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LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS

LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS. Carolyn Vokes & Lee MacWithey Married in La Grange, IL Honeymooned in Orlando, FL Purchased “27 acres of prime groveland” in Plymouth, FL just north of Apopka, FL. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS.

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LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS

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  1. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • Carolyn Vokes & Lee MacWithey • Married in La Grange, IL • Honeymooned in Orlando, FL • Purchased “27 acres of prime groveland” in Plymouth, FL just north of Apopka, FL

  2. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS

  3. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history." ~ A. Lincoln, 1862 • : • 1845-1860: One of fastest growing slave states in Union • 1861: 3rd of 13 states to secede from the Union (after SC & MS), FL had highest percentage of volunteers-to-available men of any Confederate state. • 1865: FL Governor John Milton told Legislature, "Death would be preferable to reunion.“ Then shot himself. • 1877: Post-Reconstruction, white Democrats regained control. Jim Crow disenfranchised 200,000/44% state pop. • 1880-1930: Altho MS & AL lynched more victims, FL had highest per capita rate of lynchings in country, 40% higher than MS.

  4. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • 1901 & 1905: Black residents of Jacksonville organized boycotts to force city to abandon efforts to segregate street car system (ultimately state legislature intevened.) • By 1920: FL African-Americans formed The Colored Knights of Pythias, claimed one of every six black men members, required payment of poll tax and vote in 1920 election or face expulsion. • FL black churches & organizations followed suit -- the first statewide civil rights movement in U.S. history • Election Day, 1920: Mob violence in Ocoee; & in Perry, 1922; and in Rosewood, 1923.

  5. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS 1950s State slogan: “Welcome to Florida, land of good living!” • 1940-1950: Skyrocketingpopulation,3x national average 1.9 t0 2.7 million • 1950-1960: 2.7 to 4.9 million, up 161% in 2 decades • Growing pains: No reapportionment= 15% of population (in North Florida) elects 50% of State Congress

  6. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS In Florida, Sunshine & Shadow… Florida KKK • 1939: “Strongest realm in the nation.” – Imperial Wizard Testimony before U .S. Congress • 1951: “More Knights than any other Southern State.” – Imperial Wizard Bill Hendricks • Most powerful klaverns – Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami & Tampa

  7. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS In Florida, Sunshine & Shadow… Harry T. Moore • Organized state NAACP • Filed first lawsuit in South to equalize black & white teachers’ salaries • Fought & investigated lynchings statewide • Founded Progressive Voters League, registered 116,000 black voters (31% of all eligible black voters) – a rate 50% higher than any other Southern State.

  8. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Spring of 1951 – THE FLORIDA TERROR BEGINS • MID-MARCH – Melvin Womack beaten, stabbed and shot in Apopka–Winter Garden Klan stompin’ grounds. • APRIL – Orlando apartment building bombed over racial designation. • MAY – Imperial Wizard Bill Hendrix “declared war on hate groups” – NAACP, B’nai B’rith, Catholic Church; declared self candidate for governor.

  9. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Summer of 1951 – THE TERROR CONTINUES • JUNE & JULY – In Miami, dynamite explodes at Jewish Community Center. Lit sticks of dynamite thrown onto steps of several Catholic churches. • AUGUST & SEPTEMBER – In Miami, Carver Village Housing Project bombed. In Central Florida, the Apopka Klan attempts to abduct Thurgood Marshall. NAACP Attorney Thurgood Marshall

  10. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Fall of 1951 – THE TERROR CONTINUES • OCTOBER 1 – On Rosh Hashana, dynamite sticks, a cross, plus swastikas and the words, “Achtung, KKK!” left at Miami’s Tifereth Community Center. • MID-OCTOBER – Dynamite planted at Miami Hebrew School and Congregation. • NOVEMBER 2 – In Orlando, dynamite destroys Creamette Frozen Custard Stand.

  11. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Winter of 1951 – THE TERROR CONTINUES • NOVEMBER 6, 1951 While transporting defendants to Tavares courthouse, Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall shoots Sammy Shepherd and Walter Irvin.

  12. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Sheriff Willis McCall versus Defendant Walter Irvin

  13. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS Winter of 1951 – BACK IN MIAMI • NOVEMBER 30 – In Miami, a second blast at Carver Village. • DECEMBER 2– A third blast at Carver Village . • DECEMBER 3– A fourth blast plus… Klansmen to Miami Hebrew School and Congregation.

  14. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS DECEMBER 25, 1951 Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary at home in Mims, FL.

  15. THE ENDINGS: The Good Ending? The Bad Ending? The one we’re working on?

  16. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • FBI & US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE • www.fbi.gov • HATE CRIME: “Crimes motivated in whole or in part by a bias against the victim's perceived race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.” • Report by state, each November

  17. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS 3 4 ---2 1 U.S. HATE CRIME STATISTICS Bias: Race 50.8%, Relig 18.4%, Eth/Nat 13.2% Sexual Orient 16.6%, Disability 1% (1 per hr)

  18. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER & U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY • HATE GROUP: “Active organization whose beliefs or practices attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”

  19. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS 2008 ACTIVE US HATE GROUPSwww.splcenter.org 926 active US Hate Groups,up 54% since 2000

  20. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • “Since 1997, the state has finished first or second seventimes in the center's annual reports on extremist groups.” • 1st or 2ndin nation 7 out of 11 past years. • In alternate 4 years, Florida placed 3rd.

  21. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • TOP 8 STATES: CA, TX, FL, SC, NJ/GA, TN & PA. • "The idea of a black man in the White House, combined with the deepening economic crisis and continuing high levels of Latino immigration, has given white supremacists a real platform on which to recruit."

  22. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • In 2004, FL Attorney General, now Governor, Charlie Crist re-opened the Moores murder case. • After an extensive 20-month investigation, Crist identified Earl Brooklyn, Tillman Belvin, Joseph Cox & Edward Spivey as the probable murderers. • All four were members of the Apopka Klan.

  23. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS • In2004, opening of the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Homesite Park in Mims, FL • In 2007, discovery of Harry T. Moore briefcase in barn near home site & recovery of Moore’s historic Civil Rights files • Treasure trove of original historical letters, files, forms and reports

  24. LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS NOVEMBER 22, 2009 Evangeline Moore, Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore’s only surviving daughter, cut the ribbon on the replica of her family home in Mims, FL.

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