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›› Photos: U.S. Rep. Sewell visits UTEP for Black History Month event
The fight for equality for all races, genders and education equity did not end with the historical march in Selma led by Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell stressed during a keynote speech at the University of Texas at El Paso.
In fact it needs to continue today, she said Friday.
"One of the main challenges I hope all of you will take up is what we learned from the Selma movement, which is that ordinary people collectively can achieve extraordinary social change," Sewell, D-Alabama, said during her speech. "The fact that we don't have comprehensive immigration reform is unacceptable... So I call on you to find a cause you can take up and I hope you will get civically involved. Because politics and government effect every aspect of your life and none of us can be on the sidelines."
Sewell, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Alabama, was the keynote speaker on Friday at the Geological Sciences Building as UTEP's continues its month-long celebration of Black History Month.
"Invaluable. Having her come speak to us was invaluable and a great honor," said Maceo Dailey, director of UTEP's African American Studies Program. "She has an incredible record of accomplishments and achievement in an area where African Americans really had to show poise and determination. This voice of authenticity regarding race matters and how we need to move forward benefits us and encourages us to be more active to help make great strides in continuing the fight for civil rights."
The congresswoman's speech, "Civil Rights Progress Since Selma," focused on learning from the past but not being content with what has been accomplished. In 1965, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as part of a greater plan to achieve equity.
"It has been famously said that 'those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it,' " Sewell said after her speech. "The unfinished business of the civil rights movement goes on and we need modern day foot soldiers. People who are willing to learn from the past and put those tactics into operation for modern day inequalities."
The U.S. has made great strides in the civil rights movement, she said, but much more still needs to be accomplished.
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"While much progress has been made in the area of race relations, there is still a long way to go," Sewell said. "I think we saw that with Trayvon Martin, we see that in the struggles for immigration reform, we see it all the time. You would think we would learn the lessons from Selma that America is better than the racial intolerance that is some times portrayed in our country."
Martin was a 17-year-old black man who was shot by a white Florida community volunteer.
In order to bring an end to the inequity in race, gender and poverty, all people most come together as they did 50 years ago in Selma, Sewell said.
"I thought about it long and hard and this what I think, we need to stop preaching to people but get them to understand that it not about us versus them," Sewell said in her speech. "It is not about my children. It is about our children... All of us are worried about us versus them, when what we should be worried about is America losing its place globally when it comes to competitiveness, innovation and education. This is unacceptable. In order to uplift the whole United States, we must invest in our children, all of our children."
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