Philadelphia Holds Annual Tapping Of The Liberty Bell
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The annual tapping of the Liberty Bell brought out dignitaries, but the actual bell-ringers were people whose connection to the cause takes some explaining.
One one side of the bell, clad in the white glove worn by those who touch it, was Michael Rashid, President and CEO of AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan. Now a corporate big, as a kid in Birmingham decades ago, Rashid took part in a civil rights demonstration and ended up in jail alongside Martin Luther King.
On the bell's right was Russlyn Ali, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights.
"The President of the United States, Barack Obama, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have said that transforming the way our schools work, that education is the most important civil rights work of our time," said Ali.
The tapping of the bell is virtually silent. Those honoring King want their actions to make some noise.
Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio
