Everybody Matters

I want our actions to tell every child in every neighborhood, your life matters, and we are committed to improving your life chances - as committed as we are to working on behalf of our own kids. I want future generations to know that we are a people who see our differences as a great gift, that we’re a people who value the dignity and worth of every citizen -- man and woman, young and old, black and white, Latino, Asian, immigrant, Native American, gay, straight, Americans with mental illness or physical disability. Everybody matters. I want them to grow up in a country that shows the world what we still know to be true: that we are still more than a collection of red states and blue states; that we are the United States of America.

"If We Do It All Together, We'll Be Okay"

On this day every year I get overwhelmed with all the articles written about Martin Luther King. He was a great - and very complex - man who is worthy of our attention.

But to keep myself grounded, this article written by HamdenRice is something I always go back to. I hope he won't mind if I quote it at length. I'm thinking I'll make this an annual tradition.

At this point, I would like to remind everyone exactly what Martin Luther King did, and it wasn't that he "marched" or gave a great speech.

My father told me with a sort of cold fury, "Dr. King ended the terror of living in the south."

Please let this sink in and and take my word and the word of my late father on this. If you are a white person who has always lived in the U.S. and never under a brutal dictatorship, you probably don't know what my father was talking about.

But this is what the great Dr. Martin Luther King accomplished. Not that he marched, nor that he gave speeches.

He ended the terror of living as a black person, especially in the south.

2015 Year of Resistance

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FB # Black Lives Matter

Kids Take Part In Ferguson Protests (PHOTOS)

Children in Ferguson have been protesting along with their families since the shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9. They have joined the marches day and night, sporting T-shirts in support of Brown and often holding their arms up in protest, chanting, "Hands up! Don't shoot!" They have also participated in art tributes to Brown and helped with community food drives.

Protests erupted in this St. Louis suburb after officer Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Brown, who was unarmed, on Aug. 9. After some violent clashes between police and demonstrators, things now seem to be calmer.

Here are some of the children who have taken part in activism in the wake of Brown's death:

(Photos by Emily Kassie for The Huffington Post)


On the afternoon of Aug. 23, protesters march along Canfield Drive, where Michael Brown was shot. They passed a truck of food donations being given to the community by Crisis Aid International, the St. Louis Police and Ferguson Mayor James Knowles.


A young boy blows up a balloon to add to a tribute for Michael Brown on the afternoon of Aug. 23. The tribute is on Canfield Drive, where Brown was shot on Aug. 9 by officer Darren Wilson. Many children contributed balloons, toys and pieces of artwork to the memorial.


Two children add balloons to the tribute on Canfield Drive for Michael Brown on Aug. 23. The tribute consists of a line of roses along the road, leading up to a sign that reads "Hands Up Don't Shoot, August 9, 2014 RIP Michael." Around the signs were flowers, candles and toys.







Read More http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/kids-ferguson_n_5701867.html

For the children. They are the future.

America

It should be beautiful...It can be beautiful. We can do this. We can. I know we have it in our hearts and our souls. We can do it we just need to try a little harder. We need to talk and listen and really want this. Change is never easy, is it? You have to want it and we damn well have to fight together to get it.

"http://vimeo.com/18429639

















America the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/americathebeautiful.html

Breathe, because I can't. I am in shock.

The NYPD now explains why they are so mad at The Mayor in an Op-Ed, poor babies so sadly misunderstood. Two of their own died and that hit them hard. They say it was a senseless killing, and it was. I agree, it is sad and I mourn those families. Needless and senseless killings. Yet you could not put off your childish act of disrespect toward the mayor for your fallen members at their funerals. You could not give it a day to attack you did it there. That was juvenile and ugly.

Oh, then you doubled down in your so called grief for your fallen minority brothers. You attacked the Mayors black wife. WTF? She wore jeans? No she did not, she has more respect for the fallen minority members that you ever will.

So. Let us take this a step further. How the hell do you feel about Eric Garners death!!!!! Where is your OP about this vile murder. When do you people stand up and speak up on this?

How the hell do you think the BLACK COMMUNITY FEELS ABOUT BEING DEMONIZED, DEMORALIZED AND, AT TIMES, LITERALLY UNDER ASSAULT!

I can't breathe~ 17 times he said this.



His daughter lies in the place that he died for 17 minutes.






I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe..................................................................



And they weren't done yet. They go on here. Holy Mother of Gawd. Deep breathe here. There audacitity to make this all about them and not the dead BLACK MEN THEY THEY ARE MURDERING AT AN ALARMING RATE!!! THIS IS ABOUT THEM? THEY ARE TONE DEAF!!!!

It did not help to tell the world about instructing his son, Dante, who is biracial, to be wary of the police, or to publicly signal support of anti-police protesters (for instance, by standing alongside the Rev. Al Sharpton, a staunch backer of the protests). If there is any self-pity involved, which I doubt, it is only because we lack respect from our elected officials and parts of the media. It has taken two dead cops for some people to take a step back and realize what a difficult job cops have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/opinion/the-nypd-protests-an-officers-view.html?ref=opinion&comments&_r=0#commentsContainer

We have lost our immortal souls.

Silence Makes White People Racist

Everything old is new again.

Past Present and Future

When I reflect on this past week, I realize that it’s been a vicious cycle of grief, frustration, anger, and numbness. My grief — the collective grief of the black community — is because an innocent black child was stolen from this earth. However, beyond that, our grief is because the outcome of the verdict is proof that black lives are not of value to this country nor its justice system, something we’ve known to be true for many, many years now.

snip

In my experience this past week, the haunting silence came from people that I expected more from: white folks who are frequently outspoken about injustice in both their private and public life, and especially those who were exceptionally vocal during DOMA’s repeal. Most of the responses that I witnessed and heard regarding the verdict came only when the silence was questioned or named as white privilege and supremacy. Very, very rarely were the responses remorseful–or even thoughtful. They came in the form of verbal attacks and explicit defensiveness, instead of compassion, personal assessment, and seeking to understand the overarching narrative of anti-blackness in this country. Ultimately, avoiding the issue all together took greater precedent over accountability.

On a national scale, responses from well-known, predominantly white liberal and progressive organizations were minimal at best. While the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) signed onto a letter led by the National Black Justice Coalition and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force calling for justice for Trayvon Martin, they did not release any formal press release or statement regarding the verdict. The organization People for the American Way and Center for American Progress both neglected to release any statement as well. However, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) did manage to speak and released a statement on July 15th opening with “We have great faith in America’s jury system and do not question the verdict in the Zimmerman case.” It is no surprise that according to the The Washington Post/ABC News poll, nearly 1 in 3 white Democrats approve of the Zimmerman verdict.

The truth is many white liberals in this country have come to believe a lie. A lie that says just because they are “liberal” or can quote W.E.B. DuBois or have one friend who’s black it means they are no longer racist, and a lie that says that selective and partial justice is an option. Racism–either by silence or with words–is always evil. Far too many white liberals are racist by silence. It’s impossible to be committed to working towards the self-determination and liberation of black people if one is silent in the face of injustice. Silence isn’t passive; it’s an active choice. It is a choice that is deadly and that speaks volumes. Silence is what kills black boys that look like Trayvon Martin.

snip

If white liberals choose to not accept the invitation, then they must know that their silence will speak for them. To pass up on this invitation, to live cowardly, is to say something shameful about the very things they claim to be compelled by. It is to say that whiteness and white privilege should be preserved and protected at all costs, even at the cost of another person’s humanity.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/silence-makes-white-people-racist