Friday, February 13, 2009

Being John Conyers

When I was a senior in high school I got a letter from Congressman Conyers addressed to me and signed in his own hand. I was incredibly pleased. He congratulated me on my acceptance to the University of Michgian and told me how proud he was of me. Now, Congressman Conyers did not know me personally, nor did I live in his district. But the letter was sent, nonetheless, and it made a huge difference.

















I have since met the Congressman several times and even had lunch with him once. Currently, he is pressing matters that include charging the Bush administration with war crimes. I'm not sure if I'm in support of this, but I am most certainly in support of Congressman Conyers. He has been in Congress for many years, but has remained an advocate for the people and for justice. This is admirable.













(Above is John Conyers back in the day with the brilliant and formidable Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and the first African-American to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the presidency in 1972.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog ! This is a case of good stumble upon for me...we were 'communicating on comments' @ TP's blog.

Will make it a point to read your older posts too.

Btw, I got serious about my blogging only recently.

Judith Ellis said...

Thanks Shankar. I most certainly recognized the name from TP's blog. I'm glad you will read the other posts. Do leave your comments. I appreciated yours on TP's blog. I'll check out your blog now. Thanks for popping through.

Cynthia said...

Excellent post, Judith, and photos.
It speaks well of a politician who
takes the time to write a young
person.

Judith Ellis said...

Thank you, Cynthia. I thought
Rep. Conyers' actions spoke volumes too. It is not that I have agreed with all of his politics, though perhaps more often than not. But it's that I remember the love shown to me early on and our subsequent face to face conversations.

No one is perfect, but he has fought for just causes for a great many years and it is this that I most appreciate. He is the one who hired Rosa Parks straight from the South and when she fell on hard times saw to it that she was well taken care of.

I'm glad you like the photos. I wanted to remind others of John Conyers' many years of serving the people.

CJ said...

I believe that if there was any wrongdoing on the part of Bush and Co., there should be consequences. I believe that a strong message should be sent to our young people: "Regardless of who you are, your morning breath stinks just as badly as the next person's. You put your pants on one leg at a time, just like anyone else's."

If there's treason involved, war crimes involving innocent people, torture, contempt of Congress, violation of Geneva conventions, let the charges come, and let these men and women-the decision makers, of course, and not our troops (well, unless they tortured people)--be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. No-one, Judith, should be above the law.

JMO.

CJ

CJ said...

So, if Mr. Conyers feels that he should pursue this, I am with him 100%.

Rep. Conyers is a noble man and a lawmaker worthy of high respect.

Judith Ellis said...

CJ - These matters are indeed complicated and a great many people in the US believe that there should be some action taken. We shall see how it unfolds. I do not think the President is interested in charging the former president with war crimes.

Judith Ellis said...

Regarding Rep. Conyers, while I may not agree with all of his policies or opinions, I honor the work he has done through the years on behalf of people.