I'm a walking tall white Southerner who feels such tremendous pride in the South's sons and daughters. Martin Luther King, Walter White, Rosa Parks, Rev. George Lee, Daisy Bates, Medger Evers, Vernon Jordon, Martin Delany, Booker T. Washington, Bob Zellner, A. Philip Randolph, Al McSurely, Percy Julian, Jimmie Lee Jackson, William Barber, Clementa Pinckney... The list goes on and on and on and on. Brave souls. Inspired souls. American dreaming souls. Souls of the South who put it all on the line to change this country and inspire the rest of the world.
And yesterday we got to add a new name to the list: Bree Newsome. A woman from Raleigh, North Carolina. A proud woman. A brave woman. A Southern woman. When the Governor of South Carolina couldn't take down That Flag, Bree Newsome did. And the world cheered her determination, hutzpah and grit. She knew the consequences but she did it anyway. That is my kind of Southerner.
As far as I am concerned, everyone could stand to learn from the bravery and honor and valor that people of my region have exhibited again and again. We are a force to be reckoned with. We don't give up. For good or for ill, through sheer force of will, we make things happen.
As much as some might try to bring the past back to life, the Old South will never, ever rise again. It can't. As each day passes, more amazing people from small towns to big cities step up to go forward, not back. Some of the most powerful voices in the country when it comes to the fight for human dignity, fairness and rights over hate can be found here in the South. Roughly 80,000 people marched for these goals on one day in Raleigh, NC, last year. Roughly 30 people showed up yesterday in Columbia, South Carolina, to defend That Flag and the hate it represents.
I'm a VERY proud Southerner and it has absolutely everything to do with the New South heritage gifted to me by amazing people from this region.