If TV cameras show up for football, why don’t they show up
“when the people come together on issues such as this,
not just black folk, not just white folk, but all Americans
are here tonight because of our concern”?

George Boston Rhynes made three points:

1. “I’m against this consolidation.”

2. Retired Air Force, involved in community across the nation,
   human rights, NAACP, SCLC, “including getting South Africa
   to do away with apartheid”.
   And back in Valdosta:

   
   
   …there is an asserted effort to keep the people in
   our community deaf, dumb, and blind to the times
   and unable to make intelligent decisions based on facts
   and information at public meetings.

   In Tucson, Arizona, when we was going against apartheid in South Africa,
   we had television cameras everywhere on the local level.
   When we, Jesse Jackson and I, was assisting him in his campaign,
   I worked for Barack Obama, a lot of those meetings we had
   cameras in the local community.

   And George was
   on ABC News.

   George continued at the VBOE meeting:

   
   
   I’m looking for cameras here tonight,
   to see the citizens show up to show their concern.
   I know they’re out in the hallway.

   …I have seen cameras here at this building when it concerns football,
   
   [crowd chuckles]
   
   or something along that line.

   So I’m really hurt, I’m injured.
   
   
   Why is it when the people come together on issues such as this,
   not just black folk, not just white folk, but all Americans
   are here tonight because of our concern.
   And we say all of our news media should be here.

   Then he put in a plug for me and LAKE’s blog, On the LAKE Front;
   I’m too shy to quote that part.

   George continued:

   I started blogging years ago, but I started YouTube
   
   
   when I found out that there’s so much information
   that’s going on in this community, and all around south Georgia
   in general, that the common person that don’t come to these
   meetings are really ignorant. They are very ignorant.
   Because the Valdosta Daily Times
   
   
   don’t get it out right,
   WCTV don’t get it out right,
   ABC don’t get it out right,
   and we the citizens don’t get it out of our mouths to tell them
   that they ain’t getting it out.

3. George concluded:

   Information can save a nation,
   
   but ignorance will destroy it.

Here’s

the video:

“I have seen cameras here at this building when it concerns football” — George Boston Rhynes @ VBOE 29 August 2011

education, referendum, consolidation, statement,

Work Session, Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 August 2011.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq