Jackson Free Press

The week after the Fourth of July saw the passing of two very different American patriots who each worked in their own way to make Mississippi a better place.

Dr. Gilbert Mason of Biloxi was already a bona fide legend when I met him in 1988, but I first came to know him when he was parliamentarian of the State Democratic Executive Committee. His encyclopedic knowledge of Robert's Rules of Order, his experience as a founding member of the modern state party, his commanding baritone voice and his serene dignity made a tremendous impression on this 21-one-year-old freshman member of the State Democratic Executive Committee. It wasn't a bluff when he said, "If you disagree with Gilbert Mason, you disagree with Robert's Rules." It was a fact. When years later I was a parliamentarian in national party groups, and as a presiding officer here in the state, I could always hear the sonorous tones of Dr. Mason's voice and his injunction to put procedure above personality.

I met Rep. May Whittington of Schlater much later, when my work as a party activist brought me to the state chairmanship. May was one of the most compassionate souls I have ever known, but her compassion was never naïve. She knew how to get things done, too. She had a more meaningful impact on legislation than have many members who served five times as long. I was mightily pleased that she was able to be a part of our delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 2004. She honored me with a high compliment at the convention as my tenure as state chairman drew to a close. On the floor of the Boston convention hall, she quietly thanked me for "working so hard to keep us together," and said through it all I had been "a true gentleman." Her kind words meant the world to me, especially at such a moment.

I can say sincerely that the Democratic Party and Mississippi are left much the better for their service. I admired them both and am honored to have known them . Let us honor their legacy by continuing their work for progress for all Mississippians.
— Rickey L. Cole, Ovett

Just Try to Imagine
I try to imagine what it would have been like not to have taken a six-month leave of absence to be the primary caretaker for my mother while I watched ALS slowly ravage her body. I try to imagine what it would be like not to have to stick myself for a blood sample three times a day and shoot up insulin before every meal. I try to imagine what it would be like not to listen to my mother-in-law tell me how she drove up to the wrong house and walked in the last time she visited me and describe it as a "senior moment."

With a swift stroke of Mr. Bush's first-ever veto pen, used to appease his right-wing evangelical base, that is all I am left with. Imagining how it could have been.

By vetoing the funding for stem cell research on "moral" grounds, Mr. Bush has dashed the hopes of millions of people that may have benefited from possible life saving cures that could have emanated from leftover petri dishes that will still be thrown in the dumpster behind in vitro fertilization clinics.

I am not, nor should you be in total despair about the situation. The rest of the world is working on this problem even if we are presently not.
— Brian Essex, Jackson

Previous Comments

ID

73195

Comment

This is one of his greatest accomplishments: In the realm of civil rights, Mason is most remembered as the organizer of beach wade-ins, the first civil disobedience in Mississippi as protest over the segregation then prevalent across the South. When blacks waded into the Mississippi Sound to protest not being allowed on the beach, they were harassed by whites and hauled off to jail for trespassing. One 1960 wade-in is labeled "Bloody Sunday" as a result of the altercations of that day. Mason's struggle for human rights, from the beaches to medical services to voter registration and other issues, is recounted in his memoirs, "Beaches, Blood and Ballots: A Black Doctor's Civil Rights Struggle." Published in 2000, it was written in collaboration with James P. Smith of the University of Southern Mississippi. Is their a way we can commemorate him here at the JFP?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-07-30T18:29:14-06:00

ID

73196

Comment

Oh yeah, the link I got that quote from: http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/14998325.htm

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-07-30T18:30:31-06:00