Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Phil AmmannMarch 17, 2016

What is more appealing for Democrats like me? Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, or a fractured convention that produces a nominee who received no Republican primary votes, like Paul Ryan? Honestly, both sound pretty good and likely to culminate in a Hillary Clinton presidency. But it’s not up to Democrats like me, and the […]

Devon CrumpackerJuly 27, 2015

National civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump was sworn in as the 73rd president of the National Bar Association on Thursday. The 45-year-old FSU law school graduate is known for representing relatives of individuals whose rights were allegedly violated by police. The NBA, founded in 1925, calls itself the biggest and oldest voluntary professional membership organization […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 8, 2015

After state troopers, sheriff’s deputies savagely attacked voting rights marchers at Selma, Ala., with clubs, tear gas and cattle prods on March 7, 1965, two great Americans rushed to the city to try to take command of the perilous situation. One was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., determined to lead a second march – regardless […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 8, 2015

After state troopers, sheriff’s deputies savagely attacked voting rights marchers at Selma, Ala., with clubs, tear gas and cattle prods on March 7, 1965, two great Americans rushed to the city to try to take command of the perilous situation. One was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., determined to lead a second march – regardless […]

Daniel TilsonMarch 8, 2015

You’d think 50 years was long enough for Florida lawmakers to get something right. But when it comes to ensuring all Floridians have equal opportunity to exercise their right to vote, and then overwhelmingly choose to use it, most of us know we’ve still got a long way to go. Here we are, fresh off […]

Susan ClaryFebruary 16, 2015

I finally saw “Selma.” The Oscar-nominated film depicts Dr. Martin Luther King’s push for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act – the federal legislation that was a crowning achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. Many protesters, both black and white, were sacrificed during the brutal efforts to make the 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, […]

Jac VerSteegJanuary 19, 2015

In his commentary this week for Context Florida, the Rev. H.K. Matthews draws parallels between the 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama and the current effort, including a march Rev. Matthews led, in support of Florida’s corporate tax credit scholarships – also known as school vouchers. Rev. Matthews’ parallel is unseemly and […]

Daniel TilsonAugust 25, 2014

Here in August 2014, 50 years after the historic “Mississippi Summer of 1964” helped propel America forward in search of Civil Rights progress, I’m literally brought to tears by what has happened in Ferguson, Mo. They’re tears of both grief and rage, just like they were 50 years ago. My first cousin Karen (now a […]

Guest AuthorAugust 14, 2014

The story in Ferguson, Missouri, is all too familiar, even callously so. A young, unarmed black man is shot by a white police officer. A frustrated community erupts in anger. While the details involving the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown are still being investigated, one fact is troubling and clear: Another casual encounter between […]

Tag: Civil Rights

Ben Pollara: A Democrat’s unsolicited advice for the GOP that created Donald Trump

Benjamin Crump sworn in as National Bar Association president

Martin Dyckman: In Selma, LeRoy Collins saved lives, suffered political hit

Martin Dyckman: In Selma, LeRoy Collins saved lives, suffered political hit

Daniel Tilson: Voting rights – from Selma, 1965 to Tallahassee, 2015

Susan Clary: Future 'Selma' will depict gay-rights struggle

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Parallel between Selma, school vouchers is strained

Daniel Tilson: Ferguson shows how far we’ve come — in wrong direction

Andrew J. Skerritt: Ferguson seems a case study of race and power gone wrong