Things I Was Pleased To See

Posted on December 15, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, Holidays, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Today for a change of pace, I thought I’d share with you a few things I was pleased to see in the news recently. No, don’t worry … I’m not going soft, but sometimes it is nice to partly balance the negative with the positive. I’ll be back with more snark later today, no doubt.

🏳️‍🌈Yesterday, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law with more than 2,000 people on hand to cheer! While some claim the law does not go far enough, and I would agree, it is nonetheless a huge step in the right direction. The law protects both same-sex marriages and inter-racial marriages, requiring the federal government and states to recognize legally performed marriages in other states. It also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 bill that recognized marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”

It is likely this bill would still be languishing somewhere in the Senate, but a sense of urgency prevailed when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, of all people, indicated that the Court should revisit the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges ruling that guarantees a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Of late, the Court has not shown itself to be on the side of human rights. The Respect for Marriage Act even had a bit of support from Republicans in both the House and the Senate, which I find very encouraging. It’s time we all learn to just accept each other for who we are without trying to run the lives of others for them.

In Oregon, the outgoing Governor Kate Brown took a step that I fully applaud. She announced that she will commute the sentences of all 17 individuals on Oregon’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As an opponent of the death penalty, I am beyond pleased to hear this. Says Governor Brown …

“I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people — even if a terrible crime placed them in prison. This is a value that many Oregonians share.”

She also directed the Department of Corrections to dismantle the state’s death chamber.

According to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), civil rights giant and former U.S. Representative John Lewis, who spent decades fighting for racial justice, will be honored with a postage-stamp next year! I cannot think of a single person more worthy of this honour. The USPS said the stamp “celebrates the life and legacy” of the leader from Georgia, who risked his life protesting against segregation and other injustices in the violent Jim Crow-era South.

“Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s. Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 arrests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call ‘good trouble.'”

And lastly, a bit of humour out of Florida.

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Lou Caputo, left, costumed as the Grinch, and Deputy Andrew Leird, right, wave at a school bus rolling on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in Marathon, Fla. When drivers are pulled over for slightly speeding through a school zone, Caputo offers them the choice between an onion or a traffic citation. It’s a holiday tradition in the Keys that Caputo began 20 years ago to educate drivers that Keys schools remain in session through Dec. 16.

“I No Longer Recognize My Country…”

Posted on July 6, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Election 2020, Election 2022, Environmental Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” depending on your set of (or lack of) values, the colour of your skin, your religious beliefs (or non-beliefs), and your views of what a nation should be. Our friend Annie sums up our times with a clear-eyed view that is both realistic, but also gives us a bit of hope that perhaps we can overcome today’s chaos and come out a better country than before. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read her piece and give it some thought. And do the one thing we can ALL do — VOTE! Thank you, Annie!

annieasksyou...

I have increasingly come across the sad expression: “I no longer recognize my country.”

I not only understand that expression; I also share it. We are being buffeted by a series of events that are searing to live through. We used to be so proud to be Americans. How did things go so terribly wrong?

Then “I no longer recognize my country” evokes other thoughts. For one, I think of the incredible Ukrainians, who have been fighting an existential battle for their very existence since February and have lived with active war in parts of their country for years–and threats for most of their national life. They’ve also long fought valiantly against internal corruption.

They put their bodies on the line every day—fighting to keep their hard-won democracy and their autonomy against mammoth odds.

Structurally, they can no longer recognize their country because their country as they remember it no…

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Black History Month: A Very Noble Man … Mr. Dabney Montgomery

Posted on February 12, 2022 by jilldennison under Black History Month, History, Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, Tributes

In today’s environment, it would be easy to focus during Black History Month on the wrongs that have been done throughout our history and continue even today against Black Americans. Certainly it is important to bring those stories to light, especially these days when some are trying to hide those parts of the nation’s history. But to limit my posts to only those would be wrong, for there are so many true heroes throughout our history who deserve to be recognized, to be noted. I first wrote this post on September 6th 2016, three days after the death of Mr. Dabney Montgomery, but last night I read it again and I think Mr. Montgomery deserves another spotlight, another round of applause. So, without further ado, please allow me to tell you about Mr. Dabney Montgomery …

The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of African-American military fighter and bomber pilots, as well as navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel, who fought in World War II. Officially, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. Mr. Montgomery was a member of this group, serving as a ground crewman until the end of the war in 1945.

When he returned to his home in Selma, Alabama, after the war, Jim Crow laws and segregation were still the law of the land in the south. Having just been honourably discharged, Mr. Montgomery attempted to board a train in Atlanta to return home to his family. “Before I could get in, a white officer threw up his hand. ‘You can’t come in this door, boy, you got to go around the back.’ “ After returning home, Mr. Montgomery went to the courthouse in Selma to register to vote in the next election, but was told by a clerk that he would need the signatures of three white men before he would be allowed to register. His father, Dred, a fireman for Southern Railroad, knew three white men who were willing to sign. But when Mr. Montgomery returned to the courthouse with the signatures, yet another hurdle had been put in his way … he was told he must own at least $1,000 worth of property. He did not own property, and thus was denied the right to vote. Obviously not much had changed in the south during his time of service to his country.

Mr. Montgomery attended Livingstone College in North Carolina on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in religious education in 1949. A man of many interests and talents, Mr. Montgomery soon ended up in Boston, where he studied dance at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and later in New York at the New York City Metropolitan Opera Dance School! Sadly, an injury soon ended his dance career, and in 1955 he went to work for the City of New York, first as a Social Service Investigator in the Department of Social Services and later for the Housing Authority.

Then one day …

“I was sitting at home in New York City and I saw that attack on people in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They gassed them and beat them with sticks — the sheriff, the officials in their uniforms, because they was [sic] marching to the governor’s office to vote.

“And I saw them knocked down, and I saw the gas in the air, and I was sitting here — this is happening in my hometown, Selma! I said, ‘I’m going and get[ting] a taste of that gas.’

“I went to my director and said, ‘I’ve got to go home. … I’m going home to take part in that movement.’ “

The date was Sunday, 07 March 1965, and the event Mr. Montgomery saw on television would become known across the nation as “Bloody Sunday”. The previous year, 1964, the Voter’s Rights Act was passed, but African-Americans were still meeting with resistance when attempting to register to vote, and as a result, only 2% had been able to register. Dr. Martin Luther King was working with the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register black voters. There was much resistance in Selma, and on February 17, protester Jimmy Lee Jackson was fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper. In response, a protest march from Selma to Montgomery was scheduled for March 7. Six hundred marchers assembled in Selma that Sunday, and led by John Lewis and other SNCC and SCLC activists, planned to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River en route to Montgomery. Just short of the bridge, they found their way blocked by Alabama State troopers and local police who ordered them to turn around. When the protesters refused, the officers shot teargas and waded into the crowd, beating the nonviolent protesters with billy clubs and ultimately hospitalizing over fifty people.

Mr. Montgomery had been active in the Civil Rights movement before, participating in the 1963 March on Washington, but when he returned to Selma, he jumped on the bandwagon with determination to make things better, to do whatever he could to help bring about an end to racial segregation. Within days of arriving in Selma, Mr. Montgomery connected with Dr. King, and by the beginning of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on 21 March 1965, Mr. Montgomery had become one of Dr. King’s bodyguards. The march took four days of walking 12 hours a day, sleeping in fields along the way, protected by U.S. Army troops and Alabama National Guard forces that President Johnson had ordered.

Eventually, Mr. Montgomery returned to his job in New York City and in 1971 he married the girl of his dreams, Amelia. Mr. Montgomery retired from the New York City Housing Authority in 1988, but he did not rest on his laurels! Since his retirement, he has worked as a Social Outreach Worker for Project FIND, a non-profit organization assisting older adults on Manhattan’s West Side. Montgomery was also very active with Harlem’s Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the oldest organized black church in New York, and was also active on the Parks Committee and Harlem’s Interfaith Committee of the Tenth Community Board of Manhattan. He also frequently visited schools to talk to the children about his experiences, and according to his wife, he remained active until he became ill, just a few weeks prior to his death.

In 2007, Mr. Montgomery, along with the other Tuskegee Airmen, received the Congressional Gold Medal. The heels from the shoes he wore during the march from Selma to Montgomery will be on display in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, which is scheduled to open the 24th of this month.

There is no official record of how many of the Tuskegee Airmen are still alive today. What is certain is that within another decade, there will likely be none left to tell the story. With that in mind, a group called The History Makers began recording, preserving and sharing the life stories of thousands of African Americans, from President Barack Obama to the oldest living black cowboy. You can hear Mr. Montgomery’s story in his own words . What a noble project! And what a noble man … my hat is off to Mr. Dabney Montgomery … Rest in Peace, sir, and thank you for your many contributions.

And Speaking of Voting Rights …

Posted on August 7, 2021 by jilldennison under History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

I had considered doing a Saturday Surprise post today, but … frankly, my heart wasn’t in it and my mind kept going back to an editorial I read yesterday by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Perhaps there might be a Sunday Surprise tomorrow, but for today, please read AG Garland’s words, think about them, put them into the context of the post I wrote yesterday about Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964. Then ask yourself … WHERE are we headed? WHY should a person’s right to vote be infringed upon because of the colour of their skin? And WHAT, if anything, can We the People do to stop this runaway train that will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens, rob them of their voice in our country’s government?

Merrick Garland: It is time for Congress to act again to protect the right to vote

Opinion by Merrick B. Garland

Friday, 06 August 2021

Merrick B. Garland is attorney general of the United States.

Our society is shaped not only by the rights it declares but also by its willingness to protect and enforce those rights. Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of voting rights.

Fifty-six years ago Friday, the Voting Rights Act became law. At the signing ceremony, President Lyndon B. Johnson rightly called it “one of the most monumental laws in the entire history of American freedom.”

Prior attempts to protect voting rights informed his assessment. The 15th Amendment promised that no American citizen would be denied the right to vote on account of race. Yet for nearly a century following the amendment’s ratification, the right to vote remained illusory for far too many.

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 marked Congress’s first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. That law authorized the attorney general to sue to enjoin racially discriminatory denials of the right to vote. Although the Justice Department immediately put the law to use, it quickly learned that bringing case-by-case challenges was no match for systematic voter suppression.

Things would not have changed without the civil rights movement’s persistent call to action. By the time a 25-year-old John Lewis was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., the Justice Department had been embroiled in voting rights litigation against the surrounding county for four years. Although the county had approximately 15,000 Black citizens of voting age, the number of Black registered voters had only risen from 156 to 383 during those years.

By 1965, it was clear that protecting the right to vote required stronger tools. The Voting Rights Act provided them. Central to the law was its “preclearance” provision, which prevented jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory voting practices from adopting new voting rules until they could show the Justice Department or a federal court that the change would have neither a racially discriminatory purpose nor a racially discriminatory result.

By any measure, the preclearance regime was enormously effective. While it was in place, the Justice Department blocked thousands of discriminatory voting changes that would have curtailed the voting rights of millions of citizens in jurisdictions large and small.

One thwarted change involved McComb, Miss. A large group of Black residents in the city had long voted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, which was close to their homes on the east side of railroad tracks that run through the city. In 1997, the city tried to move that group’s assigned polling place to the American Legion Hut on the west side of the tracks. To cross those tracks, Black voters on the east side — many of whom lacked transportation — would have had to travel substantial distances to find a safe crossing. Recognizing that difficulty, the Justice Department blocked the change.

While the Voting Rights Act gave the Justice Department robust authority, it also imposed checks on that power. Jurisdictions had the option to go to federal court to show that their voting changes were lawful. This ensured fairness and accountability, but without the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness that existed prior to 1965. It was a balance that worked and received broad support: Congressional reauthorizations of the act were signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970, President Gerald Ford in 1975, President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and President George W. Bush in 2006.

That invaluable framework was upended in 2013, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively eliminated the act’s preclearance protections. Without that authority, the Justice Department has been unable to stop discriminatory practices before they occur. Instead, the Justice Department has been left with costly, time-consuming tools that have many of the shortcomings that plagued federal law prior to 1965.

Notwithstanding these setbacks, the Justice Department is using all its current legal authorities to combat a new wave of restrictive voting laws. But if the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance provision were still operative, many of those laws would likely not have taken effect in the first place.

In a column published after his death, Lewis recalled an important lesson taught by Martin Luther King Jr.: “Each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.”

On this anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we must say again that it is not right to erect barriers that make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote. And it is time for Congress to act again to protect that fundamental right.

Dirty Racist Cops … Again

Posted on April 11, 2021 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Caron Nazario is a lieutenant in the U.S. Army medical corp, serving in Norfolk, Virginia. Lieutenant Nazario also happens to be Black and Hispanic. In December, Lt. Nazario purchased a new SUV and on December 5^th, he was driving home from work in said SUV when he saw flashing lights behind him. Lt. Nazario drove to the nearest well-lighted place, a service station, before pulling over. He did not speed up or in any way attempt to evade the police car behind him, but rather he slowed down, activated his turn signals, and drove for less than a mile before reaching the service station. He merely wanted, understandably, to get to a well-lighted area.

Upon stopping, Officer Daniel Crocker, with his gun pointed at Lt. Nazario, ordered him out of the vehicle, by which time a second police officer, Joe Gutierrez, had arrived and also had a gun pointed at him. Lt. Nazario put his empty hands outside the window, as ordered, to show that officers that he was unarmed, and asked them why they stopped him. A perfectly valid question, under the circumstances. The officer repeated the order to exit the vehicle, and Lt. Nazario replied that he was “honestly afraid to get out” his vehicle. Who wouldn’t be, with two officers holding guns on him? One officer replied, “Yeah, you should be.” Just a minute later, Officer Gutierrez told Lt. Nazario that he was “fixin’ to ride the lightning,” a slang expression referring to an execution by electric chair.

After some back and forth, with the officers yelling at him to get out of the vehicle, but also to keep his hands outside the window (ever try opening the car door from inside, with your hands outside the window?), and Lt. Nazario asking why he was being stopped, why he was being treated in such a manner, one of the officers sprayed pepper spray into his face through the open window, jerked his door open, sprayed more pepper spray, kicked him in the knees, and slammed him to the ground.

The officer’s given reason for initiating the traffic stop was that he could not see Lt. Nazario’s license plate, which was clearly visible in the back window, as 30-day plates for new vehicles are typically displayed. The Lieutenant was released without charges, but this week he filed a lawsuit accusing the two Windsor, Virginia police officers of violating his constitutional rights by holding him at gunpoint, suggesting he was facing execution, assaulting him, and illegally detaining him. The lawsuit states …

“These cameras captured footage of behavior consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous and sometimes deadly abuses of authority.”

The lawsuit also claims police threatened to end Nazario’s military career if he spoke out about the incident. The body cam video clearly shows that the temporary license plate was visible through the window of the vehicle. The body cam video stopped shortly after Lt. Nazario was slammed to the ground. Gutierrez wrote in his report that his camera stopped recording after it got “compressed” between him and Nazario during a struggle. Nazario also recorded part of the incident from his cellphone.

I watched the video and found it both chilling and sickening. The beginning is footage from Nazario’s cellphone that he activated when he realized he had guns pointed at him.

I won’t even bother to ask the question, “If Lt. Nazario had been a white man, would the cops have acted similarly?” for we all know the answer to that. The better question is, “How do we reform policing? How do we stop these incidents, often leading to murder, from ever happening?” I wish I knew the answer, but I DO know what’s going to happen if there are many more incidents like this, if there are many more murders of unarmed black men by police, or if Derek Chauvin is let off with naught but a slap on the wrist … there is going to be blood shed in the streets of America.

We the People are sick and tired of having to fear the very group of people whose duty it is to “protect and defend” us. We the People have made our voices clear … at least those of us who give a damn have … and if our voices alone aren’t enough, then in the words of the great civil rights leader John Lewis …

Real Time With Bill Maher ~ New Rule: The Baldy Awards

Posted on January 31, 2021 by jilldennison under Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

My friend Kim, over at By Hook or By Book, published the single most relevant and important video clip yesterday that I have seen in ages. It is a 7-minute clip of Bill Maher, ‘telling it like it is’. Bill Maher puts every one of the knuckleheads who attacked the Capitol and our Congress on January 6th to shame, and he reminds us who the real ‘patriots’, the real people who are driving change for the better are. Please, if you watch nothing else today, take 7 minutes to watch this … I promise you will not regret it. Many thanks, Kim, for sharing this absolutely excellent clip with us!

By Hook Or By Book

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The Week’s Best Cartoons 8/1

Posted on August 2, 2020 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

As usual these days, the cartoonists have been kept on their toes. Our friend TokyoSand has been busy scouting out the best of the bunch for us. Thank you, TS, for our weekly dose of humour!

Political⚡Charge

Did this seem like a long week to you? It sure did to me. Looking at all of the many topics editorial cartoonists covered this week, I think I better understand why. As always, I hope you enjoy this collection of my favorite cartoons from the week. If you have a favorite, do let me know by commenting!

Election 2020

ByMike Luckovich, *Atlanta Journal-Constitution*

BySteve Breen, *San Diego Union Tribune*

Trump’s Goons

ByClay Bennett, *Chattanooga Times Free Press*

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The Week’s Best Cartoons 7/18

Posted on July 21, 2020 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Humour, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs

And to end the day with a bit of humour, I bring you TokyoSand’s excellent selection of political cartoons from last week! Thank you, TS!!!

Political⚡Charge

Every week, I enjoy searching for editorial cartoons responding to the news and sharing them with you on Saturdays. This week, there are some recurring themes plus some new ones.

Let me know which ones resonate the most with you in the comments!

Rest in Power, John Lewis

ByAndy Marlette, *Pensacola News Journal*

Back to School?

COVID

Goya

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Think Your Vote Isn’t Important?

Posted on November 6, 2018 by jilldennison under Election 2018, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Well, here we are … the big day has finally arrived after months of divisive rhetoric, dirty tricks to keep voters from the polls, and demoralizing speech by certain corrupt elements in our government. This has been the ugliest, nastiest election season I have seen in my 67 years. Today is the day those who haven’t already voted will head to the polls. Well, most will. Some will. Others, it seems, have a thousand and one excuses for not voting, the top one seeming to be “my vote doesn’t really matter”, followed by “I don’t have time”. Think it’s not important that you vote? Let’s look at somebody who thought it was …

She felt violated, she felt abused, not by a single perpetrator but by the government that was supposed to protect her.Her name was Fannie Lou Hamer. She was born on October 6, 1917. Her parents were sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta area. As a child, she often went hungry and without shoes. In the winter, she tied rags on her feet to keep her feet warm. She began working the fields when she was only 6 years old.

Later she realized she was not considered “a first class citizen” because she was poor, because she was black, because she was a woman.

In 1961, she went to a hospital to remove a tumor. She would be given a hysterectomy without her consent by a white doctor who was following the state plan to reduce the number of poor blacks in the state. Fannie Lou Hamer became another victim of the involuntary or uninformed sterilization of black women, common in the South in the 1960s. They were commonly called “Mississippi appendectomies” because women would be told they needed to get their appendix out, but instead they would be sterilized.”

“In the North Sunflower County Hospital,” Hamer would say, “I would say about six out of the 10 Negro women that go to the hospital are sterilized with the tubes tied.”

The government-funded program started in the 1930s targeting people in “institutions for mental illness” then slowly targeting “the blind, the deaf, the disabled, alcoholics, those with epilepsy, and ultimately the rural poor on welfare.”

This was the turning point in Fannie Lou Hamer’s life.

She would say, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

She decided at that point that she would fight for human rights, human dignity, and she would never give in, to anyone.

She soon realized that the only way to improve her life and the life of other poor blacks was to register to vote. If she was prevented to register or saw others who were prevented to vote, she would speak out and protest, if necessary.

She became relentless. She would be fired from her job, driven from the plantation she had called home for nearly two decades, she would be threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at, leading to one arrest where she would be beaten nearly to death, suffering permanent kidney damage.

When she was stopped by police, she would start singing “This Little Light of Mine” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”

She would say, “I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared — but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”

Fannie Lou Hamer would become a tireless champion for racial equality, working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), fighting racial segregation and injustice in the South. She also helped to found the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was instrumental in organizing Mississippi’s Freedom Summer for the SNCC, and she later became the vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

At the Democratic National Convention, Hamer would be seen making her way through a group of old, white men to tell the world her story. At times, she fought back tears, such as recounting the time she was beaten in a Mississippi jail. She would add, “I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered.”

She would ask, “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?”

At the convention, rumors circulated that one of the toughest men in America, President Lyndon B. Johnson, was terrified of Hamer, her courage, and her voice.

Hamer would say, “We got to fight in America . . . for ALL the people.”

Still think it isn’t important, that your vote doesn’t count, or that you just can’t find time? Do us all a favour and … think again.

**Note: The header photo is John Lewis, Civil Rights leader and member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving Georgia’s 5th district, during the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 in the struggle for voting rights.

Thumbs Up — March For Our Lives!

Posted on March 26, 2018 by jilldennison under Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

On Saturday over 800 March For Our Lives events, organized by young people, took place around the globe, from New York to Dallas to Seattle, but also in London, Tokyo, Sydney and Mumbai! This was not some minor protest that will be forgotten by next week. Nope, folks, this was a BIG DEAL. These young people had a message and they sent it loud and clear: It’s time to stop the gun madness in the U.S. – NOW!!! I support them 100%, and I am so very proud of anyone and everyone who marched, helped organize or contributed in any way to these events.

Think how amazing this is. The students who survived the February 14^th tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, organized the rally in Washington, D.C. and from there, others picked up the baton and ran with it. This map shows where rallies and marches were held throughout the U.S.

The crowds at the event in Washington were initially estimated to be around 500,000, but by most estimates on Saturday were closer to 800,000! (Not to be smug, but the inaugural crowds last year were in the ballpark of only 600,000) I couldn’t have said it any better than President Barack Obama …“This was all because of the courage and effort of a handful of 15- and 16-year-olds, who took the responsibility that so often adults had failed to take in trying to find a solution to this problem, and I think that’s a testimony to what happens when young people are given opportunities, and I think all institutions have to think about how do we tap into that creativity and that energy and that drive. Because it’s there. It’s just so often we say: ‘Wait your turn.’”And make no mistake … there have been many fools who tried to tell these young people to “wait your turn”, and they brushed those naysayers aside and went on to do what their hearts and minds told them to do. I cannot possibly do justice to all the special moments, but here are a few:

Nine-year-old Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of the late, great Martin Luther King, gave a short but moving speech:
- “My grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough and that this should be a gun free world. Period.”
George and Amal Clooney donated $500,000 for the Washington event and marched alongside demonstrators, as did Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and other celebrities too numerous to name.
U.S. Representative and Civil Rights hero John Lewis gave an impassioned speech where he said he was proud of the “F” rating he has from the NRA.

But by far the stars of the show were the speeches by the survivors of the Parkland tragedy and the signs! Take a look at some of these signs, folks!And then there was Emma González’ moment of silence. Actually, about six minutes and 20 seconds of silence, the amount of time it took for the Parkland gunman to complete his rampage and flee the school.

A student survivor of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting last month held several minutes of silence Saturday at the “March for Our Lives” rally in Washington, D.C., to honor the 17 students and faculty killed in the shooting. Taking the stage mid-afternoon after several other Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivors spoke, Emma González remained silent for six minutes before explaining it was the approximate time it took for the Parkland gunman to complete his rampage and flee the school.

“Six minutes and about 20 seconds. In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us, 15 were injured, and everyone, absolutely everyone in the Douglas community was forever altered. Fight for your lives, before it’s someone else’s job.”

These young people are the next generation. They are the ones who will lead this nation 20, 30 or 40 years from now, perhaps even sooner. Let us hope that they do not become jaded, that they keep their strong humanitarian values, that they effect the change our own generation is too consumed by greed and materialistic ‘values’ to do. My thumbs, all of them, are up to these young people! Thank you all!

Meanwhile, my thumbs go down 👎🏼 to the following:

Former republican senator Rick Santorum, who said, “How about kids, instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations [so] that when there is a violent shooter, that you can actually respond to that?” (They should learn CPR so that next time their friends are shot, they can keep them breathing???)
The National Rifle Association (NRA) who posted on Facebook: “Stand and Fight for our Kids’ Safety by Joining NRA. Today’s protests aren’t spontaneous. Gun-hating billionaires and Hollywood elites are manipulating and exploiting children as part of their plan to DESTROY the Second Amendment and strip us of our right to defend ourselves and our loved ones.” (So much stupidity that there really is no response for this!)
Whomever doctored this image to make it look as if Emma González were ripping the U.S. Constitution in half, when in fact she was ripping a gun-range target. The image went viral on social media, firing up the already witless staunch defenders of the second amendment.

Semper Fidelis, young people.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Tag Archives: John Lewis