopolis Times newspaper. Editor Theresa Swope noted I was asking Americans (across the socio-economic board) to “sacrifice.” For instance, the story said I relayed that there was a time in … Continue reading →
We headed west on Rte. 80 to Demopolis, Alabama. There we met with Gala Culpepper (Is that a southern name, or what?), who is a member of the Demopolis Historical Society. She said there is quite a thrust here to … Continue reading →
We headed into Selma, Alabama — the flash point for the Civil Rights Movement. Local Historian Alston Fitts gave me a tour. Alston explained that the first Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery turned into Bloody Sunday, as some … Continue reading →