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Civil Rights era leader and icon Rep. John Lewis gave one of the more powerful speeches at the Democratic National Convention this Thursday evening which moved many of the convention goers to tears and I've got to admit, myself as well. It is truly tragic that we're still having to fight these battles and that the Republicans are trying to take us backwards.

h/t Pam Spaulding for the transcript:

I first came to this city in 1961, the year Barack Obama was born. I was one of the 13 original “Freedom Riders.” We were on a bus ride from Washington to New Orleans trying to test a recent Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination on buses crossing state lines and in the stations that served them. Here in Charlotte, a young African-American rider got off the bus and tried to get a shoe shine in a so-called white waiting room. He was arrested and taken to jail.

On that same day, we continued on to Rock Hill, South Carolina, about 25 miles. From here, when my seatmate, Albert Bigelow, and I tried to enter a white waiting room, we were met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood. Some police officers came up and asked us whether we wanted to press charges. We said, “No, we come in peace, love and nonviolence.” We said our struggle was not against individuals, but against unjust laws and customs. Our goal was true freedom for every American.

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If the Occupy movement decides to come to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, police in Charlotte, North Carolina are planning to be ready.

Nearly 1,700 officers in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area are undergoing riot training in the months leading up to the gathering of Democrats.

"The point of some of the tactics and the maneuvers that we use is to allow folks to have the time to do what we're asking them to do," Deputy Chief Harold Medlock told WSOC.

"We want them to hear us as we move and do the things that we need to do, so you'll hear a lot of verbalization from our officers and one of the things you'll hear is, 'Move back!'"

The federal government is expected to pay for all of the riot gear those officers will be wearing. Police departments protecting the last four conventions received about $50 million in grants.

"This is something that CMPD takes very, very seriously," Medlock explained. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure it is a safe and secure event."