When Cynthia McKinney first arrived to Congress it was because of her father who submitted her name as a write in candidate for the State House, she lost the 1986 bid but won the same seat in 1988.
“Well, one day my dad had an idea, and that idea was that I won’t protest public policy, I’ll make public policy. When he had the very transformative idea, it was before the passage of the Civil Rights Voting Act, so he would run for office and the decks were stack against someone like him being elected. He ran for office two times before the (C.R.V.A), he lost both times. The state of Georgia has a long history in the involvement of the Supreme Court and with the Justice Department over issues of blacks having the right to vote. The state of Georgia has a long history in denial of blacks with the right to vote. But then in August 1969, something happened, and that is Lyndon Baines Johnson, signed into law the Voting Rights Act and immediately the structure of justice changed in this country. It changed for me in a very personal way because I had seen my father run for office two times, and two times he lost. Because of (V.R.A), redistricting had to be done a different way. Registration had to be done in a different way, so all of sudden what was once impossible became literally inevitable. My dad ran for office after the Voting Rights Act and the redistricting of 1971 and he won. He served in the Georgia Legislator until I got kicked out in 2002.”
The McKinney’s are the first father and daughter to serve simultaneously serve in the Georgia State House.
The getting “kicked” out of Congress that McKinney refers to in 2002, was actually a lost in the Democratic primary, to a lesser known DeKalb County judge. The defeat came on the heels of a series of comments, and incidents from McKinney. She viewed the defeat as a payback.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, McKinney wrote that “Al’s Gore’s Negro tolerance level has never been too high.”…. “I’ve never known him to have more than one black person around him at any given time.” In addition to that, McKinney made some remarks against the Bush administration and the Sept.11 attacks. She accused then President George W. Bush and his father to have a prior knowledge of the attacks prior to the event and stood to gain from the results of the tragic event.
“It is known that President Bush’s father, through the Carlyle Group, had-at the time of the attacks- joint business interests with the Bin Laden construction company and many defense industry holdings, the stocks of which have soared since September 11th”
This revelation turned into a crusade. It takes a whole lot to tell the truth, stand your ground, and be strong enough to endure the backlash of your bravery. To walk these steps, sometimes means you might be placed in jail or maybe killed. To walk those steps means you might have to do it by yourself, Cynthia understands her challenges. “Often times my father fought alone, because other people were too afraid, so my father would protest whatever the policies that police department were. That sometimes meant he had to do so by himself.”
In 2008, she ran in the historical presidential race against the President and Senator John McCain. Without the support, money, and publicity of her opponents, McKinney tried a grass root approach to rally the American people around her campaign. She failed in that approach but built a reputation as a freedom fighter not only here in the U.S but also globally.
In 2009 she boarded a “Free Gaza” boat that was supposed to deliver medical supplies to the people in the Gaza Strip. Instead of completing the mission the boat was detained by the Israel Navy. Cynthia McKinney and other activists on board were arrested and kept at a detention center for about a week. While imprisoned the freedom fighter continue to speak out by writing letters and conducting radio interviews from her jail cell.
The fact that someone is taking the position of Cynthia McKinney is amazing to me. The fact she is willing to do so with the intention of putting the people first is even more amazing. Many people are called to speak the truth, but only a few are chosen. The current state of affairs around the world for most people is not good. The turnout in United States election showed a desire for real leadership not phony people.
“This is a time for leadership and judgment that is not compromised in any fashion.” Cynthia McKinney
This Article Appeared in The Black Truth News Volume 1 Issue 1 Dec. 2009