With liberty and justice for ... Anna Mae?

Let's make one point clear from the beginning: Anna Mae Weems is an important civil rights figure in the Cedar Valley. At the height of the struggle black people went through to end discrimination and gain equality throughout our society, she was out there fighting the good fight. In the decades since, she has continued to be a voice and a presence on civil rights issues. Perhaps she should have been appointed to the Waterloo Human Rights Commission earlier this month. That doesn't excuse how her daughter Frieda Weems responded --- presumably with Anna Mae's blessing, since she got in on the act, too. Frieda's two-week harangue before the Waterloo City Council included cries of conspiracy and illegal voting as well as calls for resignations of elected and appointed officials. See stories from The Courier's coverage here and here. If she was arguing for the rights of a downtrodden group in the community, such outrage could be warranted. But to win a position for herself? Let others (not your daughter) make the case in more somber tones and leave it at that. Such self-serving indignation does little for her well-deserved legacy.