This is a portrait I painted of one of many heroes of mine from the Civil Rights movement. The Rev. James Zwerg, circa 1961. He was one of the Freedom Riders, along with John Lewis, William Barbee, Catherine Burks, and many others, who pulled into Montgomery, AL on a bus May 20, 1961.
He volunteered to step off first.
The mob was waiting with baseball bats, chains, and clubs. They beat him until three of his vertebrae cracked, his nose broke, and every tooth in his head was fractured. They beat him unconscious on the pavement. A Black stranger in coveralls walked up and said, “Stop beating that kid. If you want to beat someone, beat me.” And they did. He saved Zwerg’s life.
White ambulances refused to take him. He lay in the street for over an hour. That is the moment I painted. Bloodied suit. Head bowed.
At Martin Luther King Jr.’s urging, Zwerg later went to seminary and was ordained in the United Church of Christ.
Rev. Zwerg is now 86 and lives in Tucson, Arizona. His courage and conviction, alongside that of countless others, helped save this nation. These are the people I celebrate as we near our 250th anniversary as a nation.
Too big to care. Make them divest all non insurance assets.
They have thousands of subsidiaries and their intercompany transfers are almost 1 percent of the gdp of this country !
Sixteen years ago, the Supreme Court decided that corporations are people under the First Amendment.
Today, sold-out politicians block progress on all fronts to appease their corporate donors.
Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley: "The last 2 weeks we as a law enforcement community have been receiving endless complaints about civil rights violations in our streets from US citizens. What we're hearing is they're being stopped in traffic stops or on the street with no cause and being demanded to show paperwork to determine if they are here legally. We started hearing from our police officers the same complaints as they fell victim to this while off duty. Every one of these individuals is a person of color ... it has to stop"
I got shot at serving our country in combat, and I was there when your boss sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol. I know the difference between defending our Constitution and an insurrection, even if you don’t.
The Milwaukee @Brewers:
-Have won 11 straight games
-Own sole possession of first place in the NL Central for the first time this season
-HAVE THE BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL
Take a few minutes out of your day to listen to the great @Joe_Davis gush about the Brewers formula for success on the Dodgers’ broadcast of last night’s game 🔊