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Happy Constitution Day!
Happy Constitution Day!
On September 17, 1787, a group of men gathered in a closed meeting room to sign the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. And it was Benjamin Franklin who made the motion to sign the document in his last great speech.
First Amendment
Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Top Myths about the Constitution:
Myth one: The Constitution was written on hemp paper
The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were written on parchment. The point of debate is that some working drafts of the documents might have been composed on paper made from hemp, which was widely used in that period.
Myth two: Thomas Jefferson signed the Constitution
Thomas Jefferson didn’t sign the Constitution. This is the most popular myth at the National Constitution Center, especially when visitors enter our Signers’ Hall, comprised of statues of the Constitution’s different signers—and ask where the Jefferson statue is. In 1787, Jefferson was in Paris as the United States’ envoy, and he missed the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
Myth three: John Adams also signed the Constitution
Like Jefferson, Adams was in service for his country overseas when the Constitution was signed. He was in London as the United States minister to Great Britain.
Myth four: The same Founders who wrote the Declaration wrote the Constitution
Only six Founders signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, James Wilson, and Roger Sherman.
Myth five: The Constitution has 39 signatures
It is true that there were 39 delegate signatures on the Constitution on September 17, 1787, but the Convention’s secretary, William Jackson, also signed the document. Jackson was picked over Benjamin Franklin’s grandson as the Convention secretary.
Myth six: The Constitution says “All Men Are Created Equal”
That phrase is in the Declaration of Independence. The original Constitution punted on the issue of slavery and included provisions such as the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person to determine representation in Congress. However, the 13th and 14th Amendments ratified after the Civil War made the “Three-Fifths Compromise” obsolete and wrote the Declaration’s promise of equality into the Constitution.
Myth seven: An enthusiastic country quickly embraced the Constitution
After the delegates signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787, five states immediately ratified it. But then the ratification process slowed down as the Anti-Federalists, who feared a strong central government and demanded a Bill of Rights, bitterly fought the Constitution’s ratification at state conventions. It took until June 21, 1788, for New Hampshire, as the ninth state approving ratification, to make the Constitution a reality and to put it into effect.
Myth eight: The Convention delegates were unanimous in approving the document
When the Constitutional Convention ended in 1787, 42 delegates gathered at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) for the signing ceremony. Among that group, 38 delegates signed the document, with delegate George Read also signing for John Dickinson, who was ill. Three Founders—Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, and Edmund Randolph—refused to sign the Constitution, unhappy with the final document for various reasons including a lack of a Bill of Rights.
Myth nine: All 13 states took part in writing the Constitution
There were 13 states in 1787, but Rhode Island didn’t send a delegation to Philadelphia. It feared the new federal government would dominate the states and thus rejected ratification of the Constitution in 1788. Rhode Island finally approved the Constitution on May 29, 1790, by a margin of two votes.
*Excerpted from the Constitution Center
Sincerely,
Team Opyrus
Rest in Power Dorothy Mays Gibbs James, a Black Nubian Queen, Greenwood, MS Native
At this hour, I mourn the loss of a woman who has been a part of my village and a mainstay in my life since I was a child. Dorothy Mays attended Jackson State College with my father and my uncle. She and my mother have been friends forever. Ms. Dorothy drove from Memphis to Jackson to see me jump the broom on September 25, 1998. She drove to Georgia year before last to attend my sister Evalyn’s wedding.
On March 10th of this year, she helped my husband and I find masks to protect us from this virus that had just hit the news. She told a lady, “I got my family with me. Can you give me two masks for them. They are getting ready to get on a plane.” The lady went over to a box grabbed two masks and handed them right over. On the 25th of March she picked my husband and I up from the Memphis airport. By them we had learned that hugging people you love was forbidden.
The previous month, on February 9, 2020, Ms. Dorothy’s brother drove her to attend the Jackson Book Festival at the Jackson Medical Mall, an event I coordinated. Her early learning material was a big hit. She was selling her wares. She spent her entire career working with early learners and elementary children. I can remember her saying, “when children are that age (5 – 6) they need to be hands on writing, coloring, and drawing.”
Ms. Dorothy also told me that the word ‘alphabet’ is plural and it needs no (s). Come to think about it, I learned a lot from her. I became interesting in early learners and increasing literacy in my community in recent years. But, Ms. Dorothy was working with early learners before I could hold a pencil. When I was young, I was so proud to see Ms. Dorothy on Television. Dorothy Mays Gibbs was the first black female television personality in Jackson, MS. She was hired by WLBT Channel 3 in July of 1972 to host Our Playmates.
Our Playmates was a 30-minute program which came on five days a week. Ms. Dorothy created the games and activities for the show. She hosted different groups of black and white children which was groundbreaking. In fact, at that time, blacks consisted of a mere 10 percent of the stations employees. Ms. Dorothy was shining like new money in 1972. She was a black woman with intellect who was connecting to an integrated group of children just one year after the State of Mississippi started complying with the 1954 Brown decision.
She was creative. She was a trendsetting. She was a mover. She was a shaker. She was a fly role model.
I admired Ms. Dorothy. Right now as I think about all the decades I’ve known Ms. Dorothy and her daughters who were our playmates I am happy to hold so many memories in my heart.
But, most of all, I am grateful because Ms. Dorothy told me, “Now, Meredith you write a book on your uncle for an adult audience.” She and mama had collaborated to write a book on my uncle for early learners. Their collaboration became, “A Story About James H. Meredith: A Civil Rights Leader (52 pages). Then mama (Hazel Janell Meredith) wrote My Brother J-Boy a 100-page illustrated children’s book on James H. Meredith.
Mama worked in early childhood in the 1960s and 70s too. She was a nutritionist. Ms. Dorothy set out to fill a gap because she felt it was important for children in the Memphis, TN school system to have access to books on James H. Meredith who broke down Jim Crow barriers on the college level. He also spurred black voter registration in the south. Mama asked me to write a summary on my uncle. After I wrote the summary, Ms. Dorothy say something that had never crossed my mind.
She said, “Meredith looks like you know quite a bit about J-Boy you write a book for an adult audience.” Her comment was not a suggestion it was a command so I replied, “Okay.”
Believe or not, from that day forward I became a student on the subject of James H. Meredith. As I conducted research my uncle became an historic figure rather than my uncle. I interviewed him, his siblings, his peers and the rest is history. After receiving 16 rejection letters, I found a commercial publisher. After the committee voted to publish my manuscript, Amazon was changing the game and Greenville Publishing merged with Praeger Publishing and ABC-CLIO which produced textbooks. I was asked to convert my manuscript from APA Style to Chicago Manual of Style.
My second book James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him and the first book I wrote alone was placed in the textbook market and because my subject was famous my book landed in the national and international textbook market.
I owe that milestone to the lady who assisted that I write a book about her former college friend who happened to be my famous uncle. I owe a lot of gratitude to Ms. Dorothy which stems from much more than a book.
Writing this blog took the sadness away and replaced it with hope and positive reflections. To creativity! To the future. To women pushing women up. To us pushing each other up. To ending systemic racism. To economics for me and for you!
To a better world. Rest in Power Ms. Dorothy. Love you.
The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission spied on Albert and Dorothy Gibbs. In the late 60s and early 70s the couple used their voices for our generation.
Good Work! Starkishia, author of three works. finding her voice.
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Mike Espy talks about Jacob Blake
Meredith,
Earlier this week, a young Black man named Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times at close range by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It happened in front of his children. Jacob’s father now says his son is paralyzed from the waist down.
This is the kind of unnecessary, violent injustice that Black people see every day. People ask, what can we do?
But no matter the amount of technology, no matter the training, no matter the amount of money to improve police departments, the reason we still see this injustice is because of inherent bias. We have police officers who may devalue the life of Black people. And that’s what we have to change.
I want to tell you a quick story. I’m the proud father of three Black children. My oldest son played for the NFL, until he got hurt and opened a gym here in Mississippi. He trains young athletes and inspires them to chase their dreams, playing football in college and professionally.
One day, my son was training a client in a private gym where he owned a membership. There were only three people in the whole gym: My son, his athlete, and a white off-duty Ridgeland policeman. The policeman wore no uniform — he was in gym clothes.
Now, like a lot of us, my son sometimes utters profanities when helping people lift weights, to rile them up to lift more. In this case, he was cursing as his client lifted a barbell.
But the off-duty officer approached my son and said, “If you don’t quit cursing, I’m going to arrest you.”
My son didn’t know if this guy was telling the truth — he was wearing gym clothes, not a badge.
My son said, “Well, do it then.”
All of sudden, police cruisers arrived at this private gym. Police officers arrested my boy, handcuffed him, and took him to the jail overnight. An African-American, former NFL player, whose dad was a congressman and cabinet secretary.
It doesn’t matter who you are, who you’re related to, or what the technology is. It goes back to the inherent bias. It matters if you think the color of your skin gives you more rights than another human being. And that’s what we have to change.
After George Floyd was murdered, I went with both my sons to a Black Lives Matter march in Jackson organized by young Black Mississippians. There were protests organized all over Mississippi, the country, and the world. At the march I attended in Jackson, 200 marchers were expected — but 3,000 showed up.
We marched to make sure that people in Mississippi understand that we no longer stand for lawlessness from law enforcement, and we’ve seen the groundswell after that march. There is a direct line from the Black Lives Matter march in June to taking down that Mississippi flag in July.
All week, I’ve thought of Jeremiah’s words: “They have treated the wounds of My people like they were not serious, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”
I will continue to demand action on this issue. And I pray for Jacob Blake, his mother, his sister, and his children. The violence against unarmed Black people — names we know, and names we don’t know — must end.
— Mike Espy
Independent Bookstore Day with Meredith Etc, an online retailer
Meredith Etc, an online book retailer based in Jackson, Mississippi invites readers to explore its collection. This small press was established in February of 2013. Since inception, it has accumulated 25 titles. “Over a dozen of our collection including several textbooks featuring the black experience,” said Publisher/Acquisition Editor, Meredith Coleman McGee. The collection offers diversity as authors are young, middle aged, older and consist of different races.
The company’s book collection includes children activity, reference, and chapter books; biographies and memoirs; historical fiction and novellas, poetry and prose; and more. Shop now. https://meredithetc.com/
The company publishes memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, books of poetry, short story anthologies, historical fiction, novellas, mystery novels. Other genres are considered on a case by case basis. see Author Submission Guidelines https://meredithetc.com/author-submissions/
Happy reading my friend
Happy reading my friend. Thank you for purchasing print copies of “James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him” and “Social Justice and Christianity.”
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Review of “James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him and his generation.”
was an honor to obtain a review from a relative.
Hello, Ms. McGee! I recently received a copy of your biography of your uncle, and I just want to thank you for all the research and passion you poured into that project. I’m a first cousin twice removed from Mr. Meredith (a fellow descendant of William & Roxie Patterson through Esau Patterson’s line), and I have been amazed at all the family history you’ve collected. The stories that were passed down are inspiring, tragic, and hope-giving all at once, and I’m so grateful that you’ve captured them. (And that’s just after reading the first chapter!) So I just wanted to express my deep appreciation for your work, and I pray God blesses whatever you do next.
Best hopes from one distant cousin to another, Aaron T. Sheppard
Meredith Etc 