Honoring Dr King

Honoring Dr King

This weekend many people are honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King, who was gunned down in Memphis, Tennessee, 40 years ago on April 4, 1968.

We know that he was a champion of non-violent protest for social change, and his writings and speeches still resonate for many activists. But I hope that people also know is that it was because of him that many of us found the courage to stand up and be counted.

I remember thinking as a teenager just how bold and brave he was to speak out in a white dominated society. I was thrilled. You were in such a minority to speak out against any injustice back then but he led by example and everybody was listening. He was so wise and passionate that we all felt called to follow him.

So it's not just that Martin Luther King, Jr, was a brilliant orator and facilitator-- he's all that and more, he is also who he is because he helped show us the way.

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Martin Luther King, Jr

Martin Luther King Day

Do you realize he was assassinated at the age of 39? In my opinion, he went right into the heart of prejudiced Birmingham, Alabama, where

"...there had been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation"

to try and talk with city officials about racism.

"...when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."

Cite: Letter from Birmingham Jail

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you can imagine that this being the mentality of our country back then, imagine also how liberating it was to have a man like Dr Martin Luther King, Jr take up the banner on racism and prejudice in America. It was a very beautiful thing.

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Comedian DAVE CHAPELLE sez "There are no secrets in Mississippi."

"Morning, Nigger."
"Morning, Sir."

It got huge laughs. His humor is based in truth. It made this white girl realize as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr's birthday today, we really haven't come very far at all with civil rights and race relations.

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Mississippi Burning
You're looking at evil right here. Pure, proud bigoted evil. He's so genuinely vile that I'm uncomfortable at the degree of contempt I feel for him.

Edgar Ray Killen is on trial for orchestrating the 1964 abduction and murder of three voting rights volunteers, one of the most infamous episodes in the volatile civil rights struggle four decades ago.

What good is it doing now?

They did the same thing to Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Emmet Till's killers. They wait until these white men have lived full lives, get married, have kids, grandkids, etc, and when these killers have one foot in the grave to do something about it.

Why are they trying Killen now? Why didn't they prosecute Emmet Till's murderer when he was alive? Or when Emmett's poor mother was alive begging for justice?

Justice delayed isn't justice served. He and all the others should have been tried 41 years ago.

Link

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Ecology experts are predicting better than average fall color in the Great Smoky Mountains near Asheville, N.C. The area boasts one of the most diverse range of microclimates and tree species. Elevations range from 1,500 feet in the valleys to 6,684 feet at Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. There's also the famous 6,030-foot peak of "Cold Mountain," made famous in the book and movie. Experts are predicting a promising harvest of color, based on late summer weather patterns. Yellow birches, red sourwoods, red to yellow maples, yellow pin cherries yellow poplars will show first. [more »]

Welcome to Spread Firefox. You are our marketing department. Download this very small, additional browser and try it for yourself. See why many have switched.
(via - fusion anomalog)

GOP documentary, "Celsius 41.11," is a reference to the temperature at which the human brain begins to die from exposure to heat -- or, in this case, what the filmmakers regard as overheated left-wing rhetoric. 'T'would be funny if 't'weren't so sad. Potential movie-goers may find the "Undies" Link below helpful. [more »]

Undies for those afflicted with cranial-rectal-inversion, more commonly known as head-up-your-asstitis. (Link - safe for work)

Easy to make favicon from a pic you have on your hard drive or website.
(Link via: fishbucket)

{Web Trail}
solipsistic
The Zero Boss
The Daily Bleed

{Quote For Today}
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Good morning to you. I'm glad you took a moment of your time to stop by.

{religion} Gay bishop is put on blacklist by Anglicans, or as I call it: Bishop to Right Wing religious Pawns. He's here. He's queer. Get used to it. Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay elected Episcopalian Bishop, I salute and admire you. How can true Christians be so opposed to another human being has always both disgusted and amused me.

{politics} The Democratic Presidential candidates Debate Tuesday night was interesting. Especially when Howard Dean was bitchslapped by Al Sharpeton right at the start. That was quite entertaining. I think he took offense to Dean sidestepping the question he was asked about his recent Confederate flag comment. Then Al got even more ramped up when Dean began his answer with: "Martin Luther King said it best when..." Sharpeton then volleyed: "I was with MLK back then; I didn't just read about him in books. It was a beautiful thing. I'm sure the Repubs were lovin' it. As long as the Dems will fight among themselves, they won't attack them. But I felt Dean's arrogance had to be addressed.

{technical} Spybot found 757 potentially spyware files on my hard drive. And meg thought she had a problem with 180. I need to read further to see what I do next with them little fuckers. I thought I did something similar about 6 months ago, but evidentally, I didn't.

Now to go spend some quality time away from my family.

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Good Friday morning....

Very surreal about the dead Hussein brothers pics. Wish I hadn't viewed the close-up 'pores, nose hairs and all' pic that AOL had.

Here's Jeff Jarvis' AOL Journal (AOL's pending blogs) he's experimenting with. But if you're an AOL subscriber, beta blog your own damn self. I did.

Buy land on the moon. Great views; killer commute.

Hollywood Stock Exchange site has been around a long time. Buy stock in movies and actors.

Karen has experience massive heat waves in Utah in the 100's. Anyone else had 100°+ temps? And Sara had 105° in Sacreamento this week. I suppose MEG did also. I don't think it's ever been that hot here in the mountain range (NC) I live in.

Rob at Cockeyed has an interesting tale of How Much Is Inside A Chevy Trailblazer? that's currently making the rounds.

Another of those Email Mob Project gatherings Tuesday in Minneapolis at Fimoculous. Pics on his site. Here is the Smart Mob site with globally updated info on Mobs, including the recent Rome and upcoming Paris gatherings.

Quote For Today
You don't have to see the top of the staircase to take the first step. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you can't laugh at yourself, allow me.

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Why is it that FoxNews' Bill O'Reilly gets a pass but Trent Lott has to step down? At a Republican fund raiser, he is heard saying "I hope they're not in the parking lot stealing my hubcaps," referring to a group of inner city students who're are there to sing. After his "wetback" reference last month, methinks we need a muzzle for Bill.

Greenville, SC, two counties over from me, and birthplace of Rev Jesse Jackson, still shot down approval of a Martin Luther King Day yesterday. Unbelieveable.

Irish actor, Colin Farrell is poised to put his hell-raising talents to test - by playing legendary bad boy rocker Ozzy Osbourne. This should be pretty interesting.

All My Children, will be showing the first daytime lesbian kiss on April 22. Hopefully, one day this will be so normal that it will no longer be newsworthy.

The Penis Blog Project--match the blogger to the penis. Sounds like fun. Anyone for Sushi? (Not Safe For Work.)

(You've probably seen these already.) First we had the Iraqui regime playing cards. And, now there's the Bush regime playing cards. I'll pass.

**This slow-ass dial-up, low memory dinosaur I'm typing on freezes up each time I try to open Serenity's site today. I can tell she's got a new design and that it's a lovely pink color, but it freezes up and I can't get in. Will try again later, Srenity. I bet it looks great.
**updated @ 1:02 pm

Quote For Today
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust

I still miss my ex-husband. Will my aim ever improve?

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I still wish for peace.....

I'm sitting here with two candles burning and the hum of the television's war reports are on in the background. I'm tired of watching the news, but I can't stop either. I've been numb for the past few days. I'm digesting and processing this vulgar war in Iraq and the war in the streets as police use violence against peaceful protesters. This processing and digesting is my calm before the storm. Soon cynicism will pay me a visit and I'll brace for the rage within.

After the initial bombing in Iraq when they thought they'd located Saddam and/or his sons, medical personnel were summoned to that location soon after the bombs stopped. Speculation is that the medical attention was either for Saddam or his sons. [via: washington post]

San Francisco protestors stage a 'vomit-in'. How gross.

Rate My Gasmask?

Look vampy, not trampy. 'Releasing Your Inner Slut'. (Release her, hell. I'm having trouble reeling her in.)

What is Victoria's Secret? (may NOT be safe for work)

More blogging from Baghdad. But he lives there with his family.

Duke (3) won Thursday night against Colorado State (16), 67 - 57. But it was very close at times. They're definitely not the powerhouse team of past years where each game win came easily for them.

Quotes Of Peace For Today
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
~Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.
~Mahatma Gandhi
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Aural sex gives me an earie feeling.

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Good Morning...

MoveOn is suggesting we put lights in our windows to keep the light of reason and hope burning, to let others know that they are not alone, and to show the way home to the young men and women who are on their way to Iraq. If you will light a candle or even string some old Christmas lights, stop by and sign their list.

Protesting against the war this time around is so much different than the protesting I did in the late 60's, early 70's. Of course, it was a different time. But, I can now separate the man or woman from the mission. Before, I not only protested the Vietnam war, I protested against everyone who was fighting for it. Loudly. I hated all the participants. Now, I have a slightly different opinion of the soldiers, airmen, marines, etc. I don't know if they've changed, but I'm not fueled by hate for anything. Years ago, many protests were organized by radical groups; now, just a few. College protests and rock concerts were accompanied by the National Guard or cops in riot gear on a regular basis. Not only was the war an issue, but women's rights were being born; civil rights were in their infancy. There was a lot of hate, lots of drugs, lots of sex, lots of violence. A very painful time to grow up in.

A time of hope, then disillusionment, hope, disillusionment.
Hope when we all came together to protest the unfairness of Vietnam, when we all dug Jimi, Dylan, Zeppelin, the Stones; getting high and high hopes of an intellectual, spiritual revolution that could change the world.
Disillusionment, with Watergate, Nixon, Dead Kennedys, Watts.
Hope again; the strength we had at Woodstock, the march on the Washington Monument, and the newfound Equal Rights Amendment.
Disillusionment again; Four Dead in Ohio, and Martin Luther King shot, riots and fires in the streets. A very different time, indeed.

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The Little Mermaid's penis, Jessica Rabbit's beaver? Got my attention. Take a look for yourself. It's kinda silly; mostly hidden items or something that appears to be something else.

Send a message in a bottle. Fill out the form, pick your exotic beach location, and the kind folks who live there will toss your message in a bottle out to sea. This looks like loads of fun.

Most high school yearbooks now online. See if you can find yours.

Winking Jesus site. See if he winks at you. It has changed some people's lives, so it says. Holy vulnerability, Batman!
[via: linkydinky.com]

Don't like Bush? Send him a pretzel.
[via: blogdex]

Flashbacks
1977-Anita Bryant's Cure--A spoof of her claim to cure homosexuality in 10 days from the folks at National Lampoon. Anyone remember her and the uproar she caused?
[via: crackbaby.com]

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Prayers ascending today for my best friend, Dena. Her liver may have tried to shut down so she went into the hospital last night. If you offer prayers to anyone, could you please add one for her?

You know it's another bad day when you see that the local gas station's ladder is leaning on its gas prices sign.

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Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday
Visit The King Center site.



"I have a dream...
I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government. ...[F]or the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.


Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil-hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars-must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
I remember how distraught the country was as we watched this great man lose his biggest fight of all to racial ignorance. I had thought some progress with racial harmony had been made until Dr King got shot, only to realize we hadn't even begun to fight against the ugly stain of racial injustice.

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This is how we cut and paste
Are too many children on psychiatric drugs? Ritalin, or even Prozac, etc. A recent AOL poll says 70% of people surveyed believe they are. There's so many children experiencing ADD/ADHD symptoms. How do you know if it affects your child or even you? Here's an ADD Overview Guide or checklist for you that many physicians use.

Happy Birthday to Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart today. I had given him mention on Jan 10th post about being a new father.

Ten Years After Regroup - without Alvin Lee.
Tired of waiting for singer/guitarist Alvin Lee to rejoin them, the other three original members of Ten Years After have re-formed the band with 25-year-old guitar discovery Joe Gooch. "Alvin doesn't want to play with us," drummer Ric Lee (no relation) said. "We've asked him several times over the last year...but he has always declined." The new-look TYA are curently recording an album and are planning British dates in May.

Visions of siliconed gum-snapping heavily eyelinered hell. So this is New Jersey? I don't think so. Another small-minded pseudo-humorous attempt. I don't believe guidos respresent NJ anymore than hillbillies represent North Carolina.

Everyone's talking about GeoUrl. Kim and Bea have liked the idea. So I finally signed up with them. It keeps track of your location so you can find other webloggers in your area.

"It's not just a hairstyle, it's a lifestyle," the liner notes proclaim. In homage to one of America's most revered hairstyles, Epic/Legacy will merge 35 hard stomping classics for "Mullets Rock!," a two-CD set due March 4. Endorsing the slogan, "Play it loud, wear it proud," the collection touts 1970s and '80s rock classics from the likes of Foghat ("Slow Ride"), Molly Hatchet ("Flirtin' With Disaster"), Quiet Riot ("Metal Health"), and Alice Cooper ("School's Out.") Here is the track list for "Mullets Rock!" Must fire up the El Camino and breeze it down to the store for that slamming eight track real soon.

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