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Number23

Number23's Journal
Number23's Journal
January 24, 2012

"The Political Left has failed at this."

I read a really interesting article in Vanity Fair last night about the birth of Occupy Wall Street. You can read it online here http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/02/occupy-wall-street-201202

Now, what I have always found interesting is that the president's incessant detractors have always touted that the reason Occupy Wall St. was born was because "Obama failed us" and they believe that Occupy is some sort of referendum on the president. When presented with facts that show that the president has voiced support for Occupy and that many of his strongest supporters also support Occupy, of course they just shrug that off. Doesn't fit the preconceived narrative, you see.

What is most striking about that Vanity Fair article is that they interviewed dozens of people that were there when Occupy was conceived and first put into action. These folks do put some blame at the president (angry that bankers weren't put in jail) and logically, put MUCH more emphasis on the overall corruption and inadequacy of the American political system (which has been going on for decades longer than this president has been in office). But really quite startlingly, some of them also ascribe some blame squarely on the political left for many of the reasons that you already noted.

Snip:

KALLE LASN
Co-founder, Adbusters
The left had been chattering on about revolutions for a long time, but we’ve basically been howling at the moon. And then, all of a sudden, a bunch of young people [in Egypt] using social media were able to mobilize not just 500 or 5,000 people, but 50,000 people. They inspired us with their courage and with their techniques.


The left has the ideas and the heart but not the MEANS to implement the change that they seek. Apparently, it was this frustration with the political left that was the impetus (along with many other factors) that led to the creation of Occupy. Folks really need to understand this the next time that loud handful of serial malcontents tries to drop everything at the feet of this president -- as usual.
January 15, 2012

Happy MLK Day, y'all

In celebration of one of the greatest warriors in the fight for BLACK RIGHTS and justice that the US has ever seen.

'Where do we go from here'

Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
16 August 1967
http://www.famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/martin-luther-king-speeches/martin-luther-king-speech-where-do-we-go-from-here.htm

"Even semantics have conspired to make that which is black seem ugly and degrading. In Roget's Thesaurus there are 120 synonyms for blackness and at least 60 of them are offensive, as for example, blot, soot, grim, devil and foul. And there are some 134 synonyms for whiteness and all are favorable, expressed in such words as purity, cleanliness, chastity and innocence. A white lie is better than a black lie. The most degenerate member of a family is a "black sheep." Ossie Davis has suggested that maybe the English language should be reconstructed so that teachers will not be forced to teach the Negro child 60 ways to despise himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of inferiority, and the white child 134 ways to adore himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of superiority.

The tendency to ignore the Negro's contribution to American life and to strip him of his personhood, is as old as the earliest history hooks and as contemporary as the morning's newspaper. To upset this cultural homicide, the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. Any movement for the Negro's freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation or Johnsonian Civil Rights Bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own Emancipation Proclamation. And, with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abnegation and say to himself and to the world, "I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history. How painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents and I am not ashamed of that. I'm ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave." Yes, we must stand up and say, "I'm black and I'm beautiful," and this self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling by the white man's crimes against him."


Video


King Center - http://www.thekingcenter.org/
MLK Collection at Morehouse - http://www.morehouse.edu/kingcollection/index.php
Nobel Bio - http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

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