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The Republican Party is on track to drive our economy off the cliff over the debt negotiations. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) is sending an open letter to President Obama letting him know that progressives have his back if he chooses to invoke the 14th Amendment.
Dear President Obama,
We understand the difficulties you face in reaching a debt limit agreement. Extremists have taken over the Republican Party in Congress. To get their way, they're willing to risk the United States defaulting on its debts for the first time in history. This GOP-manufactured debt crisis threatens a rejuvenated recession, hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, and higher interest rates. You don't want that. We don't want that.
Mr. President, we want you to know that if a reasonable compromise cannot be reached with Congressional Republicans, we have your back if you choose to use your constitutional authority under the 14th Amendment to avoid economic catastrophe.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that the validity of the public debt of the United States "shall not be questioned." Let's stop questioning it.
When we play chicken with radicals willing to drive the economy off the cliff, the entire country loses. That's the lesson we're now learning.
We support negotiations. We do not support fiscal suicide. Should a reasonable compromise be unreachable, we urge you to consider the "Constitutional Option" to get us past imminent disaster.
When the situation has stabilized, we can focus on the real issues -- job creation in the immediate term and deficit reduction over the next decade. There is plenty of time for bipartisan debate on these important issues of the day, but we are running out of time to stop an easily preventable financial disaster.
I've never traveled to another continent. I'm not proud of it ... it just turned out that way. If I were to travel to Vietnam ... it is likely I would find my way to the city of Da Lat. Folks say that Da Lat is a very romantic city with mountains and pleasant weather.
One of the sights to see in Da Lat is the Hang Nga Guesthouse and Gallery ... or 'Crazy House' as it is known by the Vietnamese.
The base of the house is an actual tree. Apparently, the architect is a woman (Hang Nga) whose father (Truong Chinh) used to be president of Viet Nam. The house is unique with its 'Jungle Book' theme. For example, many of the steps are designed to look like tree stumps. There are also several rooms (like the one in the photo below) with animal themes.
I wonder if either of the Obama daughters will grow up to be architects?
It’s a fact, love them or hate them tattoos are popular and (almost) permanent. The tattoo design choice, or body art, says something about you; well actually a lot about you. It may convey your mood at a particular moment in time, it may have a deep personal meaning, you may like the artwork or some may think they're just stylish.
Even though tattoos have become incredibly mainstream the kind I am talking about has nothing to do with body art. This type of tattoo is about your business or career; yes even if you have a small business, be a college student or work in corporate America. Let me ask you a simple question, what does your digital tattoo say about your business?
Before you can answer that, I need to explain exactly what a Digital Tattoo is.
Just like a regular tattoo, your digital reputation is an expression of yourself and your business. Over time it is shaped by you and added to by others which include friends, family and your business visibility online and in the media.
Your digital tattoo is what a potential customer, recruiter, corporate executive, or anybody else finds online about your business. It’s the information people see when they search the internet for your name or your business name.
What images will they find of you? – an old photo from college or high school, your company logo, a cartoon character where your picture should be or your favorite sports team instead of a current photo?
What information will they find on your website or blog? – a new video, static information that has never been changed or updated since December or your latest blog post?
What images will they find on social media? - are you presenting at a conference, you with your family, you participating at a networking event or hanging out with friends? (Are you even using social media to help shape your digital tattoo?)
What information will they find in the media? – your published article(s), a press release, a story written about you or your business, or nothing at all?
Why is your digital tattoo important? - Ask any successful salesperson or flourishing marketer, they will tell you this...“People buy from people they know, they like and they trust”.
Your digital tattoo will help create the magic to make this happen.
Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business so you can spend more and make less. Her clients learn savvy ways to use their website to take their online presence to the next level fast. To get your FREE Savvy Online Business Building Starter Kit and receive weekly online marketing tips, tools and resources visit www.SavvyBizBuilder.com.
Last week was a rough one for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD). They were deemed out of control by a federal jury who awarded the family of a taser-killing with a $10 million settlement. Then they went ahead and did it again. This time CMPD officer Michael Forbes pumped 50,000 volts of electricity into the frail body of 21-year old La'Reko Williams -- killing him.
According to CMPD officials, police were called to the CATS Lynx Blue Line station at Woodlawn around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday where a man was allegedly beating and choking a woman. When Officer Michael Forbes and several other officers arrived, they ordered the man -- Williams -- to stop and sit down.
"He gave several orders for the male to desist. As he approached the male, the male got up and started running," CMPD Police Chief Monroe said early Thursday morning. "Officer Forbes gave chase and during the chase, he deployed his Taser."
Williams was knocked unconscious by the taser death-rays and Medic arrived moments later to revive him. Attempts by Medic and doctors at Carolinas Medical Center to revive the man with CPR were unsuccessful.
Less than an hour later, Williams was dead.
The mother of Williams' 1-year-old child said she was not the woman he was allegedly beating Wednesday night, and said she has never known him to be physically violent. She said she was in disbelief that police claim he was hitting and choking another woman. However, Williams has been arrested twice for assaulting a female and once for assaulting an officer, according to police records.
The police are very quick to share police records when they are trying to avoid troubling taser-related death inquiries. Anyhow, the killer-cop (Forbes) has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the death investigation. Forbes has been a member of CMPD since Sept. 24, 2007.
The shocking taser-killing of 17-year old Darryl Turner by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was one of the early cases of its kind covered by this blog. We've spent a lot of time covering taser-deaths since then ... but, Turner's case was particularly appalling. A young, vibrant teenager killed because a police officer thought it was a good idea to pump his body with 50,000 volts of electricity for 37 seconds.
However, Taser International continued to hide behind its junk-science of 'excited delirium syndrome'. A federal jury decided it was time to put Taser International in its place. The jury ordered Taser International Inc. to pay $10 million to the family of the 17-year-old teenager who was killed in March 2008 at a Food Lion in northeast Charlotte
Police at the time said the officer violated policy when he shocked Darryl Turner for about 37 seconds (see store surveillance video), contributing to the teen's death. Turner fell to the floor during the confrontation and died.
The jury returned its verdict Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Lawyers for Turner's family persuaded jurors that the manufacturer knew the product could cause heart problems if it struck near the heart but failed to warn customers.
Good for them!
There have been hundreds of these taser-related killings in America over the past few years. I hope that we begin to see many more of these successful lawsuits brought against the manufacturer of these taser death-ray guns!
Our prayers remain with the family of Darryl Turner. The money won't bring Darryl back ... but, it does provide some measure of justice against the people who took him away in the first place.
It happened again. We learned that another person's death has been hastened along by the use of 50,000 volts of electricity from a police officer's taser gun. This time the victim was 29-year old Alonzo Ashley.
Denver police said that officers used a Taser on Ashley but that the device was ineffective and he continued to struggle with officers until he was finally held down.
Police were called to the zoo at 5:02 p.m. Monday after the man threatened his girlfriend and attacked a zoo security guard. After arriving, officers contacted Ashley, who was acting irrationally, and he repeatedly refused to comply with officers' commands, police said.
Ashley's girlfriend, who asked not to be named, denied that Ashley threatened her. The girlfriend says that he was getting delirious because of the extreme heat. She told TV reporters that Ashley had been putting his head in a fountain, and zoo security told him to stop.
When police attempted to restrain Ashley, he attacked the officers and zoo security guards — hitting one officer and biting another officer and a security guard, police said. At this point officers used a taser gun on the young man.
Family members say that Ashley was "a positive kid."
Officers later called paramedics to examine the man, citing his "unusual behavior and extraordinary strength." While waiting for the paramedics, he started to convulse and stopped breathing, police said. He was taken to Presbyterian/St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police say that drugs and drug paraphernalia were found on the suspect. Ashley's girlfriend said he had no drugs on him.
Some community members, including civil rights activist Alvertis Simmons, the Rev. Patrick Demmer and Pastor Reginald Holmes, announced tonight they plan to hold a rally outside the Denver Zoo entrance beginning at 2 p.m. Friday.
Simmons said in an e-mail, "The killing of this Black man is questionable at least and suspicious at best."
This blog shared some good news about 13-year old Autum Ashante being accepted to the University of Connecticut last month. Autum is reported to have an IQ of 149. We are very sorry to learn that UConn decided to renege on their commitment. [SOURCE]
Ben Ashante, Autum's dad, says that the institution has caused his family a lot of grief for “going back on their word,” and as a result have been dragged through the media. He said that he was told that he and his daughter needed to formally enroll, but upon doing so, the admission’s office told him that Autum was not “academically” ready.
Ashante condemned the institution and accused them of “covering their ass."
Meanwhile, the Ashante’s had to halt initial plans to relocate to Connecticut, as they originally were under the impression that Autum would begin classes at UConn this fall. Instead, Mr. Ashante is looking into enrolling Autum at other institutions such as Hampton University, a historically Black college in Virginia, and the University of Bridgeport.
Rev. Jesse Jackson has disappointed me thus far in the 21st century. The mistakes he made in his personal life. His inability to stay silent during the recent election on domestic or foreign affairs troubled me.
Personally, I think that Rev. Jackson was the 'emissary' mentioned in the federal indictment. Rev. Jackson recently denied any involvement in the Blagojevich scandal and says that he was not the so-called 'emissary'.
It wasn't always this way.
In fact, just last century Rev. Jackson was a hero in our community for his spirited presidential campaigns in both 1984 and 1988. In fact, American Rhetoric included Jackson more than once on their list of the Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century. The speech that Jackson gave at the 1988 Democratic National Convention was named Top Speech #51.
This speech was delivered on July 19, 1988 in Atlanta GA. There is no available video of his speech, however, we do have a 2-part audio clip and text transcript [SOURCE].
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Tonight, we pause and give praise and honor to God for being good enough to allow us to be at this place at this time. When I look out at this convention, I see the face of America: Red, Yellow, Brown, Black and White. We are all precious in God's sight -- the real rainbow coalition.
All of us -- all of us who are here think that we are seated. But we're really standing on someone's shoulders. Ladies and gentlemen, Mrs. Rosa Parks -- the mother of the civil rights movement.
I want to express my deep love and appreciation for the support my family has given me over these past months. They have endured pain, anxiety, threat, and fear. But they have been strengthened and made secure by our faith in God, in America, and in you. Your love has protected us and made us strong. To my wife Jackie, the foundation of our family; to our five children whom you met tonight; to my mother, Mrs. Helen Jackson, who is present tonight; and to our grandmother, Mrs. Matilda Burns; to my brother Chuck and his family; to my mother-in-law, Mrs. Gertrude Brown, who just last month at age 61 graduated from Hampton Institute -- a marvelous achievement.
I offer my appreciation to Mayor Andrew Young who has provided such gracious hospitality to all of us this week.
And a special salute to President Jimmy Carter. President Carter restored honor to the White House after Watergate. He gave many of us a special opportunity to grow. For his kind words, for his unwavering commitment to peace in the world, and for the voters that came from his family, every member of his family, led by Billy and Amy, I offer my special thanks to the Carter family.
My right and my privilege to stand here before you has been won, won in my lifetime, by the blood and the sweat of the innocent.
Twenty-four years ago, the late Fannie Lou Hamer and Aaron Henry -- who sits here tonight from Mississippi -- were locked out onto the streets in Atlantic City; the head of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
But tonight, a Black and White delegation from Mississippi is headed by Ed Cole, a Black man from Mississippi; twenty-four years later.
Many were lost in the struggle for the right to vote: Jimmy Lee Jackson, a young student, gave his life; Viola Liuzzo, a White mother from Detroit, called "nigger lover," and brains blown out at point blank range; [Michael] Schwerner, [Andrew] Goodman and [James] Chaney -- two Jews and a Black -- found in a common grave, bodies riddled with bullets in Mississippi; the four darling little girls in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. They died that we might have a right to live.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lies only a few miles from us tonight. Tonight he must feel good as he looks down upon us. We sit here together, a rainbow, a coalition -- the sons and daughters of slavemasters and the sons and daughters of slaves, sitting together around a common table, to decide the direction of our party and our country. His heart would be full tonight.
As a testament to the struggles of those who have gone before; as a legacy for those who will come after; as a tribute to the endurance, the patience, the courage of our forefathers and mothers; as an assurance that their prayers are being answered, that their work has not been in vain, and, that hope is eternal, tomorrow night my name will go into nomination for the Presidency of the United States of America.
We meet tonight at the crossroads, a point of decision. Shall we expand, be inclusive, find unity and power; or suffer division and impotence?
We've come to Atlanta, the cradle of the Old South, the crucible of the New South. Tonight, there is a sense of celebration, because we are moved, fundamentally moved from racial battlegrounds by law, to economic common ground. Tomorrow we'll challenge to move to higher ground.
Common ground. Think of Jerusalem, the intersection where many trails met. A small village that became the birthplace for three great religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Why was this village so blessed? Because it provided a crossroads where different people met, different cultures, different civilizations could meet and find common ground. When people come together, flowers always flourish -- the air is rich with the aroma of a new spring.
Take New York, the dynamic metropolis. What makes New York so special?
It's the invitation at the Statue of Liberty, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses who yearn to breathe free." Not restricted to English only. Many people, many cultures, many languages with one thing in common: They yearn to breathe free. Common ground.
Tonight in Atlanta, for the first time in this century, we convene in the South; a state where Governors once stood in school house doors; where Julian Bond was denied a seat in the State Legislature because of his conscientious objection to the Vietnam War; a city that, through its five Black Universities, has graduated more black students than any city in the world. Atlanta, now a modern intersection of the New South.
Common ground. That's the challenge of our party tonight -- left wing, right wing.
Progress will not come through boundless liberalism nor static conservatism, but at the critical mass of mutual survival -- not at boundless liberalism nor static conservatism, but at the critical mass of mutual survival. It takes two wings to fly. Whether you're a hawk or a dove, you're just a bird living in the same environment, in the same world.
The Bible teaches that when lions and lambs lie down together, none will be afraid, and there will be peace in the valley. It sounds impossible. Lions eat lambs. Lambs sensibly flee from lions. Yet even lions and lambs find common ground. Why? Because neither lions nor lambs want the forest to catch on fire. Neither lions nor lambs want acid rain to fall. Neither lions nor lambs can survive nuclear war. If lions and lambs can find common ground, surely we can as well -- as civilized people.
The only time that we win is when we come together. In 1960, John Kennedy, the late John Kennedy, beat Richard Nixon by only 112,000 votes -- less than one vote per precinct. He won by the margin of our hope. He brought us together. He reached out. He had the courage to defy his advisors and inquire about Dr. King's jailing in Albany, Georgia. We won by the margin of our hope, inspired by courageous leadership. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson brought both wings together -- the thesis, the antithesis, and the creative synthesis -- and together we won. In 1976, Jimmy Carter unified us again, and we won. When do we not come together, we never win. In 1968, the division and despair in July led to our defeat in November. In 1980, rancor in the spring and the summer led to Reagan in the fall. When we divide, we cannot win. We must find common ground as the basis for survival and development and change and growth.
Today when we debated, differed, deliberated, agreed to agree, agreed to disagree, when we had the good judgment to argue a case and then not self-destruct, George Bush was just a little further away from the White House and a little closer to private life.
Tonight, I salute Governor Michael Dukakis. He has run -- He has run a well-managed and a dignified campaign. No matter how tired or how tried, he always resisted the temptation to stoop to demagoguery.
I've watched a good mind fast at work, with steel nerves, guiding his campaign out of the crowded field without appeal to the worst in us. I've watched his perspective grow as his environment has expanded. I've seen his toughness and tenacity close up. I know his commitment to public service. Mike Dukakis' parents were a doctor and a teacher; my parents a maid, a beautician, and a janitor. There's a great gap between Brookline, Massachusetts and Haney Street in the Fieldcrest Village housing projects in Greenville, South Carolina.
He studied law; I studied theology. There are differences of religion, region, and race; differences in experiences and perspectives. But the genius of America is that out of the many we become one.
Providence has enabled our paths to intersect. His foreparents came to America on immigrant ships; my foreparents came to America on slave ships. But whatever the original ships, we're in the same boat tonight.
Our ships could pass in the night -- if we have a false sense of independence -- or they could collide and crash. We would lose our passengers. We can seek a high reality and a greater good. Apart, we can drift on the broken pieces of Reagonomics, satisfy our baser instincts, and exploit the fears of our people. At our highest, we can call upon noble instincts and navigate this vessel to safety. The greater good is the common good.
As Jesus said, "Not My will, but Thine be done." It was his way of saying there's a higher good beyond personal comfort or position.
The good of our Nation is at stake. It's commitment to working men and women, to the poor and the vulnerable, to the many in the world.
With so many guided missiles, and so much misguided leadership, the stakes are exceedingly high. Our choice? Full participation in a democratic government, or more abandonment and neglect. And so this night, we choose not a false sense of independence, not our capacity to survive and endure. Tonight we choose interdependency, and our capacity to act and unite for the greater good.
Common good is finding commitment to new priorities to expansion and inclusion. A commitment to expanded participation in the Democratic Party at every level. A commitment to a shared national campaign strategy and involvement at every level.
A commitment to new priorities that insure that hope will be kept alive. A common ground commitment to a legislative agenda for empowerment, for the John Conyers bill -- universal, on-site, same-day registration everywhere. A commitment to D.C. statehood and empowerment -- D.C. deserves statehood. A commitment to economic set-asides, commitment to the Dellums bill for comprehensive sanctions against South Africa. A shared commitment to a common direction.
Common ground.
Easier said than done. Where do you find common ground? At the point of challenge. This campaign has shown that politics need not be marketed by politicians, packaged by pollsters and pundits. Politics can be a moral arena where people come together to find common ground.
We find common ground at the plant gate that closes on workers without notice. We find common ground at the farm auction, where a good farmer loses his or her land to bad loans or diminishing markets. Common ground at the school yard where teachers cannot get adequate pay, and students cannot get a scholarship, and can't make a loan. Common ground at the hospital admitting room, where somebody tonight is dying because they cannot afford to go upstairs to a bed that's empty waiting for someone with insurance to get sick. We are a better nation than that. We must do better.
Common ground. What is leadership if not present help in a time of crisis? And so I met you at the point of challenge. In Jay, Maine, where paper workers were striking for fair wages; in Greenville, Iowa, where family farmers struggle for a fair price; in Cleveland, Ohio, where working women seek comparable worth; in McFarland, California, where the children of Hispanic farm workers may be dying from poisoned land, dying in clusters with cancer; in an AIDS hospice in Houston, Texas, where the sick support one another, too often rejected by their own parents and friends.
Common ground. America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth. When I was a child growing up in Greenville, South Carolina and grandmamma could not afford a blanket, she didn't complain and we did not freeze. Instead she took pieces of old cloth -- patches, wool, silk, gabardine, crockersack -- only patches, barely good enough to wipe off your shoes with. But they didn't stay that way very long. With sturdy hands and a strong cord, she sewed them together into a quilt, a thing of beauty and power and culture. Now, Democrats, we must build such a quilt.
Farmers, you seek fair prices and you are right -- but you cannot stand alone. Your patch is not big enough.
Workers, you fight for fair wages, you are right -- but your patch labor is not big enough.
Women, you seek comparable worth and pay equity, you are right -- but your patch is not big enough.
Women, mothers, who seek Head Start, and day care and prenatal care on the front side of life, relevant jail care and welfare on the back side of life, you are right -- but your patch is not big enough.
Students, you seek scholarships, you are right -- but your patch is not big enough.
Blacks and Hispanics, when we fight for civil rights, we are right -- but our patch is not big enough.
Gays and lesbians, when you fight against discrimination and a cure for AIDS, you are right -- but your patch is not big enough.
Conservatives and progressives, when you fight for what you believe, right wing, left wing, hawk, dove, you are right from your point of view, but your point of view is not enough.
But don't despair. Be as wise as my grandmamma. Pull the patches and the pieces together, bound by a common thread. When we form a great quilt of unity and common ground, we'll have the power to bring about health care and housing and jobs and education and hope to our Nation.
We, the people, can win.
We stand at the end of a long dark night of reaction. We stand tonight united in the commitment to a new direction. For almost eight years we've been led by those who view social good coming from private interest, who view public life as a means to increase private wealth. They have been prepared to sacrifice the common good of the many to satisfy the private interests and the wealth of a few.
We believe in a government that's a tool of our democracy in service to the public, not an instrument of the aristocracy in search of private wealth. We believe in government with the consent of the governed, "of, for and by the people." We must now emerge into a new day with a new direction.
Reaganomics: Based on the belief that the rich had too much money [sic] -- too little money and the poor had too much. That's classic Reaganomics. They believe that the poor had too much money and the rich had too little money,- so they engaged in reverse Robin Hood - took from the poor, gave to the rich, paid for by the middle class. We cannot stand four more years of Reaganomics in any version, in any disguise.
How do I document that case? Seven years later, the richest 1 percent of our society pays 20 percent less in taxes. The poorest 10 percent pay 20 percent more: Reaganomics.
Reagan gave the rich and the powerful a multibillion-dollar party. Now the party is over. He expects the people to pay for the damage. I take this principal position, convention, let us not raise taxes on the poor and the middle-class, but those who had the party, the rich and the powerful, must pay for the party.
I just want to take common sense to high places. We're spending one hundred and fifty billion dollars a year defending Europe and Japan 43 years after the war is over. We have more troops in Europe tonight than we had seven years ago. Yet the threat of war is ever more remote.
Germany and Japan are now creditor nations; that means they've got a surplus. We are a debtor nation -- means we are in debt. Let them share more of the burden of their own defense. Use some of that money to build decent housing. Use some of that money to educate our children. Use some of that money for long-term health care. Use some of that money to wipe out these slums and put America back to work!
I just want to take common sense to high places. If we can bail out Europe and Japan; if we can bail out Continental Bank and Chrysler -- and Mr. Iacocca, make [sic] 8,000 dollars an hour -- we can bail out the family farmer.
I just want to make common sense. It does not make sense to close down six hundred and fifty thousand family farms in this country while importing food from abroad subsidized by the U.S. Government. Let's make sense.
It does not make sense to be escorting all our tankers up and down the Persian Gulf paying $2.50 for every one dollar worth of oil we bring out, while oil wells are capped in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. I just want to make sense.
Leadership must meet the moral challenge of its day. What's the moral challenge of our day? We have public accommodations. We have the right to vote. We have open housing. What's the fundamental challenge of our day? It is to end economic violence. Plant closings without notice -- economic violence. Even the greedy do not profit long from greed -- economic violence.
Most poor people are not lazy. They are not black. They are not brown. They are mostly White and female and young. But whether White, Black or Brown, a hungry baby's belly turned inside out is the same color -- color it pain; color it hurt; color it agony.
Most poor people are not on welfare. Some of them are illiterate and can't read the want-ad sections. And when they can, they can't find a job that matches the address. They work hard everyday.
I know. I live amongst them. I'm one of them. I know they work. I'm a witness. They catch the early bus. They work every day.
They raise other people's children. They work everyday.
They clean the streets. They work everyday. They drive dangerous cabs. They work everyday. They change the beds you slept in in these hotels last night and can't get a union contract. They work everyday.
No, no, they are not lazy! Someone must defend them because it's right, and they cannot speak for themselves. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commodes. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right. We are a better Nation than that. We are a better Nation than that.
We need a real war on drugs. You can't "just say no." It's deeper than that. You can't just get a palm reader or an astrologer. It's more profound than that.
We are spending a hundred and fifty billion dollars on drugs a year. We've gone from ignoring it to focusing on the children. Children cannot buy a hundred and fifty billion dollars worth of drugs a year; a few high-profile athletes -- athletes are not laundering a hundred and fifty billion dollars a year -- bankers are.
I met the children in Watts, who, unfortunately, in their despair, their grapes of hope have become raisins of despair, and they're turning on each other and they're self-destructing. But I stayed with them all night long. I wanted to hear their case.
They said, "Jesse Jackson, as you challenge us to say no to drugs, you're right; and to not sell them, you're right; and not use these guns, you're right." (And by the way, the promise of CETA [Comprehensive Employment and Training Act]; they displaced CETA -- they did not replace CETA.)
"We have neither jobs nor houses nor services nor training -- no way out. Some of us take drugs as anesthesia for our pain. Some take drugs as a way of pleasure, goodshort-term pleasure and long-term pain. Some sell drugs to make money. It's wrong, we know, but you need to know that we know. We can go and buy the drugs by the boxes at the port. If we can buy the drugs at the port, don't you believe the Federal government can stop it if they want to?"
They say, "We don't have Saturday night specials anymore." They say, "We buy AK47's and Uzi's, the latest make of weapons. We buy them across the along these boulevards."
You cannot fight a war on drugs unless and until you're going to challenge the bankers and the gun sellers and those who grow them. Don't just focus on the children; let's stop drugs at the level of supply and demand. We must end the scourge on the American Culture.
Leadership. What difference will we make? Leadership. Cannot just go along to get along. We must do more than change Presidents. We must change direction.
Leadership must face the moral challenge of our day. The nuclear war build-up is irrational. Strong leadership cannot desire to look tough and let that stand in the way of the pursuit of peace. Leadership must reverse the arms race. At least we should pledge no first use. Why? Because first use begets first retaliation. And that's mutual annihilation. That's not a rational way out.
No use at all. Let's think it out and not fight it our because it's an unwinnable fight. Why hold a card that you can never drop? Let's give peace a chance.
Leadership. We now have this marvelous opportunity to have a breakthrough with the Soviets. Last year 200,000 Americans visited the Soviet Union. There's a chance for joint ventures into space -- not Star Wars and war arms escalation but a space defense initiative. Let's build in the space together and demilitarize the heavens. There's a way out.
America, let us expand. When Mr. Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev met there was a big meeting. They represented together one-eighth of the human race. Seven-eighths of the human race was locked out of that room. Most people in the world tonight -- half are Asian, one-half of them are Chinese. There are 22 nations in the Middle East. There's Europe; 40 million Latin Americans next door to us; the Caribbean; Africa -- a half-billion people.
Most people in the world today are Yellow or Brown or Black, non-Christian, poor, female, young and don't speak English in the real world.
This generation must offer leadership to the real world. We're losing ground in Latin America, Middle East, South Africa because we're not focusing on the real world. That's the real world. We must use basic principles -- support international law. We stand the most to gain from it. Support human rights -- we believe in that. Support self-determination -- we're built on that. Support economic development -- you know it's right. Be consistent and gain our moral authority in the world. I challenge you tonight, my friends, let's be bigger and better as a Nation and as a Party.
We have basic challenges -- freedom in South Africa. We've already agreed as Democrats to declare South Africa to be a terrorist state. But don't just stop there. Get South Africa out of Angola; free Namibia; support the front line states. We must have a new humane human rights consistent policy in Africa.
I'm often asked, "Jesse, why do you take on these tough issues? They're not very political. We can't win that way."
If an issue is morally right, it will eventually be political. It may be political and never be right. Fannie Lou Hamer didn't have the most votes in Atlantic City, but her principles have outlasted every delegate who voted to lock her out. Rosa Parks did not have the most votes, but she was morally right. Dr. King didn't have the most votes about the Vietnam War, but he was morally right. If we are principled first, our politics will fall in place.
"Jesse, why do you take these big bold initiatives?" A poem by an unknown author went something like this: "We mastered the air, we conquered the sea, annihilated distance and prolonged life, but we're not wise enough to live on this earth without war and without hate."
As for Jesse Jackson: "I'm tired of sailing my little boat, far inside the harbor bar. I want to go out where the big ships float, out on the deep where the great ones are. And should my frail craft prove too slight for waves that sweep those billows o'er, I'd rather go down in the stirring fight than drowse to death at the sheltered shore."
We've got to go out, my friends, where the big boats are.
And then for our children. Young America, hold your head high now. We can win. We must not lose you to drugs and violence, premature pregnancy, suicide, cynicism, pessimism and despair. We can win. Wherever you are tonight, I challenge you to hope and to dream. Don't submerge your dreams. Exercise above all else, even on drugs, dream of the day you are drug free. Even in the gutter, dream of the day that you will be up on your feet again.
You must never stop dreaming. Face reality, yes, but don't stop with the way things are. Dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain, but love, hope, faith and dreams will help you rise above the pain. Use hope and imagination as weapons of survival and progress, but you keep on dreaming, young America. Dream of peace. Peace is rational and reasonable. War is irrationable [sic] in this age, and unwinnable.
Dream of teachers who teach for life and not for a living. Dream of doctors who are concerned more about public health than private wealth. Dream of lawyers more concerned about justice than a judgeship. Dream of preachers who are concerned more about prophecy than profiteering. Dream on the high road with sound values.
And then America, as we go forth to September, October, November and then beyond, America must never surrender to a high moral challenge.
Do not surrender to drugs. The best drug policy is a "no first use." Don't surrender with needles and cynicism. Let's have "no first use" on the one hand, or clinics on the other. Never surrender, young America. Go forward.
America must never surrender to malnutrition. We can feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We must never surrender. We must go forward.
We must never surrender to illiteracy. Invest in our children. Never surrender; and go forward. We must never surrender to inequality. Women cannot compromise ERA or comparable worth. Women are making 60 cents on the dollar to what a man makes. Women cannot buy meat cheaper. Women cannot buy bread cheaper. Women cannot buy milk cheaper. Women deserve to get paid for the work that you do. It's right! And it's fair.
Don't surrender, my friends. Those who have AIDS tonight, you deserve our compassion. Even with AIDS you must not surrender.
In your wheelchairs. I see you sitting here tonight in those wheelchairs. I've stayed with you. I've reached out to you across our Nation. And don't you give up. I know it's tough sometimes. People look down on you. It took you a little more effort to get here tonight. And no one should look down on you, but sometimes mean people do. The only justification we have for looking down on someone is that we're going to stop and pick them up.
But even in your wheelchairs, don't you give up. We cannot forget 50 years ago when our backs were against the wall, Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. I would rather have Roosevelt in a wheelchair than Reagan and Bush on a horse. Don't you surrender and don't you give up. Don't surrender and don't give up!
Why I cannot challenge you this way? "Jesse Jackson, you don't understand my situation. You be on television. You don't understand. I see you with the big people. You don't understand my situation."
I understand. You see me on TV, but you don't know the me that makes me, me. They wonder, "Why does Jesse run?" because they see me running for the White House. They don't see the house I'm running from.
I have a story. I wasn't always on television. Writers were not always outside my door. When I was born late one afternoon, October 8th, in Greenville, South Carolina, no writers asked my mother her name. Nobody chose to write down our address. My mama was not supposed to make it, and I was not supposed to make it. You see, I was born of a teen-age mother, who was born of a teen-age mother. I understand. I know abandonment, and people being mean to you, and saying you're nothing and nobody and can never be anything.
I understand. Jesse Jackson is my third name. I'm adopted. When I had no name, my grandmother gave me her name. My name was Jesse Burns 'til I was 12. So I wouldn't have a blank space, she gave me a name to hold me over. I understand when nobody knows your name. I understand when you have no name.
I understand. I wasn't born in the hospital. Mama didn't have insurance. I was born in the bed at [the] house. I really do understand. Born in a three-room house, bathroom in the backyard, slop jar by the bed, no hot and cold running water. I understand. Wallpaper used for decoration? No. For a windbreaker. I understand. I'm a working person's person. That's why I understand you whether you're Black or White. I understand work. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had a shovel programmed for my hand.
My mother, a working woman. So many of the days she went to work early, with runs in her stockings. She knew better, but she wore runs in her stockings so that my brother and I could have matching socks and not be laughed at at school. I understand.
At 3 o'clock on Thanksgiving Day, we couldn't eat turkey because momma was preparing somebody else's turkey at 3 o'clock. We had to play football to entertain ourselves. And then around 6 o'clock she would get off the Alta Vista bus and we would bring up the leftovers and eat our turkey -- leftovers, the carcass, the cranberries -- around 8 o'clock at night. I really do understand.
Every one of these funny labels they put on you, those of you who are watching this broadcast tonight in the projects, on the corners, I understand. Call you outcast, low down, you can't make it, you're nothing, you're from nobody, subclass, underclass; when you see Jesse Jackson, when my name goes in nomination, your name goes in nomination.
I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. And it wasn't born in you, and you can make it.
Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Hold your head high; stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don't you surrender!
Suffering breeds character, character breeds faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.
You must not surrender! You may or may not get there but just know that you're qualified! And you hold on, and hold out! We must never surrender!! America will get better and better.
Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive! On tomorrow night and beyond, keep hope alive!
I love you very much. I love you very much.
Do you remember the Jesse Jackson of 1988 who made us so proud with his historical presidential campaigns? Share your memories and thoughts of Rev. Jackson in the COMMENTS section below.
Today is Mandela Day. On this date in 1918 Nelson Mandela was born. I think that Mr. Mandela has been rewarded with long-life to compensate for the remarkable sacrifice that he made for his people.
Born in Umtata, South Africa, in what is now Eastern Cape Province, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of a Xhosa-speaking Thembu chief. He attended the University of Fort Hare in Alice where he became involved in the political struggle against the racial discrimination practiced in South Africa. He was expelled in 1940 for participating in a student demonstration. After moving to Johannesburg, he completed his course work by correspondence through the University of South Africa and received a bachelor’s degree in 1942. Mandela then studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
He became increasingly involved with the African National Congress (ANC), a multiracial nationalist movement which sought to bring about democratic political change in South Africa. Mandela helped establish the ANC’s Youth League in 1944 and became its president in 1951. The National Party (NP) came to power in South Africa in 1948 on a political platform of white supremacy. The official policy of apartheid, or forced segregation of the races, began to be implemented under NP rule. In 1952, the ANC staged a campaign known as the Defiance Campaign, when protesters across the country refused to obey apartheid laws. That same year Mandela became one of the ANC’s four deputy presidents.
In 1952, he and his friend Oliver Tambo were the first Blacks to open a law practice in South Africa. In the face of government harassment and with the prospect of the ANC being officially banned, Mandela and others devised a plan. Called the "M" plan after Mandela, it organized the ANC into small units of people who could then encourage grassroots participation in anti-apartheid struggles.
By the late 1950s, Mandela, with Oliver Tambo and others, moved the ANC in a more militant direction against the increasingly discriminatory policies of the government. He was charged with treason in 1956 because of the ANC’s increased activity, particularly in the Defiance Campaign, but he was acquitted after a five-year trial. In 1957, Mandela divorced his first wife, Evelyn Mase; in 1958, he married Nkosikazi Nomzamo Madikizela, a social worker, who became known as Winnie Mandela. In March 1960, the ANC and its rival, the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), called for a nationwide demonstration against South Africa’s pass laws, which controlled the movement and employment of Blacks and forced them to carry identity papers.
When police massacred 69 Blacks demonstrating in Sharpeville, both the ANC and the PAC were banned. After Sharpeville, the ANC abandoned the strategy of nonviolence, which until that time had been an important part of its philosophy. Mandela helped to establish the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), in December 1961. He was named its commander-in-chief and went to Algeria for military training.
Back in South Africa, he was arrested in August 1962 and sentenced to prison for incitement and for leaving the country illegally. In response to both international and domestic pressure, the South African government, under the leadership of President F. W. de Klerk, lifted the ban against the ANC and released Mandela in February 1990 after 28 years in prison.
Soon after his release from prison he became estranged from Winnie Mandela, who had played a key leadership role in the anti apartheid movement during his incarceration. Although Winnie had won international recognition for her defiance of the government, immediately before Mandela’s release she had come into conflict with the ANC over a controversial kidnapping and murder trial that involved her young bodyguards. The Mandelas were divorced in 1996.
Mandela, who enjoyed enormous popularity, assumed the leadership of the ANC and led negotiations with the government for an end to apartheid. While white South Africans considered sharing power a big step, Black South Africans wanted nothing less than a complete transfer of power. Mandela played a crucial role in resolving differences. For their efforts, he and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
The following year South Africa held its first multiracial elections, and Mandela became president. Mandela sought to calm the fears of white South Africans and of potential international investors by trying to balance plans for reconstruction and development with financial caution. His Reconstruction and Development Plan allotted large amounts of money to the creation of jobs and housing and to the development of basic health care. In December 1996, Mandela signed into law a new South African constitution. The constitution established a federal system with a strong central government based on majority rule, and it contained guarantees of the rights of minorities and of freedom of expression.
Mandela became the oldest elected President of South Africa when he took office at the age of 77 in 1994. He retired in 1999, to be succeeded by Thabo Mbeki as party leader of the ANC.
After his retirement as President, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human rights organizations. He has expressed his support for the international Make Poverty History movement of which the ONE Campaign is a part. Since his retirement, one of Mandela's primary commitments has been to the fight against AIDS.
Mandela's 90th birthday was marked across the country on July 18, 2008, with the main celebrations held at his home town of Qunu. A concert in his honor was also held in Hyde Park, London. In a speech to mark his birthday, Mandela called for the rich people to help poor people across the world.
My Mandela Memory: Nelson Mandela went on a worldwide tour after his release from prison in 1990. Stevie Wonder joined him on the tour when it came to the United States. I was living in Detroit when the Mandela tour came to Tigers Stadium. I recall the sense of pride and awe that I felt in realizing that this stoic African sacrificed his youth during 28-years in prison. He stood like a rock in his belief. All of us should aspire to have Mandela's strength of character.
Soulclap to Perry Carter for letting us know about the internship offered by HP to Francisco Nunez this summer in the Washington DC area. He attends Morehouse College and maintains a 4.0 GPA. Francisco served as the High School Computer Competition (HSCC) co-captain for teams trained by BDPA Washington DC chapter. He helped his teams capture the BDPA Northeast Regional HSCC title for four consecutive years.
BDPA maintains his student membership with BDPA Washington DC chapter. BDPA is very proud of Francisco Nunez for his many accomplishments within the context of its HSCC Alumni program!
It is also great to see a BDPA corporate sponsor, HP, recognizing the talent that can be found within the organization. We talk about creating a pipeline of IT talent that can win the future. HP sees that BDPA is serious about advancing the careers of its members 'from the classroom to the boardroom'.
I encourage all villagers in the Chicago area to join us at the 33rd annual BDPA Technology Conference on August 3-6, 2011. You go to sports tournaments to find baseball, basketball and football prospects. You need to go to the BDPA conference to identify IT talent! This blog will continue to seek out Good News stories about people of African descent and share them with you each Tuesday. We need to tell the positive and upbeat information about OURstory. We can't depend on others to do it for us. Please pass along any Good News story that comes your way. In the case of bloggers ... we want you to join our Good News parade every Tuesday.
Politicians are bickering up in Washington DC about deficits and debt. It is the argument that many a Broke-A$$ Brotha has when (s)he runs out of money before they run out of month. This blog likes to share tips with y'all about ways to increase revenue and decrease expenses ... we call them Broke-A$$ Brotha Tips.
We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.
Your current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:
Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $7.99 a month
Your price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99).
I love my Netflix Queue as much as the next guy. I probably have over 150 titles in my queue at the moment. I also enjoy watching BBC mystery television series episodes via the streaming option. However, I don't think it is worth getting ripped for a 60% increase in the monthly bill. Especially when I can get movies at no cost from my local public library.
Are you a Netflix customer? If so, what are you gonna do?
President Obama calls on both parties to come together to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that lets us live within our means without hurting investments our economy needs to grow and create jobs. [Video / Transcript]
President Obama continues to show me that he is an aspirational leader who sees the best in people ... including his Republican opponents. It should be interesting to see what happens this weekend in the negotiations to raise the debt limit. What is your evolving view of your President? Is he worthy of his office?
Malia Obama, the eldest of President Barack Obama's two daughters, turned 13 today. So, our nation officially has a teenager living at the White House!
On the 2nd of July, 1776, the old Continental Congress gave words to the idea of liberty as follows:
"Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved."
Our Declaration of Independence was signed on the 4th of July ... and our nation celebrates it with great pride and patriotism. The principles in the Declaration of Independence should be sacrosanct to all of us.
However, here is the section of his speech that I read to myself every year on the 4th of July. This part of his speech resonates with all African Americans:
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour."
However, there really isn't any reason to substitute one anthem for the other ... especially on this special day -- July 4, 2011. Today is our nation's 235th birthday!
Truth to tell, I'm proud of my country for the growth that has occurred since I was born over half-century ago. In fact, there are times when I get the chills listening to the National Anthem. Two times that are seared into my memory occurred in 1983 (Marvin Gaye) and 1991 (Whitney Houston).
President Obama addresses the need to reduce the nation's deficit while creating jobs across the country and wishes Americans a happy Fourth of July (Video / Transcript)
I think that the Republicans are convinced that America's economy must deteriorate in order for them to win the 2012 presidential election. I fear that GOP leaders are more interested in working against President Obama than they are in solving our nation's economic problems.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law.
After graduating from Frederick Douglass High School in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, to Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway.
Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.
In 1930, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission because he was Black.This was an event that was to haunt him and direct his future professional life.
Thurgood sought admission and was accepted at the Howard University Law School that same year and came under the immediate influence of the dynamic new dean, Charles Houston, who instilled in all of his students the desire to apply the tenets of the Constitution to all Americans.
Paramount in Houston's outlook was the need to overturn the 1898 Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson which established the legal doctrine called, "separate but equal." Marshall's first major court case came in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American Amherst University graduate named Donald Gaines Murray.
Applauding Marshall's victory, author H.L. Mencken wrote that the decision of denial by the University of Maryland Law School was "brutal and absurd," and they should not object to the "presence among them of a self-respecting and ambitious young Afro-American well prepared for his studies by four years of hard work in a class A college."
Thurgood Marshall followed his Howard University mentor, Charles Houston to New York and later became Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During this period, Mr. Marshall was asked by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to help draft the constitutions of the emerging African nations of Ghana and what is now Tanzania. It was felt that the person who so successfully fought for the rights of America's oppressed minority would be the perfect person to ensure the rights of the White citizens in these two former European colonies.
After amassing an impressive record of Supreme Court challenges to state-sponsored discrimination, including the landmark Brown v. Board decision in 1954, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this capacity, he wrote over 150 decisions including support for the rights of immigrants, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. Biographers
Michael Davis and Hunter Clark note that, "none of his (Marshall's) 98 majority decisions was ever reversed by the Supreme Court."
In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Judge Marshall to the office of U.S. Solicitor General. Before his subsequent nomination to the United States Supreme Court in 1967, Thurgood Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government. Indeed, Thurgood Marshall represented and won more cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other American.
Until his retirement from the highest court in the land, Justice Marshall established a record for supporting the voiceless American. Having honed his skills since the case against the University of Maryland, he developed a profound sensitivity to injustice by way of the crucible of racial discrimination in this country. As an Associate Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall leaves a legacy that expands that early sensitivity to include all of America's voiceless.
Justice Marshall died on January 24, 1993.
I invite all villagers to use the COMMENTS section ('Village Voices') to share your thoughts, memories or insights on Thurgood Marshall.
