In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, We Find Our Own
from: In Search Of Our Mothers’ Gardens, Womanist Prose, 1983
(in English y Español)
How to read this page: The Spanish translation, by Cuban poet Manuel Verdecia, will usually appear shortly after the English post. Scroll down to other, earlier entries in English and Spanish. Amanda Navarro is webmaster.
May 2017
Julian Assange spoke from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on Friday, May 19, 2017
Acts of Truth
©2017 by Alice Walker
Inspired by mythologist, Michael Meade
For Julian Assange
Michael was telling us the other night
About some things that might save the world.
One of them surprised me, but the more I thought about it
The more it made sense.
The whole world can be saved and if not the whole world
Then the world of our relationships
Which is, you know, the world,
By committing simple acts of truth.
In the story Michael tells
A dying child cannot live
If his parents cannot find courage enough
To commit an act of truth.
So the father after much blather
Admits he is and has been a fraud
In practically everything he’s done;
The mother says she never loved
Him even in the fake throes
Of passionate love.
Even the monk who is called on
To help these hapless liars
Admits he has no real
Idea of the right path
Or the honest way. He only
Took holy vows because
A person taking holy vows
Is admired.
At each act of truth
Each utterance of what is true
The child revives
Little by little
Until he is whole enough
To finally skip away.
That child is our ailing world, our human
Universe;
Lying, dying, right at death’s door.
And each of us -
Lying about everything
Imaginable
Including hair color and
Concern about polluting the water,
Fur coats
And love of animals;
That catsup on our diamonds,
The bombings and oil thirst -
Must now decide:
Do we want our child, this world,
To live,
Or must it die?
Can we commit an act of truth
That begins
To set it, skipping once more,
On healthy feet?
Because I’ve known humans
At their best
I know we are capable
Maybe not all of us
But enough
To commit daily
Radical acts of truth.
There is even a collective one:
We can cease to lie to confuse
The neighbors
Whether next door or
In countries we’ve never seen.
We can be deeper,
More courageous, indeed more fearless
And much simpler
Than we know.
Standing in our acts of truth
Our words of truth
As others, like small children watching
A fascinating and very unusual game,
Skip to join us.
###
Photo by Tenzin Walker
March/April 2017
Bowing : Ta Prohm Temple , Anghor Wat, Cambodia Photo by Rebecca Walker
Temple Poem for Rebecca and Tenzin Walker
©2017 by Alice Walker
What a moment of humorous wonder
to realize the long road home
is long precisely because it is the road
that is home.
And so I bow
to you
Nature in all your forms
including this
small musing
and thankful one: for
endlessly reclaiming
and proclaiming
Yourself
through whatever we thought
(our prideful delusion)
was
(temporarily)
us.
Photo by anonymous
February 2017
JOIN ALICE WALKER AND SPECIAL GUESTS
For A Magical Weekend of Storytelling, Community Healing, and Action For The Common Good
We are delighted to announce that this April, you’re invited to join distinguished writer and activist Alice Walker at the third annual Movies & Meaning Festival for a long weekend of art, storytelling, and tooling up for social justice work and community healing. Participants will be inspired and challenged by artists, activists, and spiritual leaders who work at the intersection of creativity, peace, spirituality, and social change.
READ MORE ABOUT Movies and Meaning Festival April 27-30 2017
Listen to Michael Meade’s Podcast : EPISODE 7: The Limits of Deceit
Source: Mosaicvoices
https://www.mosaicvoices.org
January 2017
Sobonfu Somé
You left us on the day women all over the world
Are rising.
Well, you rose too, sweetest
Of sisters.
You rose and I can see you smiling
As you returned to the village
Of Dano.
The ancestors
Who, as they are wont to do,
Asked far too much of you,
Are there to receive you.
I hope they are!
For how were they to know
Into what poverty of spirit
What deeply injured soul space
They sent you?
You were sent to heal a people
Who do not even realize
They are unwell!
Oh, my sister, whom I loved
The instant I saw
Your sweet smile,
Far too much was asked
Of you.
And you, being Sobonfu,
The light of the village
That raised you,
Tried to do every single
Thing they said
You must.
We, here in this blighted land,
Could see this.
You saw it too, but it did not
Stop you.
You told us we needed to weep,
To cry, to moan, to roll on the ground
If we felt like it
But by all means
To express our agony
That we are so lost.
But where were we
When you were lost?
Lost in the loneliness and vastness
Of your task.
Forgive us
That we did not know
How to be better sisters
To you. Better brothers,
Better sick Americans.
When you enter the village
You are safe again. There will
Be sufficient tears, crying out,
Rolling on the ground, covering of heads
With ash.
That is my hope, anyway,
Blessed healer of our people
All our people,
Returning so soon
And in this abrupt way
You leave us
To demonstrate
All you taught us
About grief.
–
El poema, Sobonfu Somé, también se ofrece en español
PRAYER TO THE GREAT AWARENESS
Copyright 2017 by Alice Walker
January 21, 2017
(For the awakening.)
I do not doubt that you are there
and that I am also, in some future
past time;
and that together
we are enjoying it all.
And so I thank you,
Great Awareness
in which I also live,
for Calla Lillies
and Birds
and Hollyhocks
and Bougainvillea
and the aroma
of a good posole
and the fit of a new dress.
There are then the stars
that I love
and the rivers
I adore
and the single leaves
of trees in which I can
lose my temporary
this moment self in.
The sheer wonder
of it all.
And women marching
everywhere!
And being the most
wondrous of the human lot
with their amazing capacity
to recreate the human universe.
Oh, Great and Everlasting Awareness
I have been with you
while looking for you
all my long life!
And here you turn up
today
as you do everyday
as myself,
all the awakened women,
children,
and men,
in the world,
and Everything else.
***
Oracion Por La Gran Conciencia
December 2016
I love the truth of this woman. She has always been standing where she stands now.
Even though times are hard, how lucky we are to see this
and to know what we are seeing. -AW
Read and Sign the Call to Action to STOP Trump and Pence
BEFORE they Come to Power.
Join Cornel West, Niles Eldridge, Fran Luck, Carl Dix and others in signing the Mission Statement of Refuse Fascism. Add Your Name, Print This Call, and Spread it Everywhere. Or ADD YOUR NAME Go to: Refusefascism.org
***
In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America!
Read the full posting for Refuse to Accept a Fascist America y tambien, En Español
***
Lee y Firma El Llamado a la acción para detener a Trump y Pence
antes de que asuman el poder.
Únete a Carl West, Niles Eldridge, Fran Luck, Carl Dix y otros más en la firma de esta Declaración de Rechazo al Fascismo. Añade tu nombre, imprime este llamado y distribúyelo por todas partes.
*** #refusefascism #nofascistUSA ***
En nobre de la humanidad nos negamos a aceptar unos Estados Unidos fascistas.
Donald Trump, el presidente electo, está estructurando un régimen de grave peligro. Millones de personas en los EE.UU. y en todo el mundo se sienten llenos de profunda ansiedad, temor y disgusto. Nuestra angustia es acertada y justa. Nuestra cólera debe convertirse ahora en resistencia masiva antes de que Donald Trump se instaure como presidente y tenga las riendas del poder en sus manos.
Si los millones que somos fallamos en alzarnos con determinación y coraje para detener esto, las consecuencias para la humanidad serán desastrosas. Nosotros, los abajo firmantes, percibimos desde lo más profundo de nuestros seres, la catástrofe que acaecerá a los pueblos del mundo si Trump/Pence asumen el poder…
Para leer más, Lee y Firma El Llamado a la acción para detener a Trump y Pence antes de que asuman el poder
***
Photo by Alice Walker
A Good Day To Die
Copyright © 2016 by Alice Walker
the inner Standing Rock
There comes a time in life
when we realize it is okay to die.
Right now, like this, in this moment.
It is not suicidal this thought
but comes rather from a sense
of completion.
It may come upon us
many times,
this sense of readiness,
if we allow waves of awe to catch us
where we deeply live and remain fully there
to receive them.
I was sitting in the hot tub
this morning
tending my sciatica
while pondering this.
It wasn’t the pain,
it was the sky.
Where I live and dream
in the slumbering hills
of Northern California
there is something
a great brilliant fog in the morning
that collects itself into a thousand shapes
before it rolls and curls leisurely
over the tops of redwood trees
toward the not so distant,
not quite audible ocean
on the coast.
It is ” The Dragon”
of our neighborhood
and this morning
it was spectacular.
Dripping wet
clutching my towel
and my camera
I could not stop
taking pictures of it.
Or exclaiming aloud
in astonishment.
An hour later it is still there.
Unfurling its luminous tail,
meandering on,
scattering its
shimmering scales
of foggy soul
across a low and wet
dark blue and pewter sky.
And I am left breathless
in the bliss of being a Cosmic
Earthling.
My destiny to be
Everything
and Always to be.
Like water in the fog:
unbounded forever
and forever
never free.
:::
El poema, UN BUEN DÍA PARA MORIR, en Español
:::
November 25, bless Fidel, 2016 
Photo by Gloria LaRiva
Dear amazing brother, you made it all the way home!
May this be the joy that always greets you.
~
Querido asombroso hermano, has hecho todo el trayecto a casa,
Que sea el júbilo el que siempre te acompañe.
Fidel Castro: Compassionate Revolutionary
Originally posted on Alicewalkersgarden.com in August 2016
Fidel Castro: Compassionate Revolutionary
Copyright© 2016 by Alice Walker
(For a book to be presented to Fidel this week honoring his birth.)
Fidel Castro is the most extraordinary person I have encountered, whether in real life, history, or fiction. It is a gift to have been born in his time and to witness his nerve, intelligence, audacity, and wit. He is a revolutionary in feeling as well as in thought.
There is a thrilling backstory to how I came to “meet” Fidel, but I will not go into it here: but there I was, years ago, when I was eighteen, traveling in a quaint wood paneled train deep inside the Crimea, while reading his absorbing book HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME on how and why he became a revolutionary. It is a compelling record of his endeavor to free his people from a crushing dictatorship, written shortly before he was captured and put on trial for doing so.
Continue reading the post, Fidel Castro: Compassionate Revolutionary
November 22, bless Kennedy, 2016
Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, sung by the Staple Singers
THE PRIZE IS POETRY
POETRY IS THE PRIZE
IT NEEDS NO OTHER.
-AW
EL PREMIO ES LA POESÍA
LA POESÍA ES EL PREMIO
NO SE NECESITA OTRO.
-AW
November 9, 2016
Don’t Despair
Copyright © 2016 by Alice Walker
When I was a child growing up in middle Georgia, I thought all white men were like Donald Trump. They too seemed petulant and spoiled, unhappy with everything they were not the center of, brutal toward the feelings of those “beneath” them, and comfortable causing others to act out of hate. How did we survive this?
I think of my father, a poor sharecropper with many children, so desperate for change in a system that left his family in danger of starving that he walked to the polling place – a tiny, white owned store in the middle of nowhere – to cast the first vote by a black person in the county. Three white men holding shotguns sat watching him, for niggers were not supposed to vote and they were there to enforce this common law. My father voted for Roosevelt and a “New Deal” he hoped would also apply to black people.
I come from a line of folks who chose to live or die on their feet. My 4-Greats grandmother was forced to walk chained from a slave ship in Virginia, and carried two small children that probably weren’t hers all the way to Middle Georgia. There she was forced to work for strange, pale people who could only have appeared to be demons to her. She was given as a wedding gift to a young married couple when she was advanced in age; what the story of this event was is a mystery to this day. All we know is that she lived to bury all these people and that it is her who is remembered.
My aunts and uncles learned trades – tailoring, bricklaying, masonry, house-building – whatever was allowed for black people, and raised their children in homes of stability and even comfort, while the white world beyond their neighborhoods attempted to squeeze them into corners so tiny that to the majority of “citizens” of the cities they lived in, they did not even exist.
How to survive dictatorship. That is what much of the rest of the world has had to learn. Our country has imposed this condition on so many places and peoples around the globe it is naive to imagine we would avoid it. Besides, do Native Americans and African American descendents of enslaved people not realize they have never lived in anything but a dictatorship?
In this election we did not really have a healthy choice, as is said in a commercial for something I vaguely remember. Or, as a friend puts it: “‘the “choice” was between disaster and catastrophe.”‘ If this puzzles you, here is the next step of my counsel: Study. Really attempt to understand the people you are voting for. What are they doing when they’re not smiling at you in anticipation of your vote? Study hard, deeply, before the Internet is closed, before books are disappeared. Know your history and the ways it has been kept secret from you. Understand how politicians you vote for understand your history better than you do; which helps them manipulate your generations. It is our ignorance that keeps us hoping somebody we elect will do all the work while we drive off to the mall. Forget this behavior as if it were a dream. It was. In some way, many of us will find, perhaps to our astonishment, that we have not really lived until this moment.
Our surprise, our shock, our anger, all of it points to how fast asleep we were.
This is not a lament. It is counsel. It is saying: We can awaken completely. The best sign of which will be how we treat every being who crosses our path. For real change is personal. The change within ourselves expressed in our willingness to hear, and have patience with, the “other.” Together we move forward. Anger, the pointing of fingers, the wishing that everyone had done exactly as you did, none of that will help relieve our pain. We are here now. In this scary, and to some quite new and never imagined place. What do we do with our fear?
Do we turn on others, or toward others? Do we share our awakening, or only our despair?
The choice is ours.
November 8 2016
I am spending election day burning a candle for four extraordinary people: Mumia Abu Jamal, Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden. I was thinking about all of them this morning in meditation. So I labeled it “thinking,” as we are taught, and went back to Om Nama Shivaya. But they all came right back to mind when meditation was over.
What is it about this gang of four, other than they’re all locked up? (Exile is also a lock up.) I was thinking about this a lot, tossing out words that almost fit. The one word that does hold up is -they are decent human beings. If there is a right thing to be done in a situation, they are committed to doing it. This is extraordinary, really, when one thinks about it. And yet, didn’t decent behavior used to be common?
In any case, I turned to You Tube to watch videos of Julian Assange, especially the one he did recently with John Pilger, the Australian journalist, who is incredibly decent his own self.
They are discussing how, even though all charges against Assange have been dropped; including that by the “raped” woman who confessed the police made her do it (lie about Assange; that he raped her), he must remain in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London or risk arrest and detention if he steps outside the door. He’s been there four years, living in two rooms, with no sun at all.
I have stepped inside that door to visit him, a few years ago. As I have stepped into two prisons to see Mumia and would gladly step over to Russia to bring Snowden some home cooked collard greens, and Chelsea Manning a really loving, sisterly hug. How can we bear that these amazing people are in exile and prison? That Chelsea recently tried to take her own life? Chelsea, one of the best people on the planet. While we are surrounded by people who are not at all in her league; and voting for some of them to rule over us this very day.
I think from my visit with Assange that he is an honest person. An example of this is that even though we had limited time to talk, and a horrible hit piece had just been done on him, one that, on reading, had rattled me quite a bit, he went to great pains to explain to me that “math” and “arithmetic” are different. That my father, whom I always lament was a “mathematician” who ended up plowing vast cotton fields, was not really good at “math” but at “arithmetic.” It was annoying.
But he was right. So there’s that. A stubborn insistence on the exact reality.
And that is what I am thinking about this election day. How to retain a stubborn insistence on the exact reality. US America’s political system is not working for the planetary common good. At all. In fact, it works against peace as if it is a disease. It makes enemies daily that we can never outlive. No amount of dreaming and pretending will make our country’s unpardonable behavior disappear. Only paying attention to the truth tellers, the whistle-blowers, honoring men and women like Ann Wright and Daniel Ellsberg and Jill Stein might at least permit us to breathe. To meditate on other possibilities. And to pay attention to our own sense of what is decent and what is right. And above all, listening to Indigenous lovers of this land, those at Standing Rock, and especially the spectacularly decent teachers of humankind: the Hopi.
October 2016
Yemanjá:
Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil
Narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker
A film by Donna C. Roberts and Donna Read
A documentary film about the Candomblé religion in Bahia, Brazil, a vibrant African-derived culture which evolved from the days of enslaved Africans. Elder women leaders tell stories of Candomblé’s history, social challenges and triumphs, grounded in strong community, and Earth-based wisdom and practice.
I have just returned from the beautiful city of Pittsburgh, a place of three rivers! And a fourth that is underground. This means a wonderful energy that has produced many artists, many musicians, whose names appear on some of the apartment buildings and houses. Friends and I were there celebrating the screening of the film Yemanjá, Wisdom From the African Heart of Brazil. My own heart was completely there; it was also with the Water Protectors of Standing Rock. Both cultures revere and protect water. In fact, as can be seen in the film, Yemanjá is the Goddess or Orixá of water, particularly that of oceans. There is also a Goddess of fresh water. In any case, all water is understood to be completely sacred.
I believe it is on this issue, the sacredness of water, that all indigenous and true Earth identified people connect. I send this video out then to all who are risking their lives and livelihoods to protect water, wherever it exists, whether in the earth, the sky, or our bodies.
———-
Yemayá: Sabiduría desde el corazón africano de Brasil
Narrado por la autora, Premio-Pulitzer, Alice Walker
Una película de Donna C. Roberts y Donna Read
Es una película documental sobre la religión Candomble en Bahía, Brasil, un vibrante elemento cultural derivado de la cultura Africana que se desarrolló a partir de los días de los esclavos africanos. Viejas líderes cuentan anécdotas de la historia, los desafíos sociales y los triunfos del Candomble, basadas en una fuerte sabiduría y una práctica enraizadas en la comunidad y la Tierra.
¡Acabo de volver de la hermosa ciudad de Pittsburgh, un lugar de tres ríos! Y un cuarto que es subterráneo. Esto implica una energía maravillosa que ha dado muchos artistas, muchos músicos, cuyos nombres aparecen en algunos de los apartamentos y casas. Mis amigos y yo estábamos allí celebrando la proyección del filme Yemayá, sabiduría desde el corazón africano de Brasil. Mi propio corazón estaba totalmente allá; estaba también con los defensores del agua en Standing Rock. Ambas culturas reverencian y protegen el agua. De hecho, como puede verse en la película, Yemayá es la diosa u oricha del agua, en especial la de los océanos. Hay también una diosa del agua dulce. En cualquier caso, toda el agua se entiende que es totalmente sagrada.
Creo que es en este aspecto, el carácter sagrado del agua, en el que todos los pueblos indígenas y verdaderamente identificados con la Tierra se relacionan. Envío este vídeo a todos los que estén arriesgando sus vidas y sustentos por proteger el agua, dondequiera que exista, bien sea en la tierra, el cielo, o en nuestros cuerpos.
Buffalo just came out to support the people at Standing Rock
Buffalo acaba de salir para apoyar a la gente en Standing Rock
Source photo of Buffalo at Standing Rock
Video source: Vimeo
::
After Wednesday’s debate, Democracy Now! spoke to Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee. She and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson were excluded from the debate under stringent rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is controlled by the Democratic and Republican parties.
– en español –
Tras el debate del miércoles, ¡Democracia ahora! habló con la Dra. Jill Stein, la candidata por el Partido Verde. Ella y el candidato libertario Gary Johnson fueron excluidos del debate bajo normas estrictas establecidas por la Comisión para los Debates Presidenciales, la cual está controlada por los partidos Demócrata y Republicano.
Fuente de video.
September video posted here has vanished. But there are other videos by David Icke at YouTube.
The videos about the demonization of Russia, the background to the wars in Middle Eastern countries, the information about vaccinations, all are of vital importance to our thinking. Agreement isn’t the issue as much as awareness.
I spent all day last Saturday from ten o’clock in the morning to after ten o’clock at night (with a break for lunch, stretches, walks and a nap in my car) listening to a presentation by David Icke who is traveling the planet with his Phantom Self, World Wake Up Tour. He was extraordinary, as usual, and held the packed audience’s attention as he carried us through teachings welcome to some and no doubt too frightening to be welcome to others. Like Assange and Manning and Snowden and others that have appeared to shed light on these dark times, Icke is considered a prophet or a madman, depending on how open one can be to what he has devoted his life to share; i.e. his vast research and understanding of how humanity has wound up on the verge of murdering itself. I find him refreshing, myself, especially during this period of election coverage that seems from another reality entirely than the one real people live in, and is.
For friends who couldn’t attend the talk or who balked at the thought of sitting anywhere, listening to anyone, for ten hours, I decided to find, among Icke’s numerous videos, one lecture that might offer an introduction that wouldn’t be too scary for folks leery of being nudged in a direction of inquiry that might upset, destroy possibly, their world view. I think this one might fit the bill.
I notice that Icke’s own visual presentations are sometimes supplanted by weird scenes that have nothing to do with what he’s talking about. A kind of creeping censorship, no doubt. Which means, really, don’t wait to learn from a great teacher, even as you reserve your right to disagree with him, or it might soon be too late.
-Alice Walker
Por favor, lea Enemigos en La Puerta
The name “Lucy,” which appears in the following poem, was given by paleoanthropologists to the fossilized skeleton of the most ancient, recognizably human ancestral figure ever found. A female being who lived on the African continent some three million years ago. WINNIE MANDELA WE LOVE YOU by Alice Walker Winnie Mandela We love you. If we had known you In a time of peace We would have loved Your peacefulness Your quiet so deep It did not hear The call To fight. We missed our chance. Winnie Mandela We love you. In a time of war We love your ferocity. We love your vigilance. We love your impatience With killers And charlatans. We love your hatred Of the deaths of our people. We love your hatred Of despair. Winnie Mandela We love you. We love your beauty. We love your style. We love your hats, Scarves And various lengths Of hair. We love the passion In your body. The fury in your eyes. When you smile We are amazed. We love your loyalty To Nelson The beautiful. Your attention to The children And the voluptuousness Of the countryside Which will be ours Again. We love your memory Of details. We love that you do not intend To forget. Winnie Mandela, “Lucy,” We love you For helping us recognize The eternity you’ve been with us before. Winnie Mandela, Sister, We love you. Yours is the contemporary face Of the mother Of the human race.
(For some reason this poem has lost its poetic shape! But not its meaning. -AW)
From Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems 1965-1990 Complete, Harcourt Brace publishers; by Alice Walker
Happy Birthday, Beloved! 26th September. // ¡Feliz cumpleaños, querida! 26 de septiembre
This poem was published in the Eighties, while Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned. Winnie Mandela was raising their children alone while also being recognized by black people as “the mother of the Nation.” Life would take a terrible turn in her personal journey, which is well worth studying, for the light it sheds on how and why people sometimes change course, or break. But having endured her personal Calvary Winnie Mandela rose again to lead, teach, and protect her people.
When her daughters – who I sometimes felt were also my daughters while they were growing up without their father, and, because of her many arrests and bannings, frequently without their mother – asked if i would read this poem for their mother at her 80th birthday celebration in Johannesburg I was happy to do so. (This was accomplished via video shot by filmmaker Pratibha Parmar). Ironically Nelson Mandela was released from prison on Parmar’s birthday, Feb. 11, 1990.
Winnie Mandela’s life is precious to all people who understand what a trial it is simply to exist, standing your ground against forces that despise and abuse you, over decades and centuries. Whoever is perfect in their response to the murder of a people’s soul, may judge whatever is impossible to understand.
August 2016
An inspiring example of the passion of caring. -AW
Video Source: The Sane Progressive
Never Give Up: Even when the way of Peace is sabotaged or difficult to read….
Fidel Castro: Compassionate Revolutionary
Copyright© 2016 by Alice Walker
(For a book to be presented to Fidel this week honoring his birth.)
Fidel Castro is the most extraordinary person I have encountered, whether in real life, history, or fiction. It is a gift to have been born in his time and to witness his nerve, intelligence, audacity, and wit. He is a revolutionary in feeling as well as in thought.
There is a thrilling backstory to how I came to “meet” Fidel, but I will not go into it here: but there I was, years ago, when I was eighteen, traveling in a quaint wood paneled train deep inside the Crimea, while reading his absorbing book HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME on how and why he became a revolutionary. It is a compelling record of his endeavor to free his people from a crushing dictatorship, written shortly before he was captured and put on trial for doing so.
I recognized him immediately – as I read across endless, often quite spectacular, miles of Russia (the old Soviet Union)…
Continue Reading Fidel Castro: Compassionate Revolutionary
Leer más Revolucionario Fidel Castro Compasiva
###
Breathing in
I thank Thich Nhat Hahn
Breathing Out
I thank him more.
-AW
Why vote for evil (lesser is still evil) when you can vote for good?
Most of us have never won an election anyway. The self-deception is believing you have. And we’ve certainly never “won” democracy.
Bernie sure did look good, though.
-AW
Cornel West: Why I Endorse Green Party’s Jill Stein Over “Neoliberal Disaster” Hillary Clinton
This article is also translated into Spanish/Español
JULY 18, 2016
STORY - http://www.democracynow.org/2016/7/18/why_a_member_of_the_democratic
AMY GOODMAN: You are endorsing Dr. Jill Stein. You were a surrogate for Bernie Sanders. You spoke all over the country for him.
CORNEL WEST: Yes, yes, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: What made you decide to support the Green Party presidential candidate as opposed to Hillary Clinton?
CORNEL WEST: Well, I’ve never been tied to one party or one candidate or even one institution. And that’s true even with one church as a Christian. I’m committed to truth and justice. And Brother Bernie, no doubt, was the standard-bearer for truth and justice during the primary at a national level, at a highly visible level. Once he endorsed Hillary Clinton, who, for me, is a neoliberal disaster, it was clear—
AMY GOODMAN: What do mean by that?
CORNEL WEST: A neoliberal disaster is one who generates a mass incarceration regime, who deregulates banks and markets, who promotes chaos of regime change in Libya, supports military coups in Honduras, undermines some of the magnificent efforts in Haiti of working people, and so forth. That’s the record of Hillary Clinton. So there was no way—when my dear brother, who I love very deeply, Bernie Sanders said she will make an outstanding president, I said, “Oh, I disagree with my brother. I think she’ll—I don’t think she’ll make an outstanding president at all.” She’s a militarist. She’s a hawk. She could take us into war with Russia. She could take us into war with Iran. So, I mean, I think she’s—she’s dangerous in terms of her neoliberal ideology—not as a woman, because I’m supporting, of course, my dear sister Jill Stein.
I think after a magnificent campaign of Bernie Sanders, the next step is a green step. The next step is a progressive step. And when you’re calling for reparations, you’re calling for the release of prisoners who have been historically unfairly treated, especially tied to nonviolent crimes, and then saying they should vote and that vote should never be taken away, when you’re calling—putting people and planet and peace before profits, Sister Jill Stein, for me, is somebody that’s worth fighting for. And she’s not a spoiler. You know, a lot of people use that term “spoiler.” If Hillary Clinton can’t make the case to progressives, she doesn’t deserve our vote.
Now, Trump is a neofascist in the making. There’s no doubt about that.
AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump.
CORNEL WEST: Yeah. Oh, there’s no doubt about that. But the thing is, is that you can’t just be a non-Trump and deserve one’s vote. If Hillary Clinton wants the vote of progressives, she better be real about it. But I don’t think she has the capacity to be real about it. She’s so tied to Wall Street. She’s so tied to the corporate elite.
AMY GOODMAN: Why do you say he’s a neofascist, Donald Trump, the—
CORNEL WEST: Because neofascism in the United States takes the form of big money, big banks, big corporations, tied to xenophobic scapegoating of the vulnerable, like Mexicans and Muslims and women and black folk, and militaristic policies abroad, with strongman, charismatic, autocratic personality, and that’s what Donald Trump is…
…Please Continue Reading, Cornel West: Why I Endorse Green Party’s Jill Stein Over “Neoliberal Disaster” Hillary Clinton
…Continúe leyendo, Cornel West En “DEMOCRACIA AHORA” Explica Por Que Apoya A Jill Stein Del Partido Verde En Vez Del “Desastre Neoliberal” Hillary Clinton
This is the news of which tears and smiles are made. As Celie Johnson might say: I loves folks. -AW
Did You See Our Palestine Signs at the DNC? Rabbi Shmuley Did.
by Tamar Ghabin, Government Affairs Associate, and Josh Ruebner, Policy Director
July 29th, 2016
WATCH: Visible Support for Palestinian Rights at DNC
| DNC delegates raise the Palestinian flag on the convention floor. |
“All the…pro-Palestinian yellow stickers at #DNCinPhilly are truly dispiriting,” lamented prominent right-wing Israel supporter Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Twitter.
Yep, we worked with delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to distribute thousands of our “Progressive for Palestine” and “I Support Palestinian Human Rights” t-shirts, signs, stickers and buttons to more than 30 state delegations!
This presence was, Al Jazeera reported, a “show of force” in support of Palestinian human rights “unprecedented at other political conventions.”
Watch and share our 90-second video showing a few of the many hundreds of delegates who proudly demonstrated their support for Palestinian rights on the floor of the DNC. Watch our videos from the DNC.
In fact, DNC delegates were so receptive that we actually had trouble keeping up with the demand for materials!
After seeing these signs and stickers on TV and social media, many people have been asking us: how can we get this #ProgressiveforPalestine swag?
It’s easy. Just click here to make a donation to the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and we’ll be glad to send some to you too.
Creating this visible presence at the DNC in support of Palestinian rights, which built on our similar work in Cleveland at the RNC, was just one of the things we did this week in Philadelphia.
On Monday, we organized a path-breaking panel for delegates, cosponsored by member group American Friends Service Committee, entitled “Progressive for Palestine: Is the US Ready to Rethink Policy on Israel?”
The standing-room-only crowd heard a special video message from Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who assured us that thanks to the tireless work of Palestine solidarity activists, the conversation on Capitol Hill is changing for the better.
And Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) spoke passionately to the crowd about his work in Congress to hold Israel accountable for violations of US weapons laws and to advocate for the human rights of Palestinian children.
We were also privileged to hear from Dr. Jim Zogby, a member of the DNC’s platform committee who pushed hard for Palestinian human rights amendments, and Linda Sarsour, the most prominent Palestinian-American surrogate for a presidential candidate.
Watch and share this inspiring event here.
In Philadelphia, we also helped organize a Palestine solidarity march with member group Philly BDS, educated delegates about the issue with member group American Muslims for Palestine, supported protests by member group Code Pink, and helped turn out crowds for panel discussions held by member group Jewish Voice for Peace and our friends at the Arab American Institute.
For example, check out our Executive Director Yousef Munayyer at this JVP-sponsored panel on Boycotting for Justice: Building Progressive Grassroots Power.
Huffington Post noted that if all of the Palestine solidarity activism on full display at the DNC “proceeds on its current trajectory, it could threaten the virtually unconditional support for Israeli government policies that has been a core tenet of both major parties for decades.”
That’s exactly right. In fact during the DNC, new polling confirmed recent trends and showed support for holding Israel accountable for settlements is supported by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders backers alike with even some support among Republicans!
Help us continue along this trajectory by making your donation today to support our ongoing work and get your #ProgressiveforPalestine swag.
Of course, creating this visible presence for Palestinian rights at the DNC cost money. Help us raise $10,000 today to recoup those costs and help launch the next phase of our work to continue to make Palestinian rights a central part of this electoral season.
Sincerely, Josh Ruebner, Policy Director
Tamar Ghabin, Government Affairs Associate
- See more at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4825
Meridian’s granddaughter. Hello, Beloved. Thank you, Leisha Evans.
Is there another way to think about this? Let us find it, quickly, together. If we don’t find it, we risk losing the friends we’ve made, the friends we love, after over half a century of work. We risk losing all the children’s trust in our ability to find a way we all can live.
http://www.lionsroar.com/a-buddhist-cops-approach-to-justice/
There used to be a wonderful phrase: Don’t believe the hype. The hype is still here; and people still believe it. That is why we love writers who get the real word out. Like this writer who tells us something I’m sure most of us didn’t know. -AW
Thanks Belvie Rooks (and brother D).
This Black Lives Matter Photo Should Be Seen Around The World – Link
Thanks William Lee, all the way from China!
***
June 2016
PLEASE POST WIDELY
7/26 Oakland Forum-Palestinian Workers, Human Rights, Labor and Zionism
July 26 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Uptown Body and Fender – 401 26th St., Oakland
Palestinian workers are under attack and they and their families face apartheid conditions. At the same time, legal efforts are being made to prevent an international boycott of Israel and labor action. Bay Area ILWU longshore workers played an important role in supporting Palestinian workers by boycotting the Israeli controlled Zim shipping line. This forum will look at the history of Zionism including the collaboration with the Nazis, and the present attack on UK Labor Party members critical of Israel who are being attacked as anti-Semites.
We will also look at the struggle of UAW 2865 to support the international boycott, and how their national leadership nullified their efforts.
Video from ILWU Zim Action On Port of Oakland will be screened.
Speakers:
Fadi Saba, President Luther Burbank Education Association CTA*
Jeff Blankfort, Editor Of Labor Bulletin On The Middle East and Radio Host of KZYX&Z Takes on The World
Lenni Brenner, Historian and author of Zionism In The Age Of Dictators
Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10 retired and Chair Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
* for identification only
Sponsored by United Public Workers For Action.
www.upwa.info <http://www.upwa.info>
Who or what are the beings that can tolerate slave ships, whether on sea or land, and cause humans to endure being “packed like sardines” on their way to forced labor. Meditating on this question is scary but must be done. -AW
Jesse Williams’ BET Awards Speech
Here is part of the problem right up front: we have to endure a MacDonald’s commercial before Jesse Williams’ speech. Surely there is a better way to honor our people than by encouraging belief that such a corporation cares about what they eat, unless it makes money for the corporation. In any case, it interrupted a poem I wanted to write about fear of blackness in white culture.
Here It Is
2016 by Alice Walker
Here it is
the beauty that scares you
-so you believe-
to death.
For he is certainly gorgeous
and he is certainly where whiteness
to your disbelief
has not wandered off
to die.
No. It is there, tawny skin, gray eyes,
a Malcolm-esque jaw. His loyal parents
may Goddess bless them
sitting proud and happy and no doubt
amazed
at what they have done.
For he is black too. And obviously
with a soul
made of everything.
Try to think bigger than you ever have
or had courage enough to do:
that blackness is not where whiteness
wanders off to die: but that it is
like the dark matter
between stars and galaxies in
the Universe
that ultimately
holds it all
together.
-AW
Three deep bows to a beautiful son.
View Video, BET Humanitarian Awards Speech by Jesse Williams
###
A thoughtful piece on our dilemma.
I remember Martin Luther King saying we might one day have the vote (people of color) and have no one to vote for. Or, we might gain entrance to “white only” restaurants and have no money to buy the food. And so on. What a prophet! I think it would help to remember not everyone in the country thinks America (North America, the US) is or ever was “great.” Looking at its truly soulless behavior against everyone except, for the most part, wealthy white people, overwhelmingly male, what would that mean? I would have liked to have experienced a “fair” nation, a “just” nation, even a “compassionate” nation, though that word probably frightens a lot of Americans.
In any case, we have reached where we were heading. Rule by the rich and insatiable. Hungry ghosts. Whatever happens with Bernie Sanders’ candidacy he makes us see an alternative. A beautiful gift. If he is sucked into supporting the prevailing charade we will mourn its loss, but hopefully we will continue to seek the light. -AW
Read, The chaos of a Hillary Clinton Presidency: Corporate dominion and a building rebellion
###
An optimistic local out for a stroll
Loving Oakland
Copyright © 2016 by Alice Walker
If gentrifiers do not despoil it
which means getting rid of poor
and black and people of color
people
Oakland can be what it has been
for a long time: an urban Paradise.
It is a place where
the young blonde woman
crossing the street in front of your car
would look like a threat
to the neighborhood
except she’s frowning
over some deep issue in her inner life
and wearing outrageous vivid blue shoes.
It is a place where
as you sit on the grass by the lake
a tall black man of a certain age
strolls by
blowing his saxophone.
You smile and bow,…
Continue reading the full poem, Loving Oakland
The Long Road Home
©2016 by Alice Walker
I am beginning to comprehend
the mystery
of the gift of suffering.
It is true as some
have said
that it is a crucible
in which the gold of one’s spirit
is rendered
and shines.
Ali,
you represent all of us
who stand the test of suffering
most often alone
because who can understand
who or what
has brought us to our feet?
Their knees worn out
ancestors stood us up
from the awkward position
they had to honor
on the floor beneath
the floor.
I have been weeping
all day
Thinking of this.
The cloud of witness
the endless teaching
the long road home.
El poema, EL LARGO CAMINO A CASA
Para Muhammad Ali se ofrece en español
Feb 20, 2011 – Uploaded by kaotikkalm
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the …
One of the few athletes who loved us more than we loved him. -Mungu Sanchez. Thank you, son.
May 2016
I have recently been sharing thoughts about books that are to me “great” in the sense of having the power to engage the reader in new ways of imagining, of loving, acting, and growing.
There are books that are great in an even more extraordinary way: they can sometimes single-handedly shift consciousness so much that a crime like enslavement of people, sometimes singly, often whole families, can at last be seen and emotionally felt for what it is. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe did this. Slave narratives like Frederick Douglass’s did this. I’ve just finished reading two harrowing books out of India that could have similar impact: RIVER OF FLESH and Other Stories: The Prostituted Woman in Indian Short Fiction, edited by Ruchira Gupta, and TOWN OF LOVE by Norwegian writer Anne Osby.
Continue reading about RIVER OF FLESH and TOWN OF LOVE o Leer El Artículo en Español
See reminder below:
The Celia Project
A Research Collaboration on the History of Slavery and Sexual Violence
Welcome
In 1855 Missouri, an enslaved woman named Celia was tried, convicted, and ultimately executed for killing her owner. Celia confessed: She had tried to put a stop to what had been five years of sexual abuse. At the center of the trial was a dramatic confrontation over the legal standing of enslaved women. Did an enslaved woman have the right to defend herself against sexual assault? Drawing on Celia’s own words, her court-appointed defense team said “yes.”
Prosecutors, the trial judge, jurors, and the state high court all rejected Celia’s claim. Enslaved women did not have the same right to self-defense accorded to free women under Missouri law, they concluded. To allow such resistance would have been to strike at the heart of slaveholders’ power.
Continue Reading, The Celia Project and also the post is translated into Español (Thank you: Beverly Guy-Sheftall)
Meanwhile, over at the Marsh in Berkeley, the small, slender, powerful, stunning and adorable Echo Brown performs BLACK VIRGINS ARE NOT FOR HIPSTERS. Word of mouth fills the theatre, and the show has been extended. Google for details – I’m headed for a silent retreat. What I can say is that not since early Whoopi Goldberg and early and late Anna Deavere Smith have I been so moved by a performer’s narrative. This one woman show proves once again that there is apparently a black woman gene that refuses to let her stay down, give up, or admit defeat, in any area in which she passionately lives her life. Truth seems to be Goddess of this realm. The beauty of this small being, standing alone on an empty stage, fills my heart with gratitude for the long and grueling inner journey that has brought us so far.
ALGO NUEVO Y MARAVILLOSO EN EL MARSH DE BERKELEY
Mientras tanto, en el Marsh de Berkeley, la pequeña, esbelta, poderosa, admirable y encantadora Echo Brown representa
Las vírgenes negras no son para los hipsters*.
El rumor ha hecho que se llene el teatro y el espectáculo se ha extendido. Vayan a Google para detalles –voy camino a un retiro de silencio. Lo que puedo decir es que desde la temprana Whoopi Goldberg y la temprana y posterior Anna Deavere Smith no me he sentido tan conmovida con la narración de un actor. Este espectáculo unipersonal de una mujer demuestra una vez más que, al parecer, hay un gen en la mujer negra que rechaza quedarse echada, rendirse o admitir la derrota, en cualquier asunto en el que apasionadamente realice su vida. La verdad parece ser la Diosa de este reino. La belleza de este pequeño ser, que permanece sola en un escenario vacío, colma mi corazón de gratitud por el largo y angustioso camino que nos ha traído tan lejos.
* Hipster se denomina a las personas que cultivan el arte no masivo ni predominante sino el alternativo, especializado, selecto.
Papa Hemingway In Cuba
New film!
If I were still teaching writing I would gather my entire class in my arms and take them to see PAPA HEMINGWAY IN CUBA. Writing is such a lonely, sometimes terrifying pursuit. And there is often so much misrepresentation of it. This film, like Hemingway himself, is blunt and true, and I was reminded, watching it, how much, as a young writer, I learned from him. Economy of both thought and expression, the necessity of writing nothing, not one thing, that rings false, or is false. The complete indifference to whatever glorious diversion might obstruct the path to purity of effort. Then, to see the side of his life that chronicles some of the cost of pursuing the creation of his monumental gift, some of the wrong turns, the embrace of the false in other areas of his life – with his women and his wives, for instance; what a sad but so human revelation.
I fell in love with Cuba and the Cuban people at about the time Hemingway was leaving his secluded paradise there. He was almost sixty, and would commit suicide very soon; I was sixteen, and suicidal about American racism and injustice. I used to wonder, on my visits to Cuba – usually to do work in defense of the people’s health and wholeness – why he was so universally admired there. I hadn’t realized…
Continue reading, “Papa Hemingway In Cuba New film!” and en español, “Papa Hemingway en Cuba ¡Un nuevo filme!”
The Battle Over Boycott: the next great frontier. See link below.
Link >> A New York Bill Penalizing Boycotts is a Threat to Democracy
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.—Abraham Lincoln
Source article Slate.com
La batalla sobre el boicot: la próxima gran frontera. (Vea el link debajo)
Un proyecto de ley de Nueva York que penaliza el boicot es una amenaza a la democracia.
“El trabajo es anterior al, e independiente del, capital. El capital es solo el fruto del trabajo y jamás hubiera podido existir de no haber existido primero el trabajo. El trabajo es superior al capital y merece la mayor consideración.” Abraham Lincoln
Artículo tomado de Slate.com
April 2016 / Abril 2016
MILES AHEAD
A film by Don Cheadle
This afternoon I went with friends to see the new Don Cheadle film about Miles Davis, MILES AHEAD, that is playing at our local cinema. It is fantastic. I had seen a trailer in which Miles appears in a car chase shooting wildly out the window of his car. In the film there is such a chase; Miles shooting out the window of a careening vehicle, and being shot at by someone in the music mafia who has orders to steal a musical tape he has made, and perhaps kill him…
Continue reading, MILES AHEAD A film by Don Cheadle
MILES* POR DELANTE
(*Juego de palabras con el nombre del músico que significa también “millas”.)
Un filme de Don Cheadle
Esta tarde fui con amigas a ver el nuevo filme de Don Cheadle sobre Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, que se exhibe en nuestro cine local. Es fantástico. Había visto un avance en el que aparece Miles en una persecución de autos disparando alocadamente desde la ventanilla de su carro. En el filme está esa persecución. Miles dispara desde la ventanilla de un vehículo a toda velocidad mientras a él le dispara alguien de la mafia de la música que tiene órdenes de robar una grabación musical que él ha hecho y, quizás, hasta matarle…
Mas en español, MILES POR DELANTE Un filme de Don Cheadle
David Icke: A Memory of Prince – Beyond Normal – YouTube
“Todo cuanto se levanta debe converger”, Pierre de Teilhard de Chardin. Es por esto que respeto a David Icke. Un réquiem tan considerado, conmovedor y profundamente consciente para Prince. Este era una fuerza mágica pero misteriosa para mí. Lo que estaba bien.
Dawning LIGHT- aw
Bernie Sanders vs. the Out-of-touch American Jewish Establishment
Sanders’ Jewish socialism, his recognition of the injustice of the occupation, is a rebuke to those in the U.S. and Israel who believe Jews should only care about other Jews’ freedom and dignity. No wonder they’re trying to marginalize him.
Max Berger Apr 16, 2016 1:57 AM
Bernie backs the Jewish values we millenials believe in – and Israel’s not one of them
How I chose between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders
As Jews in the U.S., we are taught over and over about the history of our persecution. American Jews are applying the lessons we learned from that history…
Continue Reading complete article, “Bernie Sanders vs. the Out-of-touch American Jewish Establishment” by Max Berger
En Español
LUZ DE AMANECER, AW
Bernie Sanders versus el grupo de poder Judío Americano desconectado de la realidad
El socialismo judío de Sanders, su reconocimiento de la injusticia de la ocupación, es una crítica a aquellos que en los EE.UU. e Israel creen que los judíos solo deben preocuparse de la libertad y la dignidad de otros judíos. No es asombroso que traten de marginarlo.
Two pieces of good news in a row. Bernie Sanders wins Wisconsin, and Michael Moore’s new film Where To Invade Next is almost too good to be true. Though a friend reminds me: Nothing is too good to be true! The film invades half a dozen European (and Tunisia) countries and instead of grabbing land, families to enslave, oil or diamonds, Michael Moore “steals” the best ideas the countries offer. I felt so hopeful after seeing this film. Not everyone on the planet has fallen ill with the American disease of envy, greed, brutality, lack of empathy, and war, i.e., a love affair with death. Instead they have taken what America used to stand for, and run with it.
Drop everything and go see this film. You will be so glad you did!
Dos buenas noticias seguidas. Bernie Sanders gana en Winsconsin y el nuevo filme de Michael Moore, Where to Invade Next (¿A quién invadir después?) es casi demasiado bueno para ser verdad. Aunque una amiga me recuerda: ¡Nada es demasiado bueno para que sea verdad! La película invade media docena de países europeos (y a Tunes) y en lugar de arrebatar terrenos, familias para esclavizarlas, petróleo o diamantes, Michael Moore se “roba” las mejores ideas que esos países ofrecen. Me siento muy llena de esperanzas tras ver este filme. No todos en este planeta se han contagiado con la enfermedad norteamericana de la envidia, la avaricia, la crueldad, la falta de empatía y la guerra, o sea, un romance con la muerte. En vez de esto han tomado aquello con que Estados Unidos solía identificarse y han corrido con ello.
Deje todo y corra a ver el filme. ¡Se sentirá muy feliz de hacerlo!
Other Great News From “Other People’s Everything, Inc.”
There are almost too many great books lately to share with any kind of depth, but if I keep putting off writing about them I’m afraid they will vanish. I will list the ones that come to mind and between chores attempt to fill in what’s missing: you won’t regret staying tuned. Humans are at it again: showing us what’s possible! WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR, BY PAUL KALINITHI, made me so glad Paul existed I could hardly sit still. It’s a wonderful book about a wonderful human being. Living and dying with so much grace and dignity I’m still weeping as I write this, and it’s been months! Ruth OZeki’s amazing books: My YEAR Of MEATS and A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING lit up my mind and soul for a couple of weeks. She was such a surprise! I love the Japanese/American-ness of her! I AM MALALA, by Malala Yousafzai, shines…
Continue Reading, Other Great News From “Other People’s Everything, Inc.” y en español
Very Best News: Aung San Suu Kyi’s party comes to power at last in Myanmar (Burma) and a law is proposed to make her the “president’s boss.” Since she cannot, due to illegal maneuvers by the generals of the old regime, become president. Here is a woman, like Malala of Pakistan, like Celia Sanchez of Cuba, who demonstrates womanism at its best.
Muy buena noticia: el partido de Aung San Suu Kyi llega al poder por fin en Myanmar (Birmania) y una ley se propone convertirla en “jefa del presidente”. Esto se debe a que ella no puede, debido a maniobras ilegales de los generales del antiguo régimen, convertirse en presidenta. He aquí una mujer, como Malala de Pakistán, como Celia Sánchez de Cuba, que corroboran el “mujerismo” (la esencia de ser mujer) en su mejor forma.
Happy Birthday and Thank You to a Great Spiritual Leader, Rev. Eloise Oliver (April 1) of East Bay Church of Religious Science (See YouTube interview on Empathy)
Feliz cumpleaños y gracias a un gran guía espiritual, el reverendo Eloise Oliver (1 de abril) de la Iglesia de Ciencia Religiosa en East Bay. (Vea la entrevista en YouTube sobre empatía)
March 2016
Happy Birthday to a Great Artist of Music, Tracy Chapman, March 30
Feliz cumpleaños a una gran artista de la música, Tracy Chapman, 30 de marzo.
***
Why does the US media lie so much? (Cynthia McKinney and the questions that matter…)
After serving in the Georgia Legislature, in 1992, Cynthia McKinney won a seat in the US House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the US Congress. In 2005, McKinney was a vocal critic of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and was the first member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination for the US presidency.
Article Source URL | More RT from Cynthia McKinney
© Chip East / Reuters
Either by omission or by commission, the US media actively misinforms the public on crucial issues that matter. The reason they do this is because they legally can.
My mentor and dissertation committee member, Dr. Peter Dale Scott, recently wrote on his Facebook page: “Inadequate decently priced housing is one of America’s most urgent domestic problems, with developers vacating neighborhoods to build third and fourth homes for the one percent. It is a symptom of what’s wrong that Cynthia McKinney, one of the relatively few former members of Congress with a Ph.D., has to go to RT to discuss a crisis that is so under-reported in the US media.”
And therein lies the problem with US media: The news is so filtered and in some cases propagandized that it bears little resemblance to the day-to-day intellectual needs of the average US citizen. It fails to provide solutions, let alone information that allows US citizens to cast informed votes. Either by omission or by commission, the US media actively under-, ill-, or misinforms the public on crucial issues that matter! The reason they do this is because they legally can. Media in the US has at least one court ruling that allows them to knowingly lie to the public…
Continue Reading, Why does the Media Lie So Much? by Cynthia McKinney y En Español Tambien
WHAT MAKES US FAMILY? WHAT MAKES US BELONG TO EACH OTHER?
Acceptance Speech: The Mahmoud Darwish Award For Literature: March 10, 2016
©2016 by Alice Walker
It is a distinct honor to receive this award that is named for the brave and brilliant Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. Mahmoud Darwish wrote from the very heart of dispossession, cruelty, oppression and terror. That his own heart eventually gave out, and that he died at a relatively young age, is testament to his sufferings as a highly conscious, well educated and well traveled Palestinian. When I think of him I am reminded of how many of us, especially in these dark times, live mainly by the will of our deep love of our peoples, our cultures, our memories, ourselves – as the expression of thousands of years, and more, of existence on this extraordinary planet.
I believe the issue of Palestine and its liberation to be the defining Movement for Freedom and Autonomy of our time. It is often possible to tell almost everything one needs to know about a person by how they perceive what is happening to the Palestinian people. Though many still claim ignorance of Palestine’s history of dispossession under Zionist Israeli rule, more and more of the world has committed to study the real history, as opposed to the contrived, and can see clearly what has been, and is still, being done: The bombing of cities, the stealing of land, houses and businesses, the unconscionable battering, incarceration and murder of Palestinians of any age or sex, but especially the hunting down and killing of children. Every day in my Inbox I am informed of these child murders, which, as a mother, but really as a human being, I find almost unbearable. …
Continue Reading, WHAT MAKES US FAMILY? WHAT MAKES US BELONG TO EACH OTHER?
From: A Lover From Palestine, by Mahmoud Darwish
In the briar-covered mountains I saw you,
A shepherdess without sheep,
Pursued among the ruins.
You were my garden, and I a stranger,
Knocking at the door, my heart,
For upon my heart stand firm
The door and windows, the cement and stones.
I have seen you in casks of water, in granaries,
Broken, I have seen you a maid in night clubs,
I have seen you in the gleam of tears and in wounds.
You are the other lung in my chest;
You are the sound on my lips;
You are water; you are fire.
¿QUÉ NOS HACE FAMILIA? ¿QUÉ NOS HACE PERTENECER UNOS A OTROS?
Discurso de aceptación del Premio de Literatura Mahmoud Darwish, 10 de marzo de 2016
©2016 Alice Walker
Es un destacado honor recibir este premio que lleva el nombre del valeroso y brillante poeta palestino Mahmoud Darwish. Darwish escribió desde el mismo corazón de la desposesión, la crueldad, la opresión y el terror. El que su propio corazón finalmente cediera y él muriera a una edad relativamente joven testimonia de sus sufrimientos como un palestino altamente consciente, bien educado y que viajó mucho. Cuando pienso en él me viene a la mente cuántos de nosotros, especialmente en estos tiempos oscuros, vivimos fundamentalmente por la voluntad de nuestro profundo amor a nuestros pueblos, nuestras culturas, nuestra memoria y a nosotros mismos, como expresión de miles de años y más de existencia sobre este extraordinario planeta.
Leer más en Español, ¿QUÉ NOS HACE FAMILIA? ¿QUÉ NOS HACE PERTENECER UNOS A OTROS?
De: Una amante de Palestina (A Lover From Palestine), de Mahmoud Darwish
En las montañas cubiertas de brezo te vi,
pastora sin ovejas,
perseguida entre las ruinas.
Eras mi jardín y yo un extraño,
tocando a la puerta, mi corazón,
pues sobre mi corazón se alzan firmes
la puerta y las ventanas, el cemento y las piedras.
Continue to read, De: Una amante de Palestina (A Lover From Palestine), de Mahmoud Darwish
Never forget the blooming beauty that is ours; celebrate the human Spring. – AW“Lakota Butterfly”
Available as 11X14 framed color print $90.00
The Musical Offering Cafe & CD Shop
2430 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510)849-0211
February 2016
The Last day of a very short month!
Cornel West lashes out at civil rights icons after Bernie Sanders suffers resounding South Carolina defeat
“There’s no doubt that the great John Lewis of 50 years ago is different than the John Lewis today”
TOPICS: CORNEL WEST, BLACK VOTE, SOUTH CAROLINA, JOHN LEWIS, CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, BLACK LEFT, BERNIE SANDERS, RACE, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY, 2016 SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY, HILLARY CLINTON, REP. JIM CLYBURN, ELECTIONS NEWS, NEWS, POLITICS NEWS
Bernie Sanders, Cornel West (Credit: AP/John Locher/Richard Drew)
On Saturday, the Sanders campaign suffered what the candidate described as a decimation at the hands of Hillary Clinton in South Carolina, losing his third election by nearly 50 percentage points.
“In politics, on a given night, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Tonight we lost,” Sanders gracefully conceded that evening, before moving on to campaign in the Super Tuesday state of Minnesota. But some of Sanders’ surrogates haven’t been so graceful in their concession of defeat after putting up a valiant fight for the African-American vote.
Cornel West told Vice News last week that he feared many of Clinton’s most prominent African-American supporters had lost their way. The vocal Sanders supporter singled out Congressmen John Lewis and Jim Clyburn repeatedly.
“There’s no doubt that the great John Lewis of 50 years ago is different than the John Lewis today,” West asserted. “He’s my brother. I love him, I respect his personhood, but there’s no doubt he’s gone from a high moment of Martin Luther King-like struggle to now [a] neoliberal politician in a system that is characterized more and more by legalized bribery and normalized corruption. That’s what big money does to politics. And the Clinton machine is an example of that.”
West argued that “most black politicians these days are neoliberal politicians, so it’s almost natural for them to side with Hillary Clinton.” West said that Clyburn and Lewis had become “too well adjusted to Wall Street” and are now a part of a system “in which politicians are well adjusted to injustice owing to their ties to big money, big banks, and big corporations, and turning their backs, for the most part, to poor people and working people. Poor people and working people become afterthoughts.”
The John Lewis I dedicated my novel MERIDIAN to all those decades ago could not be this one. That is true and deeply sad. Return of the Dark Ages, indeed.
-AW
This month I will be communicating with readers via
https://www.facebook.com/authoralicewalker
in celebration of Black History Month
Thank you, Mondoweiss!
Why “Womanism” Exists: Hillary Clinton and the Old World Order
(Alice Walker Blog)
by Kevin Young & Diana C. Sierra Becerra
Hillary Clinton isn’t a champion of women’s rights.
She’s the embodiment of corporate feminism.
Thank you, Michelle Alexander!
Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote
#SayHerName — #NatashaMcKenna
JANUARY 2016
Tuesday, December 29, 2015 – Tami Simon’s in—depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries.
Alice Walker: Led by Spirit
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Transcript of the Alice Walker: Led by Spirit Interview
Alice Walker is a poet, essayist, and New York Times-bestselling author who has won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. With Sounds True, Alice has released the audio program My Life As My Self, which vividly recounts her personal, professional, and spiritual journeys. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Alice and Tami Simon speak on what it means to step into the line of fire and receive criticism for what one believes. In this vein, Alice explains her role as an activist in locations such as Gaza and the Congo—and how standing up for one’s principles brings an ineffable lightness to the heart. Finally, Alice and Tami discuss stepping into the role of a societal elder and why it is imperative that we reconnect with the whole of the Earth. (55 minutes)
Transcripción de la Alice Walker : Guiada por el Espíritu
Alice Walker es una poeta, ensayista y autora con éxito de ventas según The New York Times, que ha Ganado los premios Pulitzer y Nacional del Libro. Con Sounds True (Suena verdadero), Alice ha dado a conocer el programa de audio My Life As My Self (Mi vida como yo misma), donde reconstruye vivamente sus experiencias personales, profesionales y espirituales. En este episodio de Insights at the Edge (Perspectivas al borde) Alice y Tami Simon conversan de lo que significa meterse en la línea de fuego y recibir críticas por lo que uno cree. En este aspecto, Alice explica su papel como activista en lugares tales como Gaza y el Congo y cómo la defensa de nuestros principios brinda una inefable libertad al corazón. Finalmente, Alice y Tami debaten sobre el adentrarse en el papel de adulto mayor social y por qué es imprescindible que nos reconectemos con la totalidad de la Tierra. (55 minutos)
The New Dark Ages
©2015 by Alice Walker
for M
As we slip into the new Dark Ages
you become more dear to me.
Your face, your smile
that carefully trimmed
never to turn gray hair.
We may not emerge from this darkness
in my lifetime.
And yet, I think of you
so often smiling,
or laughing outright;
your sturdy frame gallant
and ready for the fight.
Though it is true
you left home
like the Buddha
to find a way for all of us,
leaving your wife and children
to suffer
a most peculiar loneliness;
and yes,
the children, some of them
would be lost.
Still,
We miss you. Dreadfully.
As we miss
so many others
who left us with this one
desire:
that no matter how deep the fall
into obscurity and obscenity this new age
portends
Life might permit us
to remain standing
if only on the inside;
smiling and laughing
with you
among the solemn army
who went out
into the darkness
all those years ago,
always singing,
to examine the path
and be the light.
La Nueva Edad de las Tinieblas
For M
© 2015 by Alice Walker
Mientras rodamos por la Nueva Edad de las Tinieblas
te vuelves más querido para mí.
Tu rostro, tu sonrisa
ese pelo cuidadosamente arreglado
para que nunca se vuelva gris.
Quizás no salgamos de estas tinieblas
durante mi vida.
Aun así, pienso en ti
tan frecuentemente sonriendo
o rotundamente riendo.
Tu fuerte complexión gallarda
y lista para la pelea.
Aunque es verdad
que dejaste tu hogar
como el Buda
para hallar un camino para todos
dejando a tu esposa e hijos
que sufrieran
una muy extraña soledad
y cierto,
de los hijos, algunos
se perderían.
Sin embargo,
te extrañamos, terriblemente
como extrañamos
a tantos otros
que nos dejaron con
este deseo:
que no importa cuán honda es la caída
en las tinieblas y la obscenidad que
esta Nueva Era presagia,
la vida puede permitirnos
permanecer en pie
aunque sea en lo interior,
sonriendo y riendo
contigo
en medio del solemne ejército
que partió hacia
la oscuridad
todos estos años pasados,
siempre cantando,
a explorar el sendero
y ser la luz.
Israeli radio: the 13 year old terrorist was neutralized. no one was hurt.
And I say: Lie still sleep becalmed little girl. you have joined your little sisters today in the kingdom of dead children. All of you are the victims of heartless politicians and ruthless generals.
CHILD HUNTING
https://www.facebook.com/IsraelWC/videos/845722762185213/?pnref=story
https://www.facebook.com/mostafa.milaniamin.9/videos/139558306404161/?pnref=story
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769932
https://www.facebook.com/JewishVoiceforPeace/videos/10154494997964992/?pnref=story
Israeli forces kidnap 3 Palestinians, wound 5 others
http://www.daysofpalestine.com/news/israeli-forces-kidnap-3-palestinians-wound-5-others/
Israeli authorities revoke IDs of 4 Pal prisoners
http://www.daysofpalestine.com/news/israeli-authorities-revoke-ids-4-pal-prisoners/
https://www.facebook.com/DaysofPalestine/videos/1853702461523147/?pnref=stor
CHILD HUNTING
https://www.facebook.com/IsraelWC/videos/845722762185213/?pnref=story
Al-Qeeq: Hunger Striking Journalist Writes Testament
http://www.imemc.org/article/74781
Hares Boys – 5 Palestinian teens – sentenced to 15 years in Israeli prison
http://samidoun.net/2016/01/hares-boys-5-palestinian-teens-sentenced-to-15-years-in-israeli-prison/
INSIDE ISRAEL’S KANGAROO COURTS, WHERE CHILDREN ARE HELD & SENTENCED
http://www.middleeastrising.com/inside-israels-kangaroo-courts-where-children-are-held-sentenced/
Extra funding for Jerusalem schools to switch from Palestinian curriculum
Note: In East Jerusalem schools receive PA textbooks heavily censored, with half of the pages completely blank and the stamp of the PA deleted.
Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan
telefax: ++972-(0)2-5700112
Mobile: ++972-(0)547-578703
Subject: Israeli woman faces jail for refusing to serve in IDF over Palestinian kids, occupation — RT News
https://www.rt.com/news/330541-israeli-woman-kaminer-idf-prison/
The movement for Palestinian rights grows more creative and dynamic every day, yielding so many achievements that it can be hard to keep up! At the US Campaign, we maintain a growing list of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) victories nationwide, which total more than 150 to date! Visit www.endtheoccupation.org/usbdsvictories for the inspiring list of BDS breakthroughs!