Scott Douglas

Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) will hold its Membership Spring Endorsement Convention, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012 at the Maggie Street Dream Center in Montgomery, AL.  ANSC members are expected to participate from across the state in candidate screenings and endorsements in preparation for the Alabama Primary Election scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, 2012.

In the spirit of the convention theme, One Voice, One Vote, One Victory, ANSC is continuing in its efforts to unite organizations and individuals from across the state to work together to confront, challenge and change the legislation and practices in Alabama that are enacted to deny voting rights, right to work, health care, relevant education, civil justice, immigration, and other entitled rights of African Americans, other minority groups and poor people in the state.

“The leadership in the Alabama legislature and many others in the state seemed determined to take us back to a time when Black people, poor people and other minorities suffered greatly in oppressed conditions,” said Dr. Roberta Watts, ANSC State President. “We are joining forces across the state to send the message that we are not going back,” said Watts.

Following the screening and endorsement sessions, the convention will host a panel presentation on statewide mobilization efforts for the SaveOurselves (SOS) Summit March  planned in conjunction with the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute’s Annual Bridge Crossing Commemoration and Jubilee in Selma, AL. beginning the first week end in March, 2012.

The SOS Summit March to Montgomery will commence with the Bridge Crossing Commemoration scheduled for Sunday, March 4 from Brown’s Chapel in Selma to Craig Field on Alabama Hwy 80 East.  Continuing on Monday, March 5, the SOS Summit March will proceed approximately 10 miles each day on Hwy. 80, culminating in Montgomery, Friday, March 9, 2012.

The ANSC convention panel on mobilization will involve representation from various statewide organizations including AFL-CIO, 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, the National Voting Rights Museum and the Hispanic Interests Coalition of Alabama.

The ANSC convention will also hold District meetings for candidate screening and endorsement.

The activities will culminate with a luncheon program featuring Scott Douglas, Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham Ministries.  Douglas recently appeared with Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report discussing the Alabama Immigration Law. Douglas stated that Alabama’s immigration law is more like the Fugitive Slave Acts than Jim Crow.  “The Fugitive Slave Act caught them going and HB 56 catches them coming,” explained Douglas.