Remembering C. T. Vivian and John Lewis
On July 18, we lost two great men, men whom history will remember as giants in the effort to create a more just society for all citizens of the United States. They were also friends of Carroll County’s Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education, and met many local folks who have accompanied us on civil rights tours to the Deep South over the past 20 years.
C. T. Vivian, 95, was a mentor to John Lewis, Diane Nash, Bernard LaFayette, James Bevel, and other students who organized the 1960 Nashville sit-in movement, who then became Freedom Riders and went on to help organize the other major campaigns of the civil rights movement. C.T. himself became a Freedom Rider, filling in for a student who couldn’t go. He was a warm, friendly person with a great sense of humor, very dignified but not at all stuffy. He was a fierce proponent of nonviolence, bravely putting himself on the line many times as he worked tirelessly to extend the full rights of citizenship to African Americans. He knew everybody in the movement, and had a million stories. We will miss him very much.
John Lewis, 80, was another of the sit-in students in Nashville, who then became a leader of the Freedom Rides. He and our colleague Bernard LaFayette were roommates at American Baptist College and worked together on many nonviolent campaigns and projects. John was the first chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington in 1963 where Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. He faced down the state police and their vigilantes at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, suffering a fractured skull in his fight for voting rights. John became a congressman from Georgia, serving 17 two-year terms. We met him at public events such as anniversary celebrations of events in the movement, and at his book signings. He was a patient, gentle man, and a true role model showing how to combine nonviolence with great strength and conviction. He always asked that people seeking change “make good trouble, necessary trouble … that they stand up and get in the way.”
We mourn the passing of these two great leaders, who inspired and supported our work. They were encouraged by the work of the current generation of activists who continue the ongoing struggle to make civil rights an American birthright and against still-present systemic racism. Their lives give us guidance. They showed us how to get it done. It’s time for all of us to start making good trouble as we continue their work.
Charles Collyer, Pamela Zappardino
Uniontown
The writers are co-directors of the Ira and Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education.
Agrees with sheriff’s words at rally
Regarding the recent Back the Blue rally in Annapolis, I have only the highest of admiration and a profound thankfulness that Sheriff Jim DeWees is at the helm of Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who, as I learned firsthand in a Citizens Police Academy I was fortunate to attend, are dedicated to upholding the law equally for all Carroll countians and to putting their lives on the line 24/7 for our safety.
In Union Bridge, our Deputy Brian Colussy, for instance, has gone even further by helping to found Dream Big Union Bridge, which has gone on to do really, really big things for our small town. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Dream Big has been leading the effort to keep the local foodbank shelves stocked and to promote buying carryout from local restaurants.
One deputy. One citizen. Together, dreaming, taking action and more residents have joined in. But of course, we live in Carroll County!
Colussy and co-founder, citizen activist Cheri Thompson’s Dream Big idea turned into an action group of local citizens that has blossomed into a magnificent thrift and extraordinary gift shop in the building that was once Tom and Irene Winebrenner’s Union Bridge Hardware store.
I could not agree more with DeWees, who said at the Back the Blue event that residents of his county love and support the police and have high expectations for police officers with integrity and character.
It’s too bad Del. Haven Shoemaker tried to put a smudge on the celebration by attempting to politicizing it. But, then again, we cannot expect much more from Haven, or can we?
John D. Witiak
Union Bridge
No stormtroopers in Portland
Will someone please get Dean Minnich a Valium? There are no “stormtroopers” in Portland. In fact, there are no “troops” there at all. There are federal civilian law enforcement officers who wouldn’t have to be there in the first place if city politicians would allow their local police to do their jobs.
Personally, if Antifa or the like show up in my neighborhood, I’d be grateful if law enforcement, federal or otherwise, arrived to make them leave. I suspect Mr. Minnich would, too. Or perhaps he would invite them in for a cup of coffee to discuss the finer points of Constitutional Law.
Chris Roemer
Finksburg