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Monday, January 16, 2012

No Mess Monday: In honor of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement

 

These Shoes Walked Way More Than A Mile

 

Civil Rights Movement Shoes JTW

The shoes pictured above epitomize the thought of “No Mess.” They belonged to a civil rights activist named Juanita T. Williams and carried her the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, AL in demand of equal voting rights for African Americans in March 1965. She and the twenty-five thousand other protestors who walked with her were tired of having their Constitutional rights denied and refused to willingly accept it any longer. Posted here in honor or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of human rights in general, they represent an amount of bravery and strength I can’t even imagine. They are a symbol of the struggle that made it possible for me to live the life that I live. I look at these shoes, with the lifts worn off the heel and the insole almost detached, and I see a beauty that surpasses any heels I’ve ever seen.

 

*Williams’s shoes have been on display since 1975, along with other items from the Selma march, in the National Museum of American History. Image via Smithsonian Institution Press.

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1 comment:

  1. Excellent post. So poignant. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words. I so appreciate that even though your blog is dedicated to shoes n booze, you interject something so sobering, so meaningful and thought-provoking. Gives a whole new meaning to "these boots (shoes) were made for walking, and that's what they're gonna do... These shoes walked all over injustice. Thank you for this post. It's a reflection of the insight and intelligence that makes you stand out from the crowd of fashion bloggers.

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