Thank you for your critical support, Steven! Your work is so helpful and important.
For inauguration day, I would like to ask that people celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday instead, and I'd like to ask for ideas on what to do. MLK's birthday is traditionally observed by engaging in community service. What should we all do?
Start writing in your local paper or speak out on your local radio stations PSA ( public service announcements are free… go to your station w your 2-3 min announcement & record it! Some higher end stations can record inline… no office or studio required! and invite folks to march for ————-fill in your neighborhood’s most needed thing(bots dots to slow traffic on your street, whatever).
Thanks for the suggestion, Paula! I totally agree, and that's how I will be spending Jan. 20.
One of folksinger and activist Pete Seeger's last great ideas was to create a parade in his hometown of Beacon, NY to celebrate MLK. The first one was in 2014 when Pete was already in the hospital where he would pass on two weeks later. When we visited him he asked if we had gone to the parade and though we hadn't, we showed him photos that a mutual friend had taken, and Pete was happy to see them.
I strongly concur with the idea to spend the entire day focusing on MLK and his dream. If you're anywhere near Beacon, NY, join the parade at 9:30 am. More info here:
As far as community service, there's probably a food pantry nearby that needs donations or help, or some organization the provides shelter for homeless people, or coats for children and adults. I'm sure you can find an agency that can use help. Maybe start by calling your county's social service department.
Great idea, and another thing anyone can do is pick up a book or several and read about MLK. I'm almost finished with Taylor Branch's series (trilogy) on his life, and it brings back the memories of growing up in that era. I left bootcamp on the day he was shot 4/4/68 and have never forgotten about it, but I digress. Read about him and then talk about him with people you know and even those you don't. You can always judge the reaction by the look on someone's face when you mention his name.
Here’s something you can do by learning about it and then spreading the word. Learn about the power we can make ours by decent people taking over school boards on a save democracy platform. Please go to WhiteChalkCrime.com where you can hear teachers speaking out
and learn about how administrators have been grooming boards to rubber stamp their bad acts for decades now. By turning our schools - the foundation of democracy - into their power source, they’ve dismantled democracy. We need someone like you to lead a school board take back. This is a national power source we must not miss.
I'm retired, but maybe be cautious by throwing all schools under the school bus. Many, many areas do not have this issue. Parents need to be active in their child's education. I say be partners in the education of your communities. Looking for problems that don't exist makes you the problem.
Not all schools. But far too many. And there’s nothing negative about running on a save democracy platform to ensure your schools are on a good track. Good administrators will welcome our doing this. Read teacher stories at EndTeacherAbuse.org. There are way too many horror stories to not look into this, not to mention that our democracy fell apart and schools are its foundation. Trump happened for a reason.
Plus I’m confused why you see protecting our democracy with solid school boards as throwing all schools under the bus. Why would doubting them be a negative act given the hot mess our country is now in? We have to stop thinking of them as sacred now that we’re about to lose our democracy! All our institutions have failed us and they are no exception.
I realize this is your focus but it is a bit like a carpenter with a hammer.
A major reason “all our institutions failed us” is because trust in them was deliberately destroyed in campaigns to plant doubts, to “just ask questions”.
So, yes, pushing doubt at tens of thousands of people (who by implication are not “decent”) because they are on school boards and / or at all school boards is a negative act.
Sorry. I guess trying to report wrongdoing that goes on for three decades turns one into something negative - the hope of all predators. It took thirty years to believe what the priests were doing. It wasn’t all priests by any means. It’s not all boards. And many on boards have been manipulated into puppets. But it’s been enough indecency to produce a culture that thinks Trump should be president. For those of us upset that Trump was elected its way too many. Unfortunately truth is often negative. But without it we can’t solve our problems.
Save the sorry, not sorry. Pushing doubt is not reporting wrongdoing.
I worked in secondary ed and post-secondary. I also worked organizing and representing teachers. State legislatures hold the power to control the authority of school boards, hiring restrictions, curriculum, methods of instruction and the input of parents.
Your gratuitous comparison implying I aid predators and mentioning of priests fits a pattern. It is also irrelevant unfortunate deflection. Be careful where you use it. No group of people is without flawed members. It could easily devolve into discussion of the similarities of on-going misbehavior by teachers despite districts like ours which required FBI fingerprint clearance for all teachers & student teachers for over 20 yrs ago.
Flame throwers are not problem solvers. Problem solvers offer guides to selecting good board members; good policies etc. Flame throwers conjure up bogeymen, stir emotions and try to throw people under the bus.
And now I shall go back to ignoring your comments.
“A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong...With such a people, you can do whatever you want." - Hannah Arendt
“Truth is, it will be a particularly challenging year as we address the acceleration of oligarchic, kleptocratic and authoritarian rule. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I dread the inauguration on Jan. 20 of convicted felon, lead insurrectionist, malignant narcissist, vengeful sadist and Vladimir Putin sycophant Donald Trump.”
————
But I’m grateful for your hope and optimism and I embrace it as well.
In 1973, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh sang “Get Up, Stand Up” … wise advice. Back in the Sixties we not just sighed and wrung our hands, we protested: Civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights. In so many cases, it worked to a degree. We are not helpless; we are not voiceless; let’s not let inertia rule.
At 87 years old I am still learning about politics. You speak and write clearly and make it all understandable. I don't get to talk politics often but one recent experience is telling. A person was telling me that there were 36 FBI Agents at the January 6th tragedy. He couldn't tell me where he got his info. I googled it. There were 36 Informants, not full-blown agents!!!! I hope I see him again to tell him what I found!
Thank you. You give me reason to try and not give up. Looking for that success and to not just step aside and give up. I read your writings as if I’m the important one and have a role in the success. You’re reaching an army one person at a time .
In my years as a young lefty (late 60s - mid 80s) we marched, organised and attended massive demonstrations -- anti-war, ant-nuke, anti-apartheid, anti-imperialism, pro-union, pro-ERA, pro-civil rights, pro-women's rights, pro-gay rights, pro-disability rights, you name it, we marched and gathered and raised our voices. Did we solve all the problems? No. Did we make a difference? Yes. In this age of virtual everything, our lives dominated by our smart phones, laptops and zoom, it is too easy to think that turning out in large numbers and literally putting our bodies on the line will make little or no difference. But that is not true. Look at Tbilisi! Millions taking to the streets gets attention and drives the news cycle if we show up in greater and greater numbers, not just once but over and over and over again. For sure we need lots of local grass-roots organising and activism, but we also need massive and frequent demonstrations to let it be known that we are in fact the majority and we are not going to sit quietly by while the oligarchs take over.
New Year’s greeting to you, Steven! Last night, I sent emails to my congressman and to my senator asking them to lodge a motion denying this horrible man a place in the Oval Office. I based it on the 14th Amendment, Section 3, to the Constitution. It is in regard to how a person seeking office cannot serve if they have knowingly devised an insurrection. I am paraphrasing here, of course as here is the link to the actual wording: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/
We all must write or call our reps and senators, Repubs and Dems alike, and recite Section 3 to all of them. They work for us, NOT for white oligarchs! We Stand together!
I feel so lucky to have been born in America. It is beautiful, no need to travel elsewhere. Mistakes have been made in the past, many, but with good people, corrections have been made & we. Have pushed forward. We shall again. I cannot do much, having just been diagnosed with cancer, but I try to work on my son in law. We are friends but Aye yi yi !. He actually thinks the polio vaccine.killed more than it saved !! But I'll keep trying.
Yes, voters didn’t get enough of a shock in 2016 so they decided to stick their finger in the light socket again to see if it really was what they thought it was 🥴. It looks as though the FAFO is about to begin. I only hope everyone is ready for the absolute shock that everyone will be getting thanks to those who just couldn’t be bothered to bother to vote. Hang on y’all. It’s gonna get bumpy might fast.
Exactly what we need for today and the road ahead, Steven. You help me summon the courage to stay engaged, to embrace the struggle for democracy that we are walking into—eyes open, hearts full. We can do this.
Steven, your writings fill me with hope, and I stand with you. “This year is our opportunity to prove—as so many Americans have before us—that the principles of democracy and the values of equality are worth fighting for, especially when it’s hard.” I am not sure what role I can play, but I know we must all do our part.
Ellen, I think having a community of hope here means we can help each other find ways to take effective action. I’m looking to make more specific plans of action now.
Steven, can you point us to several good q1 2025 action opportunities to pick from?
I don't know who's giving up. Maybe I just don't hear them. You bet I was sad after the election, and still am, but no stinking way am I defeated. Thanks for your work last year, and please keep it up!
I feel a small ray of sunshine enter my soul. Thank you Steven.
(P.S. I do need to add that we are doing it not "because it's hard". We are forced into doing it. So I would change that statement to "because it's necessary/essential -- and it will definitely be hard.")
Thank you for your critical support, Steven! Your work is so helpful and important.
For inauguration day, I would like to ask that people celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday instead, and I'd like to ask for ideas on what to do. MLK's birthday is traditionally observed by engaging in community service. What should we all do?
Good thought.
Start writing in your local paper or speak out on your local radio stations PSA ( public service announcements are free… go to your station w your 2-3 min announcement & record it! Some higher end stations can record inline… no office or studio required! and invite folks to march for ————-fill in your neighborhood’s most needed thing(bots dots to slow traffic on your street, whatever).
Perfect!
PBS has many shows on MLK. If nothing else, watch some of them: https://www.pbs.org/search/?q=MLK
👍👍
Thanks for the suggestion, Paula! I totally agree, and that's how I will be spending Jan. 20.
One of folksinger and activist Pete Seeger's last great ideas was to create a parade in his hometown of Beacon, NY to celebrate MLK. The first one was in 2014 when Pete was already in the hospital where he would pass on two weeks later. When we visited him he asked if we had gone to the parade and though we hadn't, we showed him photos that a mutual friend had taken, and Pete was happy to see them.
I strongly concur with the idea to spend the entire day focusing on MLK and his dream. If you're anywhere near Beacon, NY, join the parade at 9:30 am. More info here:
https://beaconny.gov/index.php/events/martin-luther-king-jr-day-parade-2/
As far as community service, there's probably a food pantry nearby that needs donations or help, or some organization the provides shelter for homeless people, or coats for children and adults. I'm sure you can find an agency that can use help. Maybe start by calling your county's social service department.
Thank you, Judy! Great ideas. I'll be in California where I live then, but I hope the parade goes well.
Great idea, and another thing anyone can do is pick up a book or several and read about MLK. I'm almost finished with Taylor Branch's series (trilogy) on his life, and it brings back the memories of growing up in that era. I left bootcamp on the day he was shot 4/4/68 and have never forgotten about it, but I digress. Read about him and then talk about him with people you know and even those you don't. You can always judge the reaction by the look on someone's face when you mention his name.
Love this idea, Bill!
Love your idea Paula B
Here’s something you can do by learning about it and then spreading the word. Learn about the power we can make ours by decent people taking over school boards on a save democracy platform. Please go to WhiteChalkCrime.com where you can hear teachers speaking out
and learn about how administrators have been grooming boards to rubber stamp their bad acts for decades now. By turning our schools - the foundation of democracy - into their power source, they’ve dismantled democracy. We need someone like you to lead a school board take back. This is a national power source we must not miss.
I'm retired, but maybe be cautious by throwing all schools under the school bus. Many, many areas do not have this issue. Parents need to be active in their child's education. I say be partners in the education of your communities. Looking for problems that don't exist makes you the problem.
Not all schools. But far too many. And there’s nothing negative about running on a save democracy platform to ensure your schools are on a good track. Good administrators will welcome our doing this. Read teacher stories at EndTeacherAbuse.org. There are way too many horror stories to not look into this, not to mention that our democracy fell apart and schools are its foundation. Trump happened for a reason.
Plus I’m confused why you see protecting our democracy with solid school boards as throwing all schools under the bus. Why would doubting them be a negative act given the hot mess our country is now in? We have to stop thinking of them as sacred now that we’re about to lose our democracy! All our institutions have failed us and they are no exception.
I realize this is your focus but it is a bit like a carpenter with a hammer.
A major reason “all our institutions failed us” is because trust in them was deliberately destroyed in campaigns to plant doubts, to “just ask questions”.
So, yes, pushing doubt at tens of thousands of people (who by implication are not “decent”) because they are on school boards and / or at all school boards is a negative act.
Sorry. I guess trying to report wrongdoing that goes on for three decades turns one into something negative - the hope of all predators. It took thirty years to believe what the priests were doing. It wasn’t all priests by any means. It’s not all boards. And many on boards have been manipulated into puppets. But it’s been enough indecency to produce a culture that thinks Trump should be president. For those of us upset that Trump was elected its way too many. Unfortunately truth is often negative. But without it we can’t solve our problems.
Save the sorry, not sorry. Pushing doubt is not reporting wrongdoing.
I worked in secondary ed and post-secondary. I also worked organizing and representing teachers. State legislatures hold the power to control the authority of school boards, hiring restrictions, curriculum, methods of instruction and the input of parents.
Your gratuitous comparison implying I aid predators and mentioning of priests fits a pattern. It is also irrelevant unfortunate deflection. Be careful where you use it. No group of people is without flawed members. It could easily devolve into discussion of the similarities of on-going misbehavior by teachers despite districts like ours which required FBI fingerprint clearance for all teachers & student teachers for over 20 yrs ago.
Flame throwers are not problem solvers. Problem solvers offer guides to selecting good board members; good policies etc. Flame throwers conjure up bogeymen, stir emotions and try to throw people under the bus.
And now I shall go back to ignoring your comments.
“A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong...With such a people, you can do whatever you want." - Hannah Arendt
This is the battle we face. We must prevail.
I agree Steven,
“Truth is, it will be a particularly challenging year as we address the acceleration of oligarchic, kleptocratic and authoritarian rule. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I dread the inauguration on Jan. 20 of convicted felon, lead insurrectionist, malignant narcissist, vengeful sadist and Vladimir Putin sycophant Donald Trump.”
————
But I’m grateful for your hope and optimism and I embrace it as well.
In 1973, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh sang “Get Up, Stand Up” … wise advice. Back in the Sixties we not just sighed and wrung our hands, we protested: Civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights. In so many cases, it worked to a degree. We are not helpless; we are not voiceless; let’s not let inertia rule.
Or fear …
At 87 years old I am still learning about politics. You speak and write clearly and make it all understandable. I don't get to talk politics often but one recent experience is telling. A person was telling me that there were 36 FBI Agents at the January 6th tragedy. He couldn't tell me where he got his info. I googled it. There were 36 Informants, not full-blown agents!!!! I hope I see him again to tell him what I found!
Thank you. You give me reason to try and not give up. Looking for that success and to not just step aside and give up. I read your writings as if I’m the important one and have a role in the success. You’re reaching an army one person at a time .
Good to hear, Patricia.
In my years as a young lefty (late 60s - mid 80s) we marched, organised and attended massive demonstrations -- anti-war, ant-nuke, anti-apartheid, anti-imperialism, pro-union, pro-ERA, pro-civil rights, pro-women's rights, pro-gay rights, pro-disability rights, you name it, we marched and gathered and raised our voices. Did we solve all the problems? No. Did we make a difference? Yes. In this age of virtual everything, our lives dominated by our smart phones, laptops and zoom, it is too easy to think that turning out in large numbers and literally putting our bodies on the line will make little or no difference. But that is not true. Look at Tbilisi! Millions taking to the streets gets attention and drives the news cycle if we show up in greater and greater numbers, not just once but over and over and over again. For sure we need lots of local grass-roots organising and activism, but we also need massive and frequent demonstrations to let it be known that we are in fact the majority and we are not going to sit quietly by while the oligarchs take over.
New Year’s greeting to you, Steven! Last night, I sent emails to my congressman and to my senator asking them to lodge a motion denying this horrible man a place in the Oval Office. I based it on the 14th Amendment, Section 3, to the Constitution. It is in regard to how a person seeking office cannot serve if they have knowingly devised an insurrection. I am paraphrasing here, of course as here is the link to the actual wording: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/
We all must write or call our reps and senators, Repubs and Dems alike, and recite Section 3 to all of them. They work for us, NOT for white oligarchs! We Stand together!
I feel so lucky to have been born in America. It is beautiful, no need to travel elsewhere. Mistakes have been made in the past, many, but with good people, corrections have been made & we. Have pushed forward. We shall again. I cannot do much, having just been diagnosed with cancer, but I try to work on my son in law. We are friends but Aye yi yi !. He actually thinks the polio vaccine.killed more than it saved !! But I'll keep trying.
Hope you’re doing ok, Rita.
Yes, voters didn’t get enough of a shock in 2016 so they decided to stick their finger in the light socket again to see if it really was what they thought it was 🥴. It looks as though the FAFO is about to begin. I only hope everyone is ready for the absolute shock that everyone will be getting thanks to those who just couldn’t be bothered to bother to vote. Hang on y’all. It’s gonna get bumpy might fast.
Exactly what we need for today and the road ahead, Steven. You help me summon the courage to stay engaged, to embrace the struggle for democracy that we are walking into—eyes open, hearts full. We can do this.
Steven, your writings fill me with hope, and I stand with you. “This year is our opportunity to prove—as so many Americans have before us—that the principles of democracy and the values of equality are worth fighting for, especially when it’s hard.” I am not sure what role I can play, but I know we must all do our part.
Ellen, I think having a community of hope here means we can help each other find ways to take effective action. I’m looking to make more specific plans of action now.
Steven, can you point us to several good q1 2025 action opportunities to pick from?
I don't know who's giving up. Maybe I just don't hear them. You bet I was sad after the election, and still am, but no stinking way am I defeated. Thanks for your work last year, and please keep it up!
Thx.
Thanks Steven for reminding me why we continue to fight. It’s the right thing to do.
I feel a small ray of sunshine enter my soul. Thank you Steven.
(P.S. I do need to add that we are doing it not "because it's hard". We are forced into doing it. So I would change that statement to "because it's necessary/essential -- and it will definitely be hard.")