Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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Well, here we are again.  We’ve reached a turning point both in history, and in the passage of time.  Today (January 1, 2007) we mark the beginning of a New Year, signifying a fresh start.  

We also mark the observance of 144 years since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing approximately 4,000,000 slaves.

For more than 30 years, my father, the late Wilkie Clark in his capacity as President of Randolph County’s NAACP, took on the personal responsibility of seeing to it that an Emancipation Day Observance was staged in Randolph County (Alabama), annually.  He upheld the teaching of the NAACP, that in order to experience racial progress, black people needed these constant annual reminders of their journey from enslavement and oppression to liberation.

As I write this diary, I am preparing to leave my home to journey to yet another Emancipation Proclamation Service.  Wilkie Clark

MEND, a group of Nigerian militants responsible for recently kidnapping then releasing oil workers, has released a statement responding to the Nigerian government's announcement of a committee to study economic development in the Niger Delta.  The meeting had been boycotted by activists.  MEND's statement reads in part:

Should we, as a community, do something about it?