We are crying for joy over this email from John Wheat Gibson, and, dear reader, we thank you so much for your witness to the spirit of civil rights in Texas–gm
Feb. 29, 2008, 6:33 p.m. CST
To whom it may concern:
I spoke to Rrustem Neza on the telephone a little while ago. He is at home with his family.
John Wheat Gibson, P.C.
Dallas, Texas
Back when George Jones was a fresh-faced 59-year-old king o’ country, he did Zell Miller a favor and hosted a singing party in Atlanta to celebrate the Governor’s election. It was January, 1991 and the missiles were about to launch into Iraq. My friend and mentor Geri Allen was assigned to represent The King Center at the Governor’s inauguration party, and she took me along with her, since it was King Week in Atlanta and I did pretty much everything she asked. I remember that she wore an anti-war button which attracted a television camera or two.
Along with George came Marty Stuart, Alan Jackson, Dickey Lee, and I believe Ricky Skaggs. Was Randy Travis there, too? Anyway, it was quite a lineup.
What I remember clearly is that it was the first time I’d seen George Jones live and his voice was bigger than life. I simply could not believe the sound that came from that man’s living voice. I went home and scooped up every Jones cassette that I could find and listened to them over and over during my 90 mile commutes from Austin to College Station and back.
Some singers you need the recordings for, because that’s the best they sound. Not George. As great as he sounds in the studio, there is something about his voice that just doesn’t get adequately captured by any amount of electronic wizardry.
At the 2008 Austin Rodeo on Sunday, Jones was 17 years down the road from the Atlanta glory days, and who can take issue with the things nature does to a man. But still, there was a sweetness to the voice, and a slow-hand soul that still brings out the goose bumps, the tears, and the sheer joy of grinning at what’s beautiful to hear.
God bless you, George Jones, and the truck you rode out on. As you waved from the window of the official rodeo truck that spun you around the arena, we kinda wondered, did you get a call from Willie warning you not to ride in the back of that damned thing?–gm
NOTE: these reflections on George Jones were originally posted in the “announcements” section of the Texas Civil Rights Review. The reference to Willie Nelson should be better explained. At the March 4 Rodeo, after Willie performed an encore song with great-grandson Zach, “Take Back America,” the two Nelsons climbed into the back of the official Rodeo pickup truck for the usual lap around the arena. Only, what happened was that when the the truck came to the “speed bump” of wooden planks that was laid down over the concert wiring, the truck threw both Nelsons back on their backsides. Sure enough, they both jumped right back up, so the incident didn’t break the mood of jubilation that was alive in the crowd. But the more you thought about it later, the more it made you sore. And come to think of it, Willie was not able to focus his eyes very much on the people after that, although he kept waving and smiling to the cheering crowd. It was real rodeo work for the Nelson boys that night, and that’s for sure.
PS: What else would account for the fact that our busiest hour in history fell on Tuesday afternoon, March 11? It had to be the rodeo report that was added to the “announcements” section, with mention of two talented Texans, George Jones and Willie Nelson. We reported, you decided. After all, amigo, this is the Texas Civil Rights Review!–gm
See: Scrutiny for a Bush Judicial Nominee
Thursday, Mar. 13, 2008 By ADAM ZAGOR IN /WASHINGTON
“Now, a former CCA manager tells TIME that Puryear oversaw a reporting system in which accounts of major, sometimes violent prison disturbances and other significant events were often masked or minimized in accounts provided to government agencies with oversight over prison contracts.”
The UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Migrants, Jorge Bustamante, conducted an official tour of the USA in April and May of 2007. A report on that visit was released to the Human Rights Council on March 7, 2008. Below are sample findings from the report and a directory to sections of the report as archived here at the Texas Civil Rights Review.–gm
118. Children should be removed from jail-like detention centres and placed in home-like facilities. Due care should be given to rights delineated for children in custody in the American Bar Association “Standards for the Custody, Placement, and Care; Legal Representation; and Adjudication of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the United States.”
121. Whenever possible, migrant women who are suffering the effects of persecution or abuse, or who are pregnant or nursing infants, should not be detained. If these vulnerable women cannot be released from ICE custody, the Department of Homeland Security should develop alternative programmes such as intense supervision or electronic monitoring, typically via ankle bracelets. These alternatives have proven effective during pilot programmes. They are not only more humane for migrants who are particularly vulnerable in the detention setting or who have family members who require their presence, but they also cost, on average, less than half the price of detention.
Sections of the Bustamante Report archived at the Texas Civil Rights Review
Summary: Banned from Hutto without Satisfactory Explanation.
I.A.: Rights to Fair Deportation Hearings Violated
I.B.: USA ‘Long Way Out of Step’ with Rights to Liberty
II.A. & II.B.: The Spriri of 1996 and Mandatory Deportations
II.C.: Forty Local and State Agencies Recruited for Immigration Enforcement
II.D. & II.E.: A System of Morning Raids and Mandatory Detentions
III.A. & III.B.: Rebuilding New Orleans upon Migrant Labor Abuses
IV. & V.: Punitive, Inconsiderate, and Expensive Policies Should be Reversed
We have also converted the report of UN Special Rapporteur Jorge Bustamante to pdf format. (Get it here: 250kb).
MoPress 