As February comes to a close we apporoach the end of Black History Month.
I've seen alot throughout my life and watching the Civil Rights movement unfold in the 1960's did a lot to shape my world view and the person I've become. In the General Assembly I've supported many bills that have expanded the civil rights of all in our state.
In honor of Black HIstory Month, below is a recollection of my experince during the Civil Righs Movement:
My mother, though no angel, always had a great social ethic.
From 1965 through 1967 she sold insurance for Prudential in predominantly African-American neighborhoods in the boroughs of New York City. She had a partner named Rose with whom she would walk door-to-door selling policies and collecting premiums.
She would later tell me how she and Rose would spend their work days listening to the life stories of inner-city blacks and how clear it was to her that even in the big city racism was so prevalent that a kid growing up black simply did not have the same chance of success as white kids. She never let me forget that I had an automatic advantage that black kids did not.
Race riots in Harlem aired in black-and-white on television over the summer of 1964 and then in February of 1965 when Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan just a few blocks from our apartment on 99th Street.
I remember to this day, as a four year old asking her why people were fighting in the streets. She said quite simply “because white people were not treating black people very well.”
On Sundays she would send me to church with neighbors who attended a black Baptist church. There I developed an appreciation for gospel music and the soaring oratory of black ministers. Later, she and I would often reflect on these early experiences of my life and her work in New York as a measure of progress over the years.
As we later moved across the country often to places both geographically and culturally thousands of miles away from New York City, there would be times when she would remind me of the unique advantage my skin color gave me and kept any sense of self-entitlement because of that advantage at bay.
My mother was no angel. But for all her failings, allowing racism or any kind of discrimination to be taught to her children, would never be one of them.
Thank you for allowing me the chance to share this memory with you,
--Mike Noland
Illinois State Senator
Democrat for Congress (IL-8)
Mike is an Illinois State Senator, first elected in 2006. He has been one of the most progressive members of the Senate and is running for Congress in IL-8 as a populist Democrat focused on economic recovery, ethics reform, and fighting for universal health care. You can follow him on Twitter @noland4congress or learn more about him by visiting www.nolandforcongress.com