The Wichita NAACP Blog: Historic Holder nomination to U.S. Attorney General to come before full U.S. Senate on Thursday, January 29

Profile in Courage: Dr. Ronald W Walters

As the President of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council in July of 1958, Dr. Walters led the group as they conducted the first successful student-led sit-in of the Civil Rights movement. Sit-Ins were not an approved tactic of the NAACP in 1958 so when the Branch and Youth council asked for the support of the National Office, they were turned down. It required an extraordinary amount of courage for Ron as the Youth President and Chester I Lewis, the branch President, to press forward over the objections of the National Office. When the sit-in ended in August of that same year, the Dockum drug store on the corner of Broadway and Douglass in Wichita Kansas was integrated - along with the entire Rexall Drug store chain and all its subsidiaries. Following the success of the Dockum Sit-In, the Oklahoma City Branch Youth Council conducted a sit-in that August. From there, the tactic spread throughout the Midwest. In 1960, a group of young men and women from SNCC conducted a sit-in in Greensboro North Carolina which many mistakenly believe to have been the first... Dr. Walters went on to become known throughout the world for his knowledge of African American politics and leadership. He headed the African American Leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program of the University of Maryland, served as Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and retired as Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Walters was a dear friend, a supporter, and a mentor, and he will be sorely missed... July 1938 - September 2010

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Historic Holder nomination to U.S. Attorney General to come before full U.S. Senate on Thursday, January 29

Eric Holder's confirmation to be the next Attorney General of the United States was approved of by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 17 yeas to 2 nays earlier today, Wednesday, 1/28/2009, with only John Cornyn (TX) and Tom Coburn (OK) voting no (a tally of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote is attached). His nomination may come before the full Senate for a confirmation vote as early as tomorrow, Thursday, 1/29/2009. We need to encourage everyone to contact their Senator as soon as possible to urge them to support this important nomination.

Eric Holder, who has been nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as Attorney General of the United States, is the right person for the job. The Department of Justice has, for the past 8 years, been woefully mismanaged, and as a result it has not adequately protected Americans' voting, housing or employment rights; nor has it even attempted to address police misconduct or a whole host of other issues to ensure that our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are protected.

Through his historic nomination of Eric Holder (if confirmed Eric Holder will be the first African American U.S. Attorney General in history) President-elect Obama has selected a person who has, throughout his career, demonstrated a commitment to justice, an even-handed nature, and an ability to lead. In addition to serving as the Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno and leading the transition from Ms. Reno to her successor, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Eric Holder has served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, as a Superior Court Judge nominated by Ronald Reagan and as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity section of the Department of Justice. Mr. Holder knows the U.S. Department of Justice and knows what needs to and can be done, and is clearly the best candidate to swiftly and competently restore and reinvigorate the beleaguered department.