In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, We Find Our Own

from:  In Search Of Our Mothers’ Gardens, Womanist Prose, 1983

(in English y Español)

How to read this page:  The Spanish translation, by Cuban poet Manuel Verdecia, will usually appear shortly after the English post.  Scroll down to other, earlier entries in English and Spanish.  Amanda Navarro is webmaster.

DECEMBER 2015

 

 

Is Celie Actually Ugly?

©2015 by Alice Walker

for Cynthia Erivo

Is Celie actually ugly?

Asks the charismatic star playing her
on Broadway.
How many times over the years
I have explained
this.
Celie and her “prettier” sister Nettie
are practically identical.
They might be twins.
But Life has forced on Celie
all the hardships
Nettie mostly avoids: a hazy anxiety surrounding
the lynching of her father when she was very small, repeated rape, a mother’s withheld love that morphed
into 
distrust and disdain,
her children, for all she knows,
murdered by
the rapist psychopath who claims
to be her father.
Endless labor that would
demean and soon obliterate
the observable loveliness
of the most queenly slave.
I wanted us to think about
how superficial is our understanding
of beauty; but, also, how beauty
is destroyed.
And how, to bear our own disgrace
these hundreds of years
we’ve taught ourselves
to laugh at anyone
as abused and diminished
as we feel.
It is Celie’s designation
as “nigger of the universe”
by heartless sufferers around her
that makes her “ugly” to them;
they who cannot see, until Love of Herself
lights the dreariness of Celie’s existence,
that
the beauty of her
resilient spirit
has become one

with

the 

compassionate

loveliness
of
her face.

 

¿ES CELIE REALMENTE FEA?

©2015 Alice Walker

Para Cynthia Erivo

¿Es Celie realmente fea?

pregunta la carismática estrella que la encarna
en Broadway.
¿Cuántas veces durante años
he respondido
a esto?
Celie y su hermana “más bonita” Nettie
son casi idénticas.
Podrían ser gemelas.
Pero la vida ha impuesto a Celie
todos los sufrimientos
a los que Nettie normalmente escapa:
una confusa ansiedad en torno al linchamiento de su padre
cuando era muy pequeña,
reiteradas violaciones,
el negado amor de una madre
que se transforma
en recelo y desdén,
sus hijos, hasta donde sabe,
asesinados por
un psicópata violador
que afirma ser el padre.
Trabajo interminable
que degrada y pronto borra
la manifiesta belleza
de la más regia esclava.
Quería que todos pensemos
en lo superficial que es nuestro sentido
de la belleza, pero también,
cómo se destruye la belleza
y cómo, para soportar nuestra desgracia
por estos cientos de años
nos hemos enseñado
a reír de cualquiera
tan maltratado y despreciado
como nosotros.
Luego que llamen a Celie
“negra del universo”
los inmisericordes que sufren en torno a ella
es lo que la hace “fea” para ellos;
ellos que no pueden ver, hasta que el Amor Propio

ilumina la lobreguez de la vida de Celie,
que la hermosura
de su fuerte espíritu

se vuelve una con
la encantadora belleza
de su rostro.

 

New York Times: The Actress Cynthia Erivo Rises With ‘The Color Purple’

Airline Workers At JFK, LaGuardia To Go On 24-Hour Hunger Strike For Higher Wages

by Emma Whitford in News on Nov 24, 2015 12:10 pm

BAD NEWS ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE

©By Alice Walker
December 8, 2015

IT IS ALWAYS SAD TO HEAR BAD NEWS ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE.  I’M OVER SEVENTY AND IT STILL MAKES ME FEEL LIKE CRYING.

IN THE MORNING I AM SCHEDULED TO FLY TO NEW YORK CITY FOR THE OPENING OF THE COLOR PURPLE ON BROADWAY. IT IS BASED ON MY NOVEL OF THE SAME NAME THAT I WROTE OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO.  I AM SCHEDULED TO FLY A PLANE OWNED BY JetBlue.

I’VE ALWAYS LIKED JetBlue, I THOUGHT THE COMPANY STOOD FOR SOMETHING MORE EGALITARIAN,  CHEAPER, MORE HUMANITY CONSCIOUS THAN OTHER AIRLINES.  I LIKED NOT HAVING A SPECIAL SEAT.  I LIKED NOT BEING SERVED BREAKFASTS AND DINNERS; I LIKED INSTEAD TO ENJOY THE PEANUTS AND THOSE GREAT BLUE POTATO CHIPS.

NOW I LEARN, ON THE MORNING BEFORE I LEAVE SAN FRANCISCO FOR NEW YORK, THAT A COMPANY THAT JetBlue CONTRACTS TO SUPPLY THE LABOR USED TO CLEAN THE PLANES IS REFUSING TO PAY THE WOMEN AND MEN INVOLVED $15 DOLLARS AN HOUR.  THAT THESE PEOPLE, WHO MAKE SURE MY SEAT AND THE AREA AROUND ME ARE CLEAN AND FRESH WHENEVER I BOARD A PLANE, ARE BEING PAID STARVATION WAGES, IS SHOCKING.  NOBODY CAN BE EXPECTED TO MAKE ENDS MEET ON LESS THAN $10.00 AN HOUR.  CERTAINLY NOT ON AS LITTLE AS $6.75.

HOW CAN ANY OF US WHO FLY LET THIS BE?   WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?

I THINK THAT FIRST, WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THE RESISTANCE TO OFFERING WORKERS A MINIMUM WAGE OF $15 AN HOUR AS A REMNANT OF THE SYSTEM OF OUTRIGHT ENSLAVEMENT OF POOR PEOPLE, WHATEVER THEIR ETHNICITY OR COLOR.

WHAT IS THE ROOT OF THIS DESIRE TO IMPOSE SUCH SUFFERING ON PEOPLE WHO WORK SO HARD JUST TO LIVE?

Continue Reading… Bad News About Good People, Airline Workers Hunger Strike

MALAS NOTICIAS SOBRE BUENAS PERSONAS

© Alice Walker, 8 de diciembre de 2015

Siempre es triste oír malas noticias sobre buenas personas. Paso de los setenta y todavía me hace sentir con deseos de llorar.

Por la mañana tengo programado volar a la ciudad de Nueva York para el estreno del musical El Color Púrpura en Broadway. Está basado en mi novela de igual nombre, la que escribí hace más de treinta años. Está previsto que vuele en un avión perteneciente a la compañía JetBlue…Lee Mas en Español

NOVEMBER 2015

 

DO UNTO OTHERS…..

A Message from Avaaz:

They’re fleeing terror… running from violence just as vicious as the attacks that have shaken Paris, Beirut, and Bamako. Yet they risk becoming tragic scapegoats unless we act now.

More than ever, thousands of women, men, and children are piling up at Europe’s doorstep — hungry, exhausted, sick… only hoping that someone soon will just open one door, and the nightmare they’re fleeing from will be over.

But harsh weather is setting in, and the prospect of a chilling winter of death isn’t moving governments to act. On the contrary, they’re building more and bigger fences to keep refugees out.

Now we, people, remain the key source of hope for those trapped by Europe’s shameful walls.

From the Slovenian forests to the Greek Islands, to the streets of London and Berlin, teachers, fishermen, pensioners and the young, including many Avaaz members, have stepped in to throw a lifeline to tens of thousands of refugees — the unsung heroes of this unfolding tragedy.

And if enough of us each chip in a small amount now, we can fund a UN project to protect and transport thousands of people stranded along the border in the freezing cold to safe centres, and campaign to help shelter hundreds of vulnerable refugee families throughout the winter.

This is one of the best ways to tell the extremists that the world will remain undivided. There’s no time to lose. Join in to bring hope behind the fences.

DONATE NOW

to AVAAZ.Org.  These folks have hearts behind their muscle.  As endangered humans on this planet we have only ourselves and each other to turn to. Never doubt that we can be sufficient.-AW

HACER POR LOS OTROS…

Un mensaje de AVAAZ:

Ellos huyen del terror… Escapan de una violencia tan atroz como la de los ataques que han estremecido a París, Beirut y Bamako. Sin embargo se arriesgan a convertirse en trágicos chivos expiatorios a menos que actuemos ahora.

Más que nunca antes, miles de mujeres, hombres y niños se están amontonando a las puertas de Europa; hambrientos, exhaustos, enfermos, solo esperan que alguien pronto les abra una puerta y que la pesadilla de la que escapan termine.

Sin embargo las duras condiciones climáticas se imponen y la perspectiva de un gélido invierno de muerte no mueve a los gobiernos a actuar. Por el contrario, están levantando nuevas cercas más elevadas para impedir la entrada de los refugiados.

Ahora nosotros, los seres humanos comunes, quedamos como la única fuente de esperanza para aquellos atrapados en los vergonzosos muros de Europa.

Desde los bosques de Eslovenia pasando por las islas de Grecia hasta las calles de Londres y Berlín, maestros, pescadores, jubilados y jóvenes, incluyendo muchos miembros de AVAAZ, han dado el paso al frente para lanzar una cuerda de salvación a decenas de miles de refugiados, los héroes no reconocidos de esta tragedia en desarrollo.

Y si, en buen número de nosotros, cada uno contribuye ahora con una pequeña cifra podemos fundar un proyecto de las Naciones Unidas para proteger y transportar a miles de personas varadas a lo largo de las fronteras en el helado frío hacia centros seguros y hacer una campaña para ayudar a dar alojamiento a cientos de vulnerables familias de refugiados durante el invierno.

Esta es una de las mejores formas de decir a los extremistas que el mundo permanecerá intacto. No hay tiempo que perder. Únete para llevar esperanza a quienes están detrás de las cercas.

Haz tu donación ahora a AVAAZ.Org. Estas personas tienen corazón en el pecho. Como seres humanos en peligro en este planeta solo nos tenemos a nosotros mismos a quienes recurrir. Nunca dudes de que podemos ser suficientes. A.W.

Suad Amiry

THE WORLD IS STANDING UP FOR PALESTINE
©2015 by Alice Walker
The world is standing up
for Palestine;
I realized this today
when I discovered a book group
where people
from my own
hoodwinked
country
have
decided to offer
a “humorous” book
to its readers
about Palestine.
Honestly, by now
it is an almost impossible
human endeavor
to think “humorously”
about Palestine.
There is something
about the deliberate targeting
of children’s eyes
young people’s bright hopes
the beating
and killing of women
the indiscriminate battering down
and slaughter
of  old and young men,
house demolitions
and the seemingly
unending bombing of hospitals
and schools
that keeps us from
actually
laughing.
Yet, I happen to know
this book they are offering
and it is very funny.*
I met the woman who wrote
it and listened while
she read from it
with zest
to a packed house
in Ramallah.
She cracked us up.
And that is the spirit
our own country people
are awakening to,
standing up for,
recognizing at last:
for it is a grace
some lucky ones of us
have read about
and even witnessed
or even practiced
in our own diseased
and ripped moral landscape
of no repair.

***

*Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, the acclaimed memoir by Palestinian author and architect Suad Amiry.

EL MUNDO SE ESTÁ LEVANTANDO POR PALESTINA

©2015 Alice Walker

El mundo se está levantando
por Palestina;
Me percaté hoy
al descubrir un círculo de lectores
en que la gente
de mi propio
país
engañado
ha decidido ofrecer
a sus lectores
un libro “humorístico”
sobre Palestina.
Honestamente, hasta ahora
es casi una imposible
tarea humana
pensar “humorísticamente”
sobre Palestina.
Hay algo
en la deliberada selección del objetivo
en los ojos de los niños,
en las brillantes esperanzas de los jóvenes,
la golpiza
y la matanza de mujeres,
el indiscriminado derribo a palos
y el asesinato
de hombre jóvenes y viejos,
la demolición de hogares
y el aparentemente
interminable bombardeo de hospitales
y escuelas
que impide
que realmente
nos riamos.
Pero casualmente conozco
este libro que ofrecen
y es muy gracioso.*
Conocí a la mujer que lo escribió
y la escuché mientras
leía de él
con entusiasmo
a una casa abarrotada
en Ramallah.
Nos mató d la risa.
Y ese es el espíritu
al que la gente de nuestro propio país
se está despertando,
alzándose a favor de él,
reconociéndolo finalmente:
pues es una gracia
de la que algunos afortunados
de nosotros han leído
e incluso presenciado
o incluso practicado
en nuestro propio paisaje
enfermo y moralmente roto
sin arreglo.

* Sharon and My Mother-in-Law (Sharon y mi suegra), la celebrada autobiografía de la escritora y arquitecta palestina Suad Amiry.

Wherever You Are Grieving
©2015 by Alice Walker

It does not matter to me:
Wherever you are grieving
Whether Paris, Damascus, Jerusalem, Bamako,
Mexico or Beirut or New York City
My heart, too, is bruised
And dragging.
There used to be such a thing
As melodrama
When feelings could be
Made up,
But now there is bare pain
And sorrow,
A sense of endlessly missed
Opportunities
To smile and embrace
“The other”
Before the change.
We mourn the loss
Of goodness
That was so divinely
Ordinary:
Babyhood
Youth
The blessings of maturity
And of old age.
All sacrificed now
Almost predictably
To the same Greed
Our histories
-Every one of them-
Could have warned us against
If only we knew them.

DONDEQUIERA QUE SUFRAS en Español

Photo: by Manuel Vejar Castañeda

To Have Once

©2015 by Alice Walker

For years I meditated
Peacefully
In this small ruined retreat.
It was whole until the hurricane.
All around it now are fallen trees,
Broken limbs,
Broken windows
Broken doors.
Many roofs in the neighborhood
And in the pueblo, both palapa
And tile, are gone.
Nothing,
It appears,
Has remained
Unscathed.
Everything is trashed…

Continue Reading To Have Once  and  Leer este poema Tener Alguna Vez

October 2015

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU

©2015 by Alice Walker

They will always be
More beautiful
Than you
The people you are killing.
You think it is hatred
That you feel
But it is really envy.
You imagine if you destroy them
We will forget
How tall they stood
How level
Their gaze
How straight their backs.
How even the littlest ones
Stood their little ground.
Meanwhile
You stand
Hunched as a cobbler
In your absurd
Killer’s Gear
Yelling
Like a crazy person,
Your face contorted
Dripping sweat
From what would be
With or without
Your lethal weapons
A bullying brow
And feral chin.
Killing everyone
but especially children,
For sport.
Looking cool
In your own mind;
As you crunch bones
Beneath your boot
That are still
Forming.

Conquering.

II
Don’t forget the entertainment value
Of your daily work
For the folks back home.
Who witness from the hillsides
In their lounge chairs.
What beautiful fun!
We are not like
Those people being broken
Over there
They tell each other.  And for this moment
They are right.
They are not.
But what does this mean
For broken humanity?

Selfie this.

Leer este poema "ELLOS SERÁN SIEMPRE MÁS HERMOSOS QUE TÚ" en español

Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan writes,

Watch how an Israeli soldier beat a palestinian dad in front of his children and wife!  And after the beating the soldiers took him in a closed tent and began to beat him even more!!  ‎

https://www.facebook.com/TheEyeOfPalestineDK/videos/1035666289790086/?pnref=story

arresting children

https://www.facebook.com/mahmmood.arafaat/videos/681155138765041/?pnref=story — After attacking this Palestinian child by Israeli soldiers and causing some injuries to his leg under the pretext of throwing stones, look how Israeli forces treat him!  #‎WakeUpWorld  #‎FreePalestine   #‎We_Demand_Justice  #‎ChildAbuse

Two Palestinian children…

Continue reading They Will Always Be More Beautiful Than You Palestinian CHILDREN Israel Video

Fourteen year old child George Kanaan murdered in a church in Palestine. Could any young man anywhere be better looking?  Get a grip, people. Also Google the lucrative traffic in body organs.

Countless Native American children murdered by US Calvary supporting hordes of unwashed settlers in a genocidal war against Native Americans. The remnants of once whole peoples chased off their lands, like Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation. You can be sure the various Custers* didn’t have this depth. Not to mention the sense of style.

Google *General George Armstrong Custer of Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto fame by Vine DeLoria, Jr.

Emmett Till, another 14 year old child murdered in the American South in the Fifties by white men who tortured him before his death.  Handsome, beautiful, full of life. He was accused by his unreliable (one would think) murderers of whistling at one of their wives.  However one wonders if the killers’ unexamined rage stemmed from anger that the child would not have been interested in whistling at one of them. Tortured and lynched black men in the South were almost always mutilated genitally. How was that supposed to work?  Let us look under all the rocks.

This Changes Everything Film Website

A film that brings our peril into focus and what we might learn from despair. -AW

RISEUP, OCTOBER!

Be On YouR

Side.

                    End Police Terrorism

             Embrace Black Lives Matter

Release All Political Prisoners

 Stop the War on Children

SUPPORT JUSTICE OR ELSE!

DEFEND OUR EARTH MOTHER

RESPECT THE FEMININE AND YOURSELF

HONOR THE FAMILY, FRIENDSHIPS, AND THE HOME

MESSAGE FROM THE ANCESTORS:  DON’T GIVE UP!

-AW

https://alicewalkersgarden.com/2015/10/palestine-revisited-post-with-new-materials-at-sea-on-the-audacity-of-hope-2011-athens-greece/

First look! US Boat to Gaza, Flotilla II blockade runner The Audacity of Hope

Today is, I think, the 31st of June (Friday?)or is it the 1st of July?

We have been in Athens since the 21st – trying to get to Gaza. Many impediments orchestrated by the Israeli government. But what a wonderful group of humans.

Therefore: We’ve won. We’re in Gaza. To be in Gaza is to feel this love. To know there is always a part of humanity that is awake even though the overburdened or the bewitched remain sleeping.

My throat is sore from breathing the tear gas that drifted into our hotel windows, as Greeks, mostly young, battle police, their brothers and sisters who are paid to keep them in line. This is the tragedy……Continue Reading PALESTINE:  REVISITED POST WITH NEW MATERIALS

Palestinians killed October-December 2015 and the circumstances of their deaths.

https://staatvanbeleg.com/docs/victims_october2015_green.html

https://staatvanbeleg.com/docs/schendingen/overzicht_december201501_FB.html?m=73

Meanwhile, at home:  Democracy Now, October 1, 2015

September 2015

Imagine

©2015 by Alice Walker

We can only imagine

What these two-

Francis and Fidel-

Really had to say

To each other.

The Pope wondering

Who really is the Holy Father here,

Since everything he’s

Preaching as holy

Fidel has already

Fulfilled.

Fidel

Seeing humor…

Continue Reading the poem Imagine in English and en Español

Refugees

© 2015 by Alice Walker

They would not be running to us

If we were not chasing them

With the guns and bombs and rockets we sold
To crazy people:
Out of their houses
Out of their schools
Out of their mosques,
Churches,
Synagogues
Away from their favorite
Prayer trees.
You are guilty America
Of arming the world:…

Continue Reading Refugees y en Español

The world Rising

©2015 by Alice Walker

The world rising

Can put an end
To anything:
The murder of children
Whales
Elephants
Forests
Oceans.
Get up.  Roll over
On that part
Of you
That will not
Welcome
Recognize
Encourage
Or even see
Our rise…

Continue Reading The world Rising y en Español

 Lodestar

©2015 by Alice Walker

Here is what I believe

Will be the hardest thing
To do:
To remember
That we have
A soul.
It is so quiet
The soul
And weighs
Almost nothing.
It might flash
Across
Our dullest days
Only once or twice
In a lifetime.
That it is there:
Just the certainty
Of knowing
Must be

Our lodestar.

ESTRELLA POLAR

He aquí lo que creo

será lo más duro
de hacer:
Recordar
que tenemos
un alma.
Es tan callada
el alma
y casi no
pesa nada.
Puede alumbrar
por nuestros
días más grises
solo una o dos
veces en la vida.
Que está ahí:
solo la certeza
de saberlo
debe ser
nuestra estrella polar.

The Universal Virgen de Humanidad

by Alvaro Chavarin

Ancestors Never Sleep

© 2015 by Alice Walker

Ancestors never sleep

And always seem to know
What they’re doing.
How is this possible?
I ask myself.
Sometimes I am weary
Enough to expire –
What a relief
I will think.  No more obsessing
About this madness;
Whatever it might be
This year, or even this century.
But ancestors merely
Yawn
And send me off
For a nap…

…Continue Reading Ancestors Never Sleep

Although they have tightly bound my arms and legs,

All over the mountain I hear the song of birds,

And the forest is filled

With the perfume of spring-flowers.

Who can prevent me from freely enjoying these,

Which take from the long journey

A little of its loneliness?

HO CHI MINH 

 Source Ho Chi Minh: EARTH PRAYERS, From Around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations For Honoring the Earth.  Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.

 August 2015

Especially To The Toddlers of Iran ( And Other Countries )

And Those Just Learning To Ride Bikes

©2015 by Alice Walker

It is the Wellbeing

Of your country
So far
Away
I may
Only have
Been there
In
My dreams
That
Lets
Me
Sleep
At
Night.

ESPECIALMENTE PARA LOS NIÑOS PEQUEÑOS DE IRÁN

(Y OTROS PAÍSES)

Y A ESOS QUE AHORA APRENDEN A MONTAR BICICLETA

©2015 Alice Walker

Es el bienestar

de su país
tan
distante
que solo
puedo haber
estado allí
en mis sueños
lo que
me deja
dormir
en mis
noches.

Code Pink Action Page: WOMEN SUPPORT THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

LAS MUJERES APOYAN EL ACUERDO NUCLEAR CON IRÁN

Nosotras las mujeres apoyamos el acuerdo Nuclear con Irán. Decimos “No” a la guerra y “Sí” a la diplomacia.

Después que un acuerdo nuclear se alcanzara con Irán y se aprobara de forma unánime por el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, políticos, expertos y grupos de cabildeo con intereses especiales estadounidenses están presionando al Congreso para que rechace el acuerdo. Algunos de estos individuos y organizaciones organizaron la invasión a Irak, que cuesta incontables vidas, más de $3 mil millones de dólares al contribuyente norteamericano  y le despejó el camino al Estado Islámico para que emergiera con sostenidas conscuencias devastadoras para Irak, Siria y toda la región.

Lee Mas… Las Mujeres Apoyan El Acuerdo Nuclear Con Irån

David Birkett posted this Video “Make Up Your Own Mind…”

The Future Captured In A Heartless Fist

©2015 by Alice Walker

Somehow it is left to us

This most hopeful of generations
To bear
The unbearable.
We do not need to have given birth
To the children
Who are being destroyed
To know they are our children
Not only in the present and the past
But certainly in the future.
All children are connected at birth
To all the others ever to arrive.
Their faces turned upward
Toward the parents all grown-ups were meant to be.
How can you separate your child
From mine?
Little one, they have captured you…

Read the full poem The Future Captured In A Heartless Fist and en Español

“No Words except Judeo-Nazis” a post from Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Jerusalem

Do not watch Make Up Your Own Mind…Video unless you feel strong.

Julian Bond 1940-2015

Julian

The first time I sang

“We Shall Overcome”
Was in a circle
On the lawn of Trevor Arnett Library
At Atlanta University
And by chance
I was holding
Your hand.
We were all so young,
Julian,
And so hopeful
In our solidarity.
I stumbled over some of the words
In the new to me
Song…

Continue Reading the Full Poem for Julian y en Español

If you want to live

your soul, find

a friend and

stay near.

-Rumi

Sometimes the “friend” is music.  And so in this glorious month of August, the month of fullest moons and golden suns, I am staying near this music:  Welcome the Light, by Desert Rose.  The voice of Yusuf Ganief on a CD produced by his partner Lynne Holmes, is experienced as intense steadiness in praise of bowing to the Inner Self, om namah shivaya, the inner light and guidance that is affirmed by meditation.

(See Other People’s Everything, Inc. in menu bar.)

Si quieres vivir tu

alma, halla un amigo y

permanece junto a él.

Rumi

A veces “amigo” es música. Y por eso en este glorioso mes de agosto, el mes de las lunas más plenas y los soles más dorados, permanezco junto a esta música: Bienvenida la luz (Welcome the Light) de Desert Rose. La voz de Yusuf Ganief en un CD producido por su compañera Lynne Colmes se siente como serenidad intensa en alabanza al Yo interior (om namah shivaya), la luz ínterior y la guía que se reafirma a través de la meditación.

https://soundcloud.com/desertrose-southafrica/sets/welcome-the-light-gayatri

(Vea Other People´s Everything, Inc. “Todas las cosas de otra gente” en la barra de menú.)

July 2015

Revised Dash Cam Video Shows Arrest of Alleged Suicide Victim

Nation of Change, July 23, 2015

For me, only Stevie Wonder’s voice helped.  ISN’T SHE LOVELY!  ISN’T SHE BEAUTIFUL!  Try it.   Weeping goes better with love.

Beverly Buchanan, Artist, 1940-2015

©2015 by Alice Walker

Someone who knew me well

And that I’d lived
In many a gray shack
My mother transformed
With flowers
Took me to your house
To meet you:
To see the shacks
You rescued from our shame
And transformed with your wit,
Small nails, old boards,
And paint.
I was enchanted to see
My mother’s magic
Emerge
From the end
Of your brush…

Continue Reading Beverly Buchanan, Artist, 1940-2015 

WHAT DOES THE AWAKENED PERSON DO?

Listening to the voices that are vilified.

Savior’s Day, 2012

Obama, Global Depopulation, & America’s

Shadow Gov’t

I admire Farrakhan because he loves black people as I do.  Loving us he feels it his duty to share the most bitter of truths.  It is inevitable perhaps that we disagree on a number of issues, including some of my work, which he has criticized, but on this love for our people we are united.  I take comfort  in  his courage, his intelligence and his wit.  It is easy to see why, when he was a calypso singer, he was called “the charmer.”  He also plays classical violin, as I learned from an interview on Sway in the Morning during a discussion of hip-hop culture and the lethal control of black music by the recording industry.

Some of the information in this talk will be as surprising to the 99% as to the 1%.  Stick with it through the parts that feel challenging to you. Learning from people we don’t understand is crucial to our survival.

Depopulation Blues #2

©2015 by Alice Walker

They want to kill

All the world’s people
Simply to take what they have.
It is no longer mysterious.
We know the murders are not done
Because someone is wearing
A towel.
They are not done because
There is a threat
To our sad, empty, treacherous
Way of life…

Continue Reading Shadow Gov’t Voices that are Vilified, Depopulation Blues #2 full post and en Español

WHAT DOES THE AWAKENED PERSON DO?

A Socialist Surge in the U.S.? Bernie Sanders Draws Record Crowds, Praises

Greek Anti-Austerity Vote

Democracy Now! July 7, 2015

A breath of fresh air in America’s bought and sold politics.  Bravo, Bernie Sanders!  Bravo Greece! (Though the anti-austerity vote of the people was ignored within days by the Greek government).

¿QUÉ HACE LA PERSONA ILUMINADA?

¿Una oleada socialista en los Estados Unidos? Bernie Sanders atrae récord de multitudes, encomia el voto griego contra la austeridad.

¡Democracia ahora! 7 de julio de 2015.

Un bocado de aire fresco en la política norteamericana.

JUNE 2015

WHAT DOES THE AWAKENED PERSON DO?

Watch Badass Woman Scale Statehouse Flagpole, Take Down Confederate Flag

—By Mother Jones | Sat Jun. 27, 2015 12:18 PM EDT

A woman named Bree Newsome just scaled the flagpole in front of the South Carolina state capitol and took down the Confederate flag. She was then arrested.

Little sister, “badass” doesn’t come close to what you are.  How deep is our river?

Your elders look on you with such love, so much emotion, so much joy.  You are a flower that has bloomed regardless of endless winter, a sunbeam that has escaped the avalanches of snow.  You are our flag.  It is you, as yourself, as your history and culture, outrage and sorrow, we salute.  Blessed be.

As for your partner in liberation, James Tyson, we embrace, honor, and cherish him as well.

¿Qué hace la persona consciente?

Vean a la mujer “fiera”* trepar al asta de la bandera del Edificio de Gobierno y arriar la bandera confederada.

Por Madre Jones

Sábado 27 de junio, 2015, 12:18 P.M.

Una mujer nombrada Bree Newsome hace poco escaló el asta de la bandera frente al Capitolio del estado de Sur Carolina y arrió la bandera confederada. Luego fue arrestada.

Hermanita, “fiera” no se acerca a lo que eres. ¿Cuán profundo es nuestro río?

Tus mayores te miran con mucho amor, mucha emoción, mucha alegría. Eres una flor que has brotado a pesar del interminable invierno, un rayo de sol que ha sorteado las avalanchas de la nieve. Tú eres nuestra bandera. Eres tú, tu propio ser, así como tu historia y tu cultura, tu indignación y tu dolor, lo que saludamos. Bendita seas.

Respecto a tu compañero en la liberación, JamesTyson ,lo abrazamos, honramos y apreciamos a él también.

* Traducción muy aproximada para una palabra ofensiva con que se habla de alguien muy agresivo, intimidante.

WHAT DOES THE AWAKENED PERSON DO?

Outrage in Charleston— This IS America!

Statement by Carl Dix

Carl Dix is the co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and a representative of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.

Outrageous! A white supremacist motivated by racist venom enters Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, during a Bible study class. He sits down with people there for a while and then starts shooting them, murdering six Black women and three Black men. He calmly reloaded in the course of carrying out these foul murders, telling his victims that he had to do this “because you [meaning Black people] rape our women and are taking over our country”!

Mass murder carried out in a church… Continue Reading This IS America! Statement by Carl Dix

¿QUÉ HACE LA PERSONA ALERTA?

Atrocidad en Charleston. Esto ES Estados Unidos.

Declaración de Carl Dix

Carl Six es el co-fundador de la Red Detengan los Encarcelamientos Masivos y representante del Partido Comunista Revolucionario de los estados Unidos.

¡Atroz! Un supremacista blanco incitado por el veneno racista entra a la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal Africana Emmanuel en Charleston, Sur Carolina, durante una lección de estudios bíblicos. Se sienta allí junto a las personas por un rato y luego comienza a dispararles, matando a seis mujeres y tres hombres negros. Calmosamente, recarga su arma mientras lleva a cabo estos horrendos asesinatos, diciéndoles a sus víctimas que tiene que hacer esto “porque ustedes (refiriéndose a las personas de color) violan a nuestras mujeres y se están apropiando del país”.

Matanza colectiva cometida en una iglesia…Sigue Leyendo Esto ES Estados Unidos! Declaración de Carl Six

WHAT DOES THE AWAKENED PERSON DO?

photo by AP/David Goldman or Reuters/Randall Hill (!)

THE CIRCLE

©2015 by Alice Walker

I myself do not believe

In political parties

Comprised, generally, in my experience, of so

Many who

Are not awake.  Still, all options must be

Presented by those who care.

An unbalanced wakefulness

Can be as treasonous

As blind sleep…

Continue Reading THE CIRCLE poem and translation into Español

What Does the Awakened Person Do?

Stitching Korea Back Together

Our Mission

On May 24, 2015, thirty international women peacemakers from around the world walked with Korean women, north and south, to call for an end to the Korean War and for a new beginning for a reunified Korea. We held international peace symposiums in Pyongyang and Seoul where we listened to Korean women and shared our experiences and ideas of mobilizing women to bring an end to violent conflict. We successfully crossed the 2-mile wide De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) that separates millions of Korean families as a symbolic act of peace.

2015 marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division into two separate states by Cold War powers…

Continue Reading Stitching Back Korea, Commentary & en Espanol

I was not among these determined women who crossed the DMZ, except in spirit.  I lost two brothers and a brother in law to the war against Korea.  They returned alive in body but severely disturbed in mind and soul.  Boys who had grown up on a farm, they had never heard of Korea until they learned they were being sent there…

Continue Reading Stitching Back Korea, Commentary & en Espanol

May 2015

Shall We Go Down Asleep?

Or Awake?

©2015 by Alice Walker

Until I met the historian Howard Zinn, at seventeen, I had never encountered a white person, especially a white man who identified as white, who didn’t seem frightening.  I had every reason to feel this way, as history proves.  There were of course “white looking” people, my mother’s midwife buddy and her family, for instance, who were not feared, because as highly respected farmers and healers, they inspired respect.  Whether we even wondered why they were not brown skinned and spiral* haired like us, is doubtful; no one spoke of the rapes that black people – countless women and children but also men – endured at the hands of white rapists; nor of interracial passion and love, the latter of which I learned as an adult accounted for the straight hair and pale skin of the midwife’s children.

My mother had an almost friend in the person of Miss Janie, a white woman who lived down the road from us, but their inequality was obvious…

Continue Reading  Or Awake? White fear and greed holding us back

The King Has Gone Away For Good:  Long Live the King!

The King Has Gone Away For Good:  Long Live the King!
©2015 by Alice Walker

Imagine, BB King,
I have listened to you and Lucille
My whole life.
Sometimes when I have had the blues
I have listened to you
And thought:
It can’t be all bad;
I am on the planet while he is here too
And he is singing!

Continue Reading The King Has Gone Away For Good:  Long Live the King! en español tambien

EVERY WORD THIS WOMAN SAYS

IS SACRED IN THE BOOK OF PEACE

PART TWO:  THE FUTURE OF BDS

The duty to support the BDS movement

Nurit Peled-Elhanan.

EP laureate  of the Skharov prize for human rights and the freedom of speech

On the 15th of April 2015 the Israeli supreme court approved the bill defining as criminal offense the call to boycott Israeli institutions and organizations or people who cooperate with the occupation. People who call for boycott of settlements products or support the BDS are liable to stand trial in Israel. On the 16th of April the court approved the bill allowing the state to confiscate Palestinian houses and assets in East Jerusalem if they choose to live elsewhere for more than 3 months. This law, which has allowed Israel to confiscate most of Palestinian property since 1948 is called “the law of assets of absentees.” It is time the world knows that all Palestinian “absentees” are not absent but present and that robbing them of their assets and land is a crime against humanity.

But Palestinian “absentees” can also be present according to Israeli law. That is why Israel ignores about 180 villages where people who are legally defined as “present absentees” live, and denies them infrastructure, electricity and water…

Continue Reading The duty to support the BDS movement – Part two Nurit Peled-Elhanan.

International Social Forum Tunisia, 25.3.2015

Nurit Peled-Elhanan – The Russell Tribunal on Palestine

Thank you for inviting me to speak at the international social forum here in Tunisia. It is very symbolic that our conference should be held here, in the country that started the Arab spring and has never stopped struggling for democracy and freedom. It is very symbolic for me personally because 42 years ago my father Matti Peled came here disguised as a woman, with a false French passport to meet Yassar Arafat and to start talking about peace. Unfortunately Neither my father’s efforts nor the Arab spring have pierced the iron mental walls of Israel –   the country that advertises itself as the only democracy in the ME while holding 4 million people captive in inhuman conditions, with no civil or human rights, a country whose governments and army – which means most of its citizens – commit crimes against humanity every day, every hour.

Continue Reading International Social Forum Tunisia, 25.3.2015, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, The Russell Tribunal on Palestine

IT TAKES MORE THAN A VILLAGE

One of the most amazing things about this astonishing planet is that there are always teachers if we can only find our way to their classroom!  Like most great teachers Michael Meade’s classroom is the world and he is likely to be found teaching anywhere. -AW

A society is playing with fire when it neglects the needs and desires of its young people; not only are natural talents wasted, but a sense of desperation grows in the shadows. Young men in particular can feel driven to desperate acts if they do not feel welcome in society and valued for who they are in their essence.

Most people have heard the old African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Fewer know that the second part of the proverbial statement suggests that if young people are not fully invited into life they will burn the village down. A society is playing with fire if it denies the dreams of its youth in favor of a status quo that favors some and excludes others.

“What happens to a dream deferred?” asked the poet Langston Hughes over sixty years ago in a poem simply entitled: “Harlem.” More than a half century later the dream is still deferred, the site is Baltimore and the prophetic voice of the poet still asks what happens when another generation of dreams becomes deferred, “does it sag like a heavy load” or “does it explode?”

These are extreme times during which the growing disparity in terms of wealth and opportunity adds fuel to the fires of despair every day.

Laws and rules may tell us how to live; but a person must have a why to live. In the soul of America, the why to live has best been imagined as a dream. Not the simple “American dream” of blind materialism; but the wild complexity of dreams trying to live through the great diversity of souls that makes up the America that has not been yet.

Read the entire essay.

Peace and Blessings,

Mosaic Staff

Donate to support Mosaic & Voices of Youth at MosaicVoices.org

SE NECESITA MÁS DE UN PUEBLO 

Una de las cosas más sorprendentes de este asombroso planeta es que siempre hay maestros si uno es capaz de hallar el camino hasta su aula. Como la mayoría de los grandes maestros, el aula de Michael Meade es el mundo y se le puede encontrar enseñando en cualquier sitio. AW

La sociedad juega con fuego cuando descuida las necesidades y deseos de sus jóvenes; no solo se pierden talentos naturales, sino que un sentimiento de desesperación crece en la sombra. Los hombres jóvenes especialmente pueden sentirse urgidos a cometer actos desesperados si no se sienten atendidos por la sociedad y valorados por lo que son en esencia. La mayoría de la gente ha escuchado el viejo proverbio africano de que “hace falta un pueblo para criar a un niño”. Muy pocos saben que la segunda parte de la proverbial sentencia sugiere que si los jóvenes no son plenamente alentados a tomar parte de la vida quemarán el pueblo. La sociedad juega con fuego si descuida los sueños de sus jóvenes en favor de un estado de cosas que beneficia a unos y excluye a otros.

“¿Qué pasa con un sueño postergado?”, preguntaba el poeta Langston Hughes hace más de sesenta años en un poema titulado ”Harlem”. Más de medio siglo después el sueño sigue postergado. El sitio es Baltimore y la voz profética del poeta todavía pregunta qué pasa cuando otra generación de sueños queda postergada, ¿“se tuerce como una carga pesada” o “esta explota”?  Estos son tiempos extremos durante los cuales la creciente asimetría en términos de riqueza y oportunidades agrega combustible al fuego del desespero cada día. 

Las leyes y normas pueden decirnos cómo vivir; pero una persona debe tener un por qué para vivir. En el alma de los Estados Unidos, el por qué vivir ha sido cuando menos imaginado como un sueño. No el simple “Sueño americano” del materialismo ciego, sino la desenfrenada complejidad de sueños que tratan de vivir en medio de la gran diversidad de almas que integran la América que no ha sido aún.

Lea el ensayo completo.

Paz y bendiciones,

Personal de Mosaico 

Haga su donación para apoyar Mosaic & Voices of Youth (Mosaico y Voces de la Juventud) en MosaicVoices.org

 

“Our Time is Now”: Baltimore State’s Attorney Mosby Charges Six Baltimore Cops in Freddie Gray Death

          

 

“Our Time is Now”: Baltimore State’s Attorney Mosby Charges Six Baltimore Cops in Freddie Gray Death

 

Published on May 4, 2015

 

https://democracynow.org – Baltimore officials have lifted a 10 p.m. curfew and National Guard troops have begun to withdraw as peaceful protests continue over the death of Freddie Gray. On Friday, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced a range of charges against the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport, including murder and manslaughter. Gray’s family says his voice box was crushed and his spine was “80 percent severed at his neck.” Police said they arrested Gray for looking a lieutenant in the eye, then running away. We play excerpts from Mosby’s dramatic announcement, when she acknowledges protests calling for justice in the case and argues officers illegally arrested Gray without probable cause, then ignored his pleas for medical help. “To the youth of this city, I will seek justice on your behalf. This is a moment. This is your moment,” Mosby says. “Let’s ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of this cause. And as young people, our time is now.”

 

What can we do at a time like this, when hope is all but lost, as it has been all but lost for five hundred years?  We can look on this young woman’s actions with the eyes of ancestors who surely love her.  I was thinking of what she has that they’d so admire, and it came to me from something in John Langston Gwaltney’s amazing book:  Drylongso – A Self-Portrait of Black America.  He was going around years ago talking to all the old black people he could find, who had worked for white people their entire lives, and asking really interesting, life or death questions, like: what do you think is the most basic difference between black people and white?  But what made me smile was recognition of the way black people make up expressions about behavior you’d never think of, and that every generation has its own word for something it recognizes and admires.  So what young Mosby has, the competence, the control, the  fidelity to the truth of what happened in the case of Freddie Gray, her empathy with the parents and family as well as with the outraged youth of the city of Baltimore, her style, all of this would be characterized in the phrase the old people used long ago, when they adored somebody.  They would say: She has turn. Turn.  This kind of turn is not the stuff of a model on a runway, which is without agency, but rather a movement of courage and grace under pain and disappointment.  It is the taking of responsibility for one’s role whatever that happens to be.  It is standing your ground flanked or not flanked by those who have labored with you to come to what is true and best for everyone. I was happy to see those who stood with Ms. Mosby.  Together they looked like the America we could have if we were not collectively so afraid of it.

 

As for Freddie Gray: what can one think but that he was treated completely as a run-a-way slave.-AW

 

“AHORA ES NUESTRO MOMENTO”: LA FISCAL DEL ESTADO EN BALTIMORE ACUSA A SEIS POLICIAS POR LA MUERTE DE FREDDIE GRAY

 

Publicado el 4 de mayo.

 

https://democracynow.org

Las autoridades de Baltimore han levantado el toque de queda de las 10 p.m. y los miembros de la Guardia Nacional han empezado a retirarse mientras continúan de forma pacífica las protestas por la muerte de Freddie Gray. El viernes la fiscal de Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, anunció una serie de cargos, incluidos homicidio y asesinato involuntario, contra seis policías involucrados en el arresto y el traslado de Gray. La familia de Gray dijo que su traquea estaba completamente destrozada y que su columna vertebral estaba “un 80 por ciento rota en su cuello.” La policía dijo que arrestó a Gray por mirar desafiantemente a un teniente y luego echó a correr. Pasamos fragmentos del drástico anuncio de Mosby, cuando reconoce las protestas pidiendo justicia en este caso y alega que los policías arrestaron ilegalmente a Gray sin una causa probable y luego ignoraron sus súplicas de atención médica. “A la juventud de esta ciudad, buscaré que se haga justicia en su nombre. Este es un momento. Este es su momento,” dijo Mosby. “Asegurémonos de que las manifestaciones sean pacíficas y fructíferas de modo que traigan cambios estructurales y sistémicos para las generaciones venideras. Ustedes son la avanzada de esta causa y como jóvenes este es nuestro momento.”

 

¿Qué podemos hacer en tiempos como estos, cuando la esperanza está prácticamente perdida, como casi lo ha estado por quinientos años? Podemos mirar a las acciones de esta joven mujer con los ojos de los ancestros que seguramente la aman. Estaba pensando en lo que tiene que tanto la admiran ellos y recordé algo del asombroso libro de John Langston Gwaltney: Drylongso A Self-Portrait of Black America*.  Hace años él iba de un lado a otro conversando con todas las personas viejas negras que podía hallar y que habían trabajado para blancos toda la vida y les preguntaba cosas realmente interesantes, de vida o muerte, como: ¿Cuál cree que es la diferencia principal entre una persona negra y una blanca? Pero lo que me hizo sonreír fue reconocer la forma en que las personas negras crean expresiones sobre el comportamiento que nunca imaginarías y que cada generación tiene su propia palabra para algo que ella identifica y admira. De manera que lo que la joven Mosby tiene, la competencia, el control, la fidelidad a la verdad de lo que sucedió en el caso de Freddie Gray, su empatía con los padres y la familia así como con la airada juventud de la ciudad de Baltimore, su estilo, todo esto podría caracterizarse con la frase que los viejos empleaban hace tiempo, cuando admiraban a alguien. Ellos decían: Tiene su gallardía**. Gallardía. Pero este tipo de gracia no es cosa de la modelo en la pasarela, que es sin implicaciones, más bien un movimiento de valentía y de gracia bajo el dolor y la decepción. Es la asunción de responsabilidad hacia el papel de uno, cualquiera que este venga a ser. Es mantenerse firme protegido o no por aquellos que han trabajado contigo para llegar a lo que es verdadero y mejor para todos. Yo me sentí feliz de ver a quienes apoyaban a la señora Mosby. Juntos se parecían a la América que podríamos tener si colectivamente no tuviéramos tanto miedo de ella.

En cuanto a Freddie Gray: qué puede uno pensar sino que fue tratado completamente como un esclavo fugitivo. A.W.

* El título podría ser: “En vacas flacas: un autorretrato de la América Negra”.

** Traducción aproximada de una frase antigua que implica hacer un movimiento elegante en que se arriesga algo.

April 2015

WATCH: Relatives of Missing Mexican Students Say U.S.-Backed Drug War Is Fueling the Violence

RELATED STORIES

Exclusive: Father of 1 of Missing Mexican 43 on How Drug War Aid “Being Used to Annihilate Students”

Exclusive: Father of Missing Mexican Student Calls on Obama to Stop Drug War Aid

Calling all parents in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere:  If you have ever lost a child; if you have ever loved children; if you have ever been a parent or were lucky enough to have parents, please stand with these Indigenous parents of Mexico as they search for their children in a country once peaceful and now fraught with terror, sorrow, and pain.  -AW

Hillary the Hawk

First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea visit U.S. troops at Tuzla Air Base, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 25th March 1996. (Photo by Jill M. Dougherty/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton declared she would be the champion for “everyday Americans,” but what about her reputation of long championing military campaigns. If Clinton’s nomination is a sure thing, should antiwar organizing start right away?

Published: April 23, 2015 | Authors: Medea Benjamin Charles Davis | NationofChange

Announcing her latest campaign for the presidency, Hillary Clinton declared she was entering the race to be the champion for “everyday Americans.” As a lawmaker and diplomat, however, Clinton has long championed military campaigns that have killed scores of “everyday” people abroad, from Iraq to Yemen. As commander-in-chief, there’s no reason to believe she’d be any less a hawk than she was as the senator who backed George W. Bush’s war in Iraq, or the Secretary of State who encouraged Barack Obama to escalate the war in Afghanistan. If her nomination is as sure a thing as people say, then antiwar organizing needs to start right away…

Continue Reading the full post on Hilary the Hawk 

LONG LIVE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!

Cornel West & Carl Dix Statement Of Conscience

The authorities are desperately working to suppress the powerful outpourings of resistance to police getting away with murder because those outpourings forced this issue into the consciousness of millions of people in this society. This must not be allowed to happen. The statement below, issued by Cornel West and Carl Dix, can play an important role in ensuring this doesn’t happen. To play this role it must bring together people of prominence whose voices have broad impact in society and impact on people everywhere who don’t want to see this movement of resistance die down or be beaten down.

Circulate this statement to prominent academics, activists, attorneys, entertainers, public intellectuals and others. Urge them to add their names to it and contribute at least $200 to make it possible for this statement to be published and promoted in other ways.

********************************************************

The Horror Of Cops Getting Away With Killing Again And Again Must STOP!

We face a serious problem in this society: police killing people and facing no punishment for their murderous actions, again and again. These repeated killings target especially Black and Latino people. They concentrate a whole program – mass incarceration and all its consequences, a program many have aptly called the New Jim Crow; a program that rests on top of and enforces overall conditions of harsh deprivation and dehumanizing discrimination.

Last fall, people stood up against this terrible injustice being done. When the killers of Michael Brown and Eric Garner were not even indicted, many, many people refused to accept this in silence. People of different races and nationalities, and from all walks of life, joined together to say, “We Can’t Breathe,” in solidarity with those being victimized. Through many different forms of protest and resistance, the entire society was finally forced to confront this burning injustice.

At the time and in the months since, the outpourings of resistance have been answered NOT with justice but instead with repression and the false promises of “understanding” and “reconciliation.” Meanwhile murder by police continues unchecked.

NO! We refuse to live in a society that treats people as less than human because of the color of their skin and acts as though some lives don’t matter.

The horror of police, embodying and backed up by the authority of the state, killing so many people and facing no punishment for this must STOP — and WE pledge to stop it!

Saluting our beloved desperadoes:  Alice Walker on the April 14th Movement:

GATHER:  APRIL 14TH, 2015

NYC 

https://stopmassincarceration.net

Plan A14

Cornel West and Carl Dix: Message

March 2015

This Indian Village Plants 111 Trees Every Time a Girl Is Born

AMANDA FROELICH 0SC ON MARCH 28, 2015

In a country where male children are still favored over females, Piplantri village in Rajasthan offers a refreshing and modern perspective.

The endearing village embraces its daughters and has even created a tradition that benefits both the local people and the planet every time a girl is born.

To save its daughters and create a greener planet, the community of Piplantri village plants 111 trees every time a girl comes into the world.

‘This brilliant exercise in eco-feminism no doubt will inspire the rest of India and the entire world,’ as artistically stated by Folomojo. 

The reason behind this tradition? To ensure that an increase in human population will never come at a cost to the environment. It’s an eco-friendly tradition that is literally helping to ensure a greener future with each new generation – how brilliant!

… Continue Reading and See Beautiful Photos of This Indian Village Plants 111 Trees Every Time a Girl Is Born, also en Español

NATION OF CHANGE:

Eight former corrections officials from Macon State Prison were convicted for their involvement in beating inmates or coordinating cover-ups that followed each assault. When will this brutality end?

Published: March 21, 2015 | Authors: Andrew Emett | NationofChange | News Report

Four former corrections officers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to beating inmates and covering up multiple incidents of abuse. Altogether, eight corrections officers have been convicted of conspiracy and obstruction charges related to severe beatings within the Macon State Prison (MSP) in Oglethorpe, Georgia. Although the former prison guards admitted that they were following orders from their superiors, no commanding officers have been convicted of any charges…

Continued Reading… Four Correctional Officers Sentenced to Prison for Covering Up Inmate Abuse and Español

1 in 13 African-American Adults Prohibited from Voting in the US

Children of Mexico celebrating La Primavera (Spring).

Children of Mexico celebrating La Primavera (Spring).  Reminding us that children are precious and must never be harmed.  Photo by Robin (Thank you!)

DEAR ALL,

Senator Tom Cotton wrote a horrific open letter to the leaders of Iran, trying to sabotage the delicate nuclear talks. It’s time for Tom Cotton to hear from us!

Sign this open letter to Tom Cotton to teach him what the American people really want: Peace!

This week marks the anniversary of the war in Iraq that left that nation in shambles, and cost Americans over a trillion dollars and thousands of lives. While the American public (and the country of Iraq) continue to pay the price, Tom Cotton’s friends in the defense industry got a whole lot richer. Just 24 hours after his notorious letter to Iran became public, Cotton was the guest of honor at an event hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying and professional group for defense contractors. It’s no wonder he’s pushing for an end to the negotiations!

But Senator Cotton’s not just in bed with the defense industry. During his Senate campaign he received $700,000 from the Emergency Committee for Israel! Not surprisingly, his war mongering about Iran mirrors that of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was recently in Washington pressuring Congress to tighten sanctions on Iran instead of pursuing negotiations. Unfortunately, Netanyahu was just reelected for another term, so our peace activism is more necessary now than ever.

From Guantanamo to Iran, food stamps to women’s rights, we can come up with at least ten reasons why Tom Cotton is a dangerous dude. While he is lecturing the Iranians about the US Constitution, let’s school him on Peace 101.

Toward peace in the Middle East,

Alli, Jamila, Janet, Jodie, Katie, Katy, Medea, Michelle, Nalini, Nancy, Nathan, Sergei, Sophia and Tighe

Niños de México celebran la primavera. Esto nos recuerda que los niños son valiosos y nunca deben sufrir daño. Foto de Robin. (¡Gracias!)

Queridos todos:

El senador Tom Cotton escribió una espantosa carta abierta a los dirigentes de Irán, intentando sabotear las delicadas conversaciones sobre el tema nuclear. ¡Es hora de que Tom Cotton sepa de nosotros! Firma esta carta abierta a Tom Cotton para enseñarle a él lo que el pueblo estadounidense quiere en realidad: ¡La paz!

Esta semana se cumple un aniversario de la guerra en Iraq, la cual dejó a esa nación en el caos y les costó a los estadounidenses más de un millón de millones de dólares así como miles de vidas. Mientras el pueblo norteamericano (y el país de Iraq) siguen pagando el precio, los amigos de Tom Cotton en la industria armamentista se hicieron bastante mucho más ricos. Apenas veinticuatro horas después de que su famosa carta a Iraq fuera conocida, Cotton fue el invitado de honor en un evento organizado por la Asociación Nacional de la Industria Defensiva (NDIA), un grupo de cabildeo y profesional de contratistas del sector de la defensa. ¡No hay que asombrarse de que esté haciendo lo imposible para detener las negociaciones!

Mas el senador Cotton no solo se va a la cama con la industria armamentista. ¡Durante su campaña en el Senado recibió $700,000 dólares del Comité de Emergencias para Israel! Nada sorprendente, pues su activismo guerrerista respecto a Iraq es reflejo de la del Primer Ministro israelí Netanyahu, quien recientemente estuvo en Washington haciendo presión sobre el Congreso para que endureciera las sanciones a Irán en lugar de seguir las negociaciones. Desafortunadamente, Netanyahu ha sido recientemente reelecto para otro período, de manera que nuestro activismo por la paz se hace más necesario que nunca antes.

Desde Guantánamo hasta Irán, desde bonos de alimentos hasta los derechos de las mujeres, se nos pueden ocurrir hasta diez razones para considerar a Tom Cotton como un tipo peligroso. ¡Démosle una lección sobre la paz!

Por la paz en el Medio Oriente:

Alli, Jamila, Janet, Jodie, Katie, Katy, Medea, Michelle, Nalini, Nancy, Nathan, Sergei, Sophia y Tighe.

 They are crazy.  That was the answer

we received as children as we wondered why?

Why did they abuse, mistreat, slander, degrade,

why did they lynch, murder, kill.  Was there no feeling of shame or sadness

no tickling of remorse?

They are sick.  Our grandmothers said.  Then, no,

they are not just sick.  Sickness we might cure

with herbs.

They are crazy.  This might only be cured

with isolation but there are so many and they are everywhere.

I was so little I could see reality:  So are we so many, Grandmama, I offered,

we too, are everywhere. -AW

Están locos. Era la respuesta

que nos daban cuando niños al preguntar por qué.

¿Por qué ellos abusaban, maltrataban, ofendían, degradaban?

¿Por qué ellos linchaban, asesinaban, mataban?

¿No tenían sentimientos de vergüenza o tristeza,

no los punzaba el remordimiento?

Están enfermos, decía nuestra abuela. Pero, no,

no solo están enfermos. La enfermedad podemos curarla

con hierbas.

Están locos. Esto solo se puede curar

con aislamiento pero son tantos y están por todas partes.

Yo era muy pequeña y podía ver la realidad: también somos

muchos,

abuela, me ofrecí,

nosotros también estamos dondequiera.

A.W.

Dear All,

The Ides of March?*

 

Republicans are being disrespectful, dangerous, and reckless. We have to hold them accountable.

Dear MoveOn member,

In an unprecedented move, 47 Republican senators have sent a warning letter directly to Iranian leaders, threatening to blow up any diplomatic deal negotiated by President Obama.

 

This is disrespectful, dangerous, and reckless. We have to hold them accountable. And make sure not a single Democrat joins them in blowing up the president’s diplomatic efforts and putting us on a path to war.

 

We’re producing a TV ad immediately to call out this outrageous act. Please click here—right now—and make the most generous contribution you can to help us hold these 47 Republicans accountable, and make sure no Democrat joins them in undermining the president and risking a war.

 

“Traitors” is how the front page of today’s New York Daily News described the 47 Republican senators who wrote to Iran’s leaders yesterday in an effort to undermine President Obama and sabotage his diplomatic efforts to prevent yet another unnecessary war.2…

 

Continue Reading Ides of March?* full post and en Español

PEACE AS THE INTELLIGENT OPTION

By Manuel E. Yepe

https://englishmanuelyepe.wordpress.com

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

https://www.walterlippmann.com/docs4299.html

At the end of World War II, the United States was in much better material condition than the rest of the world. It, therefore, had the opportunity to be at the forefront of a world of peace and justice, truly globalized and in solidarity. But the excessive hegemonic ambitions of the US power elite wasted that historic opportunity and prevented other countries from the prospect of achieving such autopia.

If, instead of aiming at total world domination, the United States had promoted the creation of a democratic and fair system of international relations, it could have paid history the enormous moral debt it had incurred for the crimes of its shady foreign policy since the closing years of the 19th century when the nation assumed its imperialist character…

Continue Reading full article PEACE AS THE INTELLIGENT OPTION with commentary and en Español

All The Fast Car Ads Look Crazy Now
2015 by Alice Walker

Do you notice how all
The fast car ads look
Crazy now?
There she is, blonde,
Hair color (if from a bottle)
Polluting the environment
And affecting her brain
But copied by some of the most
Brainwashed though
Intelligent
People on the planet
Who used to actually enjoy
The multi-colors and multi-fuzzies
Of their own hair.
His hair is darker.  Always.
Why is this?  Is he attempting
To pass off his suspect
DNA
As belonging
To the “free” world?
Suppose she’s really poor
Though?
Suppose his real job
Was shipped to China.
It doesn’t seem to matter
In the ads.
It’s what you’re made
To think of:
Somewhere there are free
People:
They are laughing;
They are happy;
They are blonde
And the dark haired man
Is hoping at least
His children will be.
What madness is this?
They go careening across your screen
Laughing.
They never seem to think
About Chernobyl
And the warehoused defective
Children in Russia
And Scandinavia.
Nor do they appear worried
About Fukushima
And the plumes of radiation
In air and ocean
Eating California
Canada and Mexico.
They are laughing,
The car they drive is fast.
They are fast.
All is well in their world.
The ad is meant to sell you their
Security.
That world of freedom, speed,
And lack of care,
Is meant to seem large.
But really it is
No bigger than your screen.
Turn it off.
Attend to your motorbike,
The broken lamppost outside
Your window,
The rubbish
Despoiling
The beauty
Of  your slow
But larger than screen size
Village
Street.

Recommended:  Revealed:  The Men Who Own and Run The US Government.  Long impassioned, wonderful speech in there about dictatorship by television. (YouTube) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is available as an audio book from Audible, read by Tim Robbins.    It is an extraordinary production.  Though written decades ago, this story is as eerily familiar as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley’s work has become in the last few years.  If there are not already “Entertainment Anonymous” chapters, they should be formed without delay. 

The Horrible Truth About Fukushima, an interview with Australian pediatrician Dr. Helen Caldicott.  

TODOS LOS ANUNCIOS DE AUTOS VELOCES PARECEN ALOCADOS AHORA

2015 de Alice Walker

¿Has notado cómo
los anuncios de autos veloces
parecen alocados ahora?
Hela ahí, rubia,
el color de pelo (tal vez de un frasco)
contaminando el ambiente
y dañando su cerebro
pero copiado por algunas de las
personas del mundo
con más lavado de cerebro a pesar
de su inteligencia
que solían disfrutar realmente
los muchos colores y muchos rizos
de sus propios cabellos.
El pelo de él es más oscuro. Siempre.
¿Por qué es así? ¿Está tratando de
rehuir su sospechoso
DNA
como perteneciente
al mundo “libre”?
Supongan que en verdad
ella es pobre.
Supongan que el empleo real
de él se envía a China.
No parece importar
en los anuncios.
Es lo que te hacen
pensar:
en algún sitio hay gente
libre:
están sonrientes,
están felices,
son rubios
y el hombre de pelo oscuro
espera que al menos
sus hijos serán así.
¿Qué locura es esta?
Van a toda velocidad por tu pantalla
riendo.
Nunca parecen pensar
en Chernobil
y los lacerados niños almacenados
en Rusia
y Escandinavia.
Ni parecen preocupados
sobre Fukushima
y las motas de radiación
en el aire y el mar
que se devoran a California
Canadá y México.
Están riendo,
el auto que manejan es veloz.
Ellos son veloces.
Todo está bien en su mundo.
El anuncio está hecho para venderte
su seguridad.
Ese mundo de libertad, velocidad
y falta de preocupación
pretende parecer enorme.
Pero en verdad
no es mayor que tu pantalla.
¡Apágala!
Atiende a tu motocicleta,
el roto farol afuera
de tu ventana,
la basura
que despoja
la belleza
de tu lenta
pero más grande que la pantalla
calle del
pueblo.

******

Se recomienda: “Revelación: Los hombres que poseen y controlan el gobierno de los EE.UU.” Largo, vehemente y maravilloso discurso vemos aquí sobre la dictadura por televisión. (YouTube). Si todavía no existen capítulos de “Entretenimiento anónimo” (Entertainment Anonymous) deben hacerse sin demora. Vean “La horrible verdad sobre Fukushima”, entrevista con la Dra. Helen Caldicott, pediatra australiana.

February 2015

THE SMOKING GUN STILL IN HAND: SPYING ON, AND CENSORSHIP OF WRITERS OF CONSCIENCE

Claude McKay

U.S. NEWS

New documents show the FBI spied on ‘notorious negro’ writers for decades

ALISON FLOOD, THE GUARDIAN

09 FEB 2015 AT 12:58 ET                   

Newly declassified documents from the FBI reveal how the US federal agency under J Edgar Hoover monitored the activities of dozens of prominent African American writers for decades, devoting thousands of pages to detailing their activities and critiquing their work.

Academic William Maxwell first stumbled upon the extent of the surveillance when he submitted a freedom of information request for the FBI file of Claude McKay . The Jamaican-born writer was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, author of the sonnet If We Must Die, supposedly recited by Winston Churchill, and Maxwell was preparing an edition of his complete poems. When the file came through from the FBI, it stretched to 193 pages and, said Maxwell, revealed “that the bureau had closely read and aggressively chased McKay” – describing him as a “notorious negro revolutionary” – “all across the Atlantic world, and into Moscow”…

Continue Reading The Smoking Gun Still in Hand

Lorraine Hansberry

What has come to light about J.Edgar Hoover – that he was not only a closeted homosexual but also a passing (for white) person of color – makes the damage he has done to so many lives in America all the more thought-worthy.  Is this the havoc that sexual repression and racism can cause: in this case,  tremendous suffering, fear, anguish, all from one stunted and twisted individual?  Another realization is that the surveillance of the work of writers and artists of conscience has not ended, but goes on in various locales and situations to this day.  That mainstream media is responsible for killing the art, and distorting and disparaging work that is critical of American “politics” or “politricks” as anther Gregory or Malcolm X might describe it.  This is why books that might otherwise be bestsellers – if they fail to toe the prescribed line in specific areas – are attacked, ridiculed, and consigned to the bottom of the review  list, if noted at all.  This is why one’s political views, if they are deemed “incorrect” by assigned gatekeepers,  can mean oblivion, or the threat of it.  As an irate reader wrote of me, regarding my work in defense of Palestinians: We will see to it that your books become landfill.  Which wasn’t quite as sobering as reading that another “journalist” came down on the side of my actual murder.  In what do I place hope for my country’s moral salvation?  Only in the determination of the people to recognize, identify and act on whatever attempts to distort or destroy intelligence that could be of help to our social and spiritual, and now physical, survival.-AW

January 2015

From NATION OF CHANGE

Dear Avaazers everywhere, 

Boko Haram just used a 10-year-old girl as a bomb-detonator right after massacring up to 2,000 people. But the government and the international community are hardly responding. Let’s call for an emergency UN Security Council meeting now:

Boko Haram just used a 10-year-old girl as a bomb-detonator right after massacring up to 2,000 people.

There is a reign of terror in Northern Nigeria.

But Nigerian President Jonathan has said almost NOTHING about this in his election campaign, and his brutal army, instead of protecting civilians, is fuelling the insurgency.

The world has put this crisis in the ‘too hard to solve’ box — the UN Security Council hasn’t even issued a Presidential Statement on Nigeria!

The only good news: escalating violence has renewed pressure to act.

Let’s multiply that pressure now and persuade our leaders and the United Nations to convene an emergency Security Council meeting and prioritise this crisis.

Join this urgent call — for the sake of that tiny, innocent girl, and all those like her at risk:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_boko_haram_terror_en/?brGNJab&v=51541

Nigeria is deep into a brutal conflict that’s ostensibly a Muslim/Christian war, but underlying it are tensions between an oil-rich, corrupt, ruling elite and a poor, disenfranchised and neglected North. Over 10,000 people were killed in 2014, and over 1.6 million Nigerians have fled their homes. Boko Haram now controls an area the size of Denmark.

Politicians have fed this divide, and the recent surge in violence comes in the middle of a deadly election campaign. Shockingly, President Jonathan’s under-resourced response could be part of a dark game — if there is chaos in the North and low voter turnout, he is more likely to stay in power since his support base is in the South.

International military advisers and special forces have been sent in, but there is hesitation about working with Nigerian units with terrible human rights records. The UN Council should now prioritise a comprehensive plan that includes cleaning up and training security forces to contain Boko Haram; investing in the poorest regions; and prioritising an anti-corruption programme.

This is not a short, sharp, shock strategy — this crisis cannot be solved in days — but it is immoral to ignore it any longer. Our global community can ensure the UN Security Council finally lays out a genuine plan for peace.

If we do nothing, thousands more will be killed, and the Boko Haram threat will spread. The attacks in Paris have reminded us that terror has no borders. Join the call:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_boko_haram_terror_en/?brGNJab&v=51541

With elections looming and violence escalating, Nigeria is like a boiling pot. Politicians have failed their people, and the international community has allowed the situation to deteriorate. We cannot wait any longer and with enough backing, a strong UN statement could begin to change the game. Let’s make it happen.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Pascal, Mike, Melanie, Marigona, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources:

Nigeria: two suspected child suicide bombers attack market (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/11/child-suicide-bombers-nigeria-market

UNOWA Briefing and Consultations

https://www.whatsinblue.org/2015/01/unowa-briefing-and-consultations.php

Nigeria’s Jonathan Slams Paris Attack, Ignores Baga Massacre (Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-12/nigeria-s-jonathan-slams-islamist-raids-abroad-is-muted-at-home.html

Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Baga destruction ‘shown in images’ (BBC)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30826582

Uniting Against Boko Haram (BloombergView)

https://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-13/boko-haram-can-be-stopped-by-a-nigeria-united-again

Avaaz.org is a 40-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 c

The Energy Of The Wave

For the people of Africa

(facing armored tanks and other weapons they did not make)

©2015 by Alice Walker

As a child I sensed
But did not
Grasp
The power
Of prayer.
It was my innocence
Of the depths
That kept me unaware.
How could the passion of the heart
Sent flying toward others
Through humble words
Change anything?
Or, rather,
What might this change?
But prayer
Is an energy
That crosses mountains and deserts
And continents and seas
And is never stopped
Nor even slowed
By anything.
It arrives
At its destination
As a blessing
That says:  I feel- though it is but
A shadow of your sorrow –
The suffering
That has befallen
You.
Though far away,
You are securely cradled
In the safety
Of my heart.
I am but a droplet
In what must become
A vast sea
To create the big wave
That washes
Away
Whatever demons
Are harming
You.
Prayer is the beginning:  when
We don’t know
What else to do.
It is in this
Spirit
Of awareness and near impotence
Beloved
Kin
Of butchered Africa
That we stand with you.

ENERO DE 2015

Boko Haram en español

Queridos avaazeros allí donde estén,

Boko Haram recientemente empleó una niña de diez años como detonador de bomba justamente tras masacrar a unas 2, 000 personas. Sin embargo el gobierno y la comunidad internacional apenas han reaccionado. Hagamos ahora un llamado a una reunión urgente del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU:

Boko Haram hace poco utilizó una niña de diez años como detonador de bomba justamente tras asesinar a unas 2, 000 personas. Existe un reino de terror en el norte de Nigeria. No obstante Jonathan, el presidente nigeriano, casi no ha dicho nada al respecto en su campaña electoral y su cruel ejército en vez de proteger a los civiles está avivando la insurrección.

El mundo ha colocado esta crisis en la gaveta de “muy difícil de resolver” (¡el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU incluso no ha emitido una declaración oficial sobre Nigeria!).

La única buena noticia que hay es que la escalada de violencia ha renovado la presión para actuar.

Multipliquemos esa presión ahora y forcemos a nuestros dirigentes y a las Naciones Unidas a convocar una reunión de emergencia del Consejo de Seguridad para priorizar esta crisis.

Únete a este urgente llamado, por esta pequeña niña inocente y por todos aquellos que están en riesgo:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_boko_haram_terror_en/?brGNJab&v=51541

Nigeria se halla sumida en un cruel conflicto que es ostensiblemente una guerra musulmano/cristiana, pero por debajo de esta hay tensiones entre una élite gobernante  petrolera rica y corrupta, de una parte, y un Norte pobre, sin poder de decisión y descuidado, por otra. Más de 10,000 personas fueron asesinadas en 2014 y más de 1, 600 000 nigerianos abandonaron sus hogares. Boko Haram controla actualmente un área del tamaño de Dinamarca.

Los políticos han alimentado esta división y la reciente oleada de violencia llega en medio de una funesta campaña electoral. Increíblemente, la respuesta de bajo presupuesto del presidente Jonathan podría formar parte de un oscuro juego (si en el norte hay caos y un bajo número de votantes, es más probable que resulte ganador ya que su base de apoyo es el sur.

Asesores militares internacionales y tropas especiales han sido enviadas allí, pero hay titubeos con respecto a trabajar con las unidades nigerianas que tienen un terrible historial en cuanto a derechos humanos. El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU debe ahora priorizar un plan integral que incluya la limpieza y el entrenamiento de las tropas de seguridad para contener a Boko Haram; invertir en las regiones más pobres y dar prioridad aun programa anti-corrupción.

No se trata de una estrategia breve, fuerte y de choque (esta crisis no puede resolverse en días), pero es inmoral ignorarla por mayor tiempo. Nuestra comunidad global puede conseguir que el Consejo de Seguridad finalmente diseñe un genuino plan de paz.

Si no hacemos nada miles más serán asesinados y la amenaza de Boko Haram se expandirá. Los ataques en París nos han recordado que el terrorismo no tiene fronteras. Únete al llamado:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_boko_haram_terror_en/?brGNJab&v=51541

Con las elecciones acercándose y la violencia incrementándose, Nigeria parece una caldera hirviendo. Los políticos le han fallado a su pueblo y la comunidad internacional ha permitido que la situación se deteriore. No podemos esperar más tiempo y con suficiente apoyo, una fuerte declaración de la ONU podría comenzar a cambiar el juego. Hagamos que esto suceda. Con esperanza y decisión,

Alice, Pascal, Mike, Melanie, Marigona, Ricken y el resto del equipo Avaaz.

* Palabra formada del vocablo “avaaz” que significa “voz” o “canto” y vendría a ser como “voceros” o “cantantes”.

Fuentes:

Nigeria: dos supuestos niños bombas suicidas atacan mercado. (The Guardian)

Reunión informativa y consultas de UNOWA (Oficina de Naciones Unidas para África Occidental)

Presidente Jonathan de Nigeria critica el ataque de París, ignora la masacre de Baga. (Bloomberg)

Boko Haram de Nigeria: la destrucción de Baga “mostrada en imágenes”. (BBC)

Unidad ante Boko Haram (BloombergView)

¡Apoye la Comunidad Avaaz!

Somos totalmente financiados por donaciones y no recibimos ningún dinero de gobiernos o corporaciones. Nuestro dedicado equipo garantiza que incluso la menor contribución llegue a una gran distancia.

¡HAGA SU DONACIÓN AHORA!

Avaaz.org es una campaña mundial en la red de 40 millones de personas que trabaja para asegurar que las perspectivas y los valores de las personas del mundo determinen la toma de decisiones globales. (“Avaaz” significa “voz” o “canto” en muchas lenguas.”) Los miembros de Avaaz viven en distintas naciones del mundo. Nuestro equipo se haya extendido por 18 países.

LA ENERGÍA DE LA OLA

Para las personas de África
(que enfrentan tanques blindados y otras armas que ellos no fabrican)
©2015 de Alice Walker

De niña yo sentía
pero no podía
comprender
el poder
de la oración.
Mi inocencia
sobre lo profundo
me mantenía desprevenida.
¿Cómo podía la pasión del corazón
echada a volar hacia otros
mediante humildes palabras
cambiar algo?
O, mejor,
¿qué podía esto cambiar?
Pero la oración
es una energía
que atraviesa montañas y desiertos
y continentes y mares
y nunca es detenida
ni incluso aminorada
por cosa alguna.
Ella llega
a su destino
como una bendición
que dice: Yo siento (aunque solo sea
una sombra de tu dolor)
el sufrimiento
que te ha
sobrevenido.
Aunque estés distante
estás bien acunado
en la seguridad
de mi corazón.
Soy solo una gotita
en lo que puede devenir
un amplio mar
para crear la gran ola
que barra
lejos
todos los demonios
que te estén haciendo
daño.
La oración es el inicio: cuando
no sabemos
qué otra cosa hacer.
Es en este
espíritu
de conciencia y casi de impotencia
amados
familiares
de la masacrada África
que estamos contigo.

###

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Martin! (15de enero, 1929). Estos son los hijos tuyos y de Ella Baker. La piedra que el constructor rechazó: una piedra angular de empatía, reciprocidad, de no rendirse y de amor.

Vea a los activistas de Ferguson enviar un mensaje de “amor y lucha” a Palestina.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARTIN! (JANUARY 15, 1929)  THESE ARE YOUR AND ELLA BAKER’S CHILDREN.  THE STONE THAT THE BUILDER REJECTED:  A CORNERSTONE OF EMPATHY, RECIPROCITY, NEVER GIVING UP, AND LOVE.

Article: Ferguson Activists bring message of Love and Struggle to Palestine

BREAKING THE SILENCE:

IDF SOLDIER CALLS AMERICA TO STAND UP TO ISRAEL WAR CRIMES

Dear Sister,

I´m sending you the last feature translated for your blog. I also lit
a candle for that man and said a prayer. It goes as follows:
Oh Lord be gentle
to this man who suffers.
Make his bars smooth
and his body iron solid.
Give wings to his mind
to defeat time and space.
I know too well what he endures.
I know how it feels
when the tongue must close
its doors to the mind and the heart.
Have mercy on this man.
Let him fly.
Let him fly.

Manuel Garcia Verdecia
beloved poet of Cuba

Beverly Johnson

I Believe the Women

©2015 by Alice Walker

I believe the women.

Whatever the reason
For their delay
In coming forth,
I believe they would not
Come forward now
Except to feel sane
And clean
Again.
Sisters keep your heads up.
I also feel compassion
For the old man.
How can I not?
I love old men,
Partly because
it takes so long
For them to awaken
To themselves.  The selves
They hid or put to sleep
when they were five
Or even younger.
Who knows what happens
To misalign a soul?
We can grow from this
If we try.  It is not the end
Of the world.  What other people
Think of us should be our last concern.
It has always been what we think of ourselves
That matters.
When we have hurt others
No matter our reason
Maturity demands we own up
Go to them
Say I am sorry and will you forgive me?
Most people don’t believe
In this
And that is why the world
Is out of control.
You have lost a beloved idol
precious to you; how will you make it
Without your belief?
I would walk on my knees over pebbles
To unbreak your heart.
But that is magic none of us can do.

CREO A LAS MUJERES
©2015 de Alice Walker

Creo a las mujeres.
Sea cual sea la razón
para su tardanza
en  salir adelante,
considero que no
hubiesen avanzado ahora
si no para sentirse cuerdas
y limpias
de nuevo.

Hermanas lleven en alto las cabezas.

También siento compasión
por el anciano.
¿Cómo no sentirla?
Amo los ancianos
en parte porque
les lleva tanto tiempo
en descubrirse
ellos mismos. Los seres
que ocultaron o adormecieron
a los cinco años
o aun antes.
¿Quién sabe qué sucede
para desajustar un alma?
Podemos crecer desde aquí
si lo intentamos. No es el fin
del mundo. Lo que otros piensen
de nosotros que sea nuestra última inquietud.
Siempre lo que pensamos de nosotros
mismos ha sido lo importante.
Cuando hemos lastimado a otros
sin importar nuestra razón
la madurez exige reconocerlo
ir donde ellos
decir Lo siento y ¿Me perdonarás?
Mucha gente no cree
en esto
y es por eso que el mundo
está fuera de control.
Han perdido un amado ídolo
querido por ustedes, ¿cómo recuperarse
sin creer?
Yo andaría de rodillas sobre piedras
para restablecer el corazón de ustedes.
Pero eso es magia que ninguno podemos hacer.

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