|
|
EATONTON - Between 600 and 800 members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of
Moors rallied Tuesday at the Putnam County Courthouse, protesting what the group
believes is discrimination against Nuwaubians on the county level. Standing in
temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, Nuwaubians chanted, "Fired up!" and "Nuwaubian!"
as speakers from their group, the Rainbow/PUSH coalition, the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Georgia Association of
Black Elected Officials talked about racial discrimination and the right to
vote.
"We won the voting rights battle - the county just needs to get the word," said
Joe Beasley from the courthouse steps. Beasley, a regional director of Jesse
Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition, promised Nuwaubians he would stay with them
and help them in their fight against county officials.
Tyrone Brooks, a state representative from Atlanta and president of the GABEO,
promised that the 700 GABEO members would stand behind the Nuwaubians. Brooks
said GABEO members voted unanimously a year ago to support the Nuwaubians.
"They are as committed as they were a year ago, because they do not appreciate
the persecution that is going on here in Putnam County," Brooks said. "We will
do whatever it takes to make sure your rights are protected. "We must get
involved in this struggle to make sure that our brothers and sisters in Putnam
County, Georgia, at Tama-Re are treated with fairness and dignity," Brooks
continued. "I'm here to tell the officials of Putnam County here today: Just
leave us alone."
The rally was held in the wake of two Putnam County Board of Registrars
hearings, during which more than 100 Nuwaubians registered to vote in Putnam are
having their residency challenged by the county. So far, 36 of them have been
purged from the voter rolls, while another 72 cases have been continued to an
unspecified date.
At least some of those gathered at the courthouse Tuesday were from other parts
of the country in town for the Nuwaubians' annual festival, centered around the
birthday of Malachi York, the group's leader. His birthday was Monday.
The 12-day festival began Friday and ends Tuesday. The rally began with members
of the group marching around the courthouse once and ended with them marching
around the courthouse nine times, chanting, "AMUN Ma-at," which means "hidden
justice" in ancient Egyptian, according to members of the group.
Four uniformed Putnam County sheriff's deputies and the sheriff were at the
courthouse for crowd control.
Another deputy was stationed on a nearby water tower to, "watch the crowd,"
according to Sheriff Howard Sills.
Several Eatonton police officers and Police Chief Kent Lawrence were also on the
streets around the courthouse directing traffic and watching the crowd. One man
identified as a Nuwaubian was arrested following the rally when he urinated on
the sidewalk, Sills said. The man was charged with public indecency.
|
|
© Copyright 2009 Nuwaubian Facts. All Rights Reserved. www.nuwaubianfacts.com