{"id":4878,"date":"2017-02-08T16:07:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T22:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/?p=4878"},"modified":"2017-02-09T09:02:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T15:02:36","slug":"a-lapse-in-time-similarity-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/2017\/02\/08\/a-lapse-in-time-similarity-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lapse in Time, Similarity in Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a lecture\u00a0at the Englert Theatre\u00a0featuring Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.\u00a0Cullors’ activism was, in part, \u00a0fueled by\u00a0the final verdict of the\u00a0State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman <\/em>case.\u00a0\u00a0The controversial trial ended with George Zimmerman being found not guilty on all counts of second degree murder for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. In response, Cullors\u00a0and others took to social media, proclaiming: “let’s take these three words and let’s start a movement.” The Black Lives Matter movement continues to combat racial injustice and call for the implementation of increased accountability\u00a0within law enforcement practices. Thoughout her talk, Cullors expressed the importance of organizing at local levels as a means of creating a national and global movement. Her call to action and to the lessons of the past reminded me of two particular instances in Iowa’s past, where bold men and women have spoken out against injustice.<\/p>\n

\"Patrisse<\/a>
Patrisse Cullors speaking at the Englert Theatre on February 6, 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1945, Charles and Ann Toney were refused service in Davenport, Iowa’s Colonial Fountain, a local ice cream parlor.\u00a0The clerk, Dorothy Baxter, refused to serve them solely based on the color of their skin. Charles Toney, knowing this refusal was in violation of their civil rights, brought the case to court. Toney, a member of the local NAACP chapter, credited his activism\u00a0to his mother who refused to sit in the segregated section of a movie theater in Clinton, Iowa, the town in which he grew up. After two trials and much deliberation, the court ruled in favor of the Toneys granting them the\u00a0first ever victory for a civil rights case tried in Davenport. You can read more about the Toneys and their case in George William McDaniel\u2019s, \u201cTrying Iowa\u2019s Civil Rights Act in Davenport: the Case of Charles and Ann Toney<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Edna<\/a>
Edna Griffin photographs. Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1948, Edna Griffin, a black woman living in Des Moines, tested the boundaries of this legislation\u00a0by walking into Katz Drug Store. Griffin, her daughter, and two\u00a0black men sat down to order ice cream sundaes on a hot July day.\u00a0Though the\u00a0waitress\u00a0took their orders, she returned to the table\u00a0saying that her manager\u00a0had told her\u00a0not to serve them. Griffin, aware of her rights, took the case to trial.\u00a0\u00a0Several community members infuriated,\u00a0organized protests and boycotts\u00a0directed at\u00a0the discriminatory practices occurring at lunch counters across Des Moines. The case\u00a0was eventually brought\u00a0before\u00a0the Iowa Supreme Court, and in 1949 a civil rights victory was won Griffin\u2019s behalf in the State of Iowa vs. Katz<\/em> proceeding. More details on Griffin’s story can be found in Noah Lawrence’s,”Since it is my right, I would like to have it: Edna Griffin and the Katz Drug Store Desegregation Movement<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

These stories are two of many archived in the Iowa Digital Library and the Iowa Women’s Archives, and they invite us to look back on our history and the role Iowans have played in defending civil liberties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a lecture\u00a0at the Englert Theatre\u00a0featuring Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.\u00a0Cullors’ activism was, in part, \u00a0fueled by\u00a0the final verdict of the\u00a0State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman case.\u00a0\u00a0The controversial trial ended with George Zimmerman being found not guilty on all counts of second degreeContinue reading “A Lapse in Time, Similarity in Action”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[],"syndication":[30,21],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4878"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4897,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4878\/revisions\/4897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4878"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=4878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}