Remember the Anger

During my multiple decades of life and my parents’ life, civic demonstrations and disruption occurred. Specific groups in society used these methods to get the attention of the power brokers. 

The Oxford Dictionary defines power brokers as a person or people who deliberately affects the distribution of political or economic power by exerting influence.

Mull that definition over for a few seconds. Can you name  individuals in your city, state, and nation who can sit on a  “Power Broker Committee.” Do you know who to contact to examine the issues of all involved in a protest? 

How many of us felt anger and rage when we experienced an injustice done to us? After the initial shock and tears, which of you gathered friends and family to brainstorm how to address the issue? If you didn’t know who to contact (the power broker), who helped you find this person or committee?

Think of hundreds of years of promises, compromises, and laws broken. Think about being judged by your last name, color of your hair, your inability to see, hear, or speak. Judging individuals inhumanely is rampant.

Americans saw the very worst of humanity when the very individuals who swear “to protect and save,” ignored their sworn duty, one of the reasons they joined law enforcement. They did not see that black man as an equal human being.

Americans look around. All lives matter. We must build and not tear down. It saddens me that my generation needs to continue teach and demonstrate objectivity and conversation. I ask my family to look into their hearts and souls and remember the last time you had anger in your heart. Was your anger addressed? Diid you discuss what sparked your angry? Were you treated compassionately? If yes, then continue teach your children by modeling the behaviors taught to you. If you feel you’re a little rusty, look for compassionate leaders who focus on dialogue, brainstorming, and solutions collectively.

Just remember demonstrating tells us something is wrong. The demonstrations tell us the power brokers are not listening their constituency.

Remember: anger is a symptom of a bigger problem.

Looting , burning cars, damaging iconic buildings and businesses takes away from the message. The individuals who have never gotten justice, never received humane treatment by law enforcement, and those who died without cause because of their color or being found in the “wrong place” will not get just from violent protests.

Register to vote. Vote at every election: locally, state, and federal. Attend public meetings, write letters to your elected officials. You can use https://www.countable.us/. It is a free app where you can write to your U.S. representative in the House, your U.S. senator, and the President of the United States.

Demonstrations have a short shelf life, but the pen is mighty and doesn’t cost you any thing but time. WRITE!

*Editor’s Note: The committee needs to address the violence as a reaction not as a need.This entry was posted in politicalSpeak upVoter Action on Edit

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Impeachment Reflection

This blog offers U.S citizens an opportunity to cut through the noise of the debates. It attempts to help the reader balance the information given by those who brought the evidence of high crimes to the House of Representatives.

We heard rebukes and howls from the President and his supporters. The din and noise muddled the information and made it difficult for Americans to understand the impeachment process.

I’ve never been a fan of Wikipedia, but their gives a non-biased description of the U.S. Impeachment Process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States

I listened to several hearings leading up to the decision to impeach the President. I could not watch it everyday. I found a bevy of house members who lacked debate training. Some members demonstrated a lack of preparation when they responded to a colleague’s presentation. It saddened when members who raised his or her voice even though the microphones worked. When did we, as a nation, start to believe that he or she who shouts the loudest they are most correct?

Impeachment participants represent the voters. Our founding father built this country on the principle of three equal but separate governing branches.. Each division acts as a check and balance system.When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks openly about “insuring a fair trial for the President and announces “I am positive the President will not be impeached.” Tell me, is Senate McConnell fairly representing his voters? How can he speak for his colleagues’ voters? “

Remember, you do have a voice. It is as close as text or a phone call to your Senator. Keep the powers of the government balanced. Remind your senator who they work for, tell him or her what you think about the evidence. Also read the findings from the House of Representatives before you make a judgement.

One Man’s Journey

I just finished reading Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance.  It is a biographical story of an American white male’s rise from the rust belt of the Midwest to the halls of Yale Law School. His journey is not a  meteoric path. The journey is painful, complete with potholes and distracting obstacles.

Vance takes his reader through the agony of his childhood. His “Mamaw and Papaw”  (maternal grandparents) provide adult belief in his talents.  It is at the moment when you think all may be lost when a teacher discovers his true  ability and reinforces what his grandparents always saw in him.

When J.D. applied for college and receives his financial applications, he realizes he has gaps in his education and finances. Skills missing from his resume included consistency, follow through, discipline, stability, social aptitude and awareness. He marched down to his local Marine recruiter and enlisted for four years.

He seeks to discover why he succeeds and grows out of the his home town. This need to know takes him on a self-discovery journey that doesn’t seem to align with his personal experience. You read the book and let me know if you see if he left the puzzle unresolved.

Stand Up- Speak Out- Run

Many of us prayed for civility and calm during the transfer of Presidential Power. Symbolically with the exception of a disruption by protest of a small group of anarchists, January 20, 2017 inauguration went on as planned.

As we know, on January 21, 2017,  the ‘Women of the United States” spoke out in multiple locations with voices joined to address the importance of “Human Issues.” Women around the world joined in protest with the U.S. Women.  History reveals when women gather in mass -they are birthing change. Committed women  demonstrate when the world  is skewed. Mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, husbands, sons, walk in unity, and shout ‘no more.’ It is wise for all to listen to those who represent the life of force of the earth. Women’s energy changes the  world’s energy.

Utah, one of the most Conservative States in the Union, conducted seven Women’s Marches. They were joined by the men who love women.  Some of the Utah marches endured blizzard conditiona, icy roads, and cold temperatures to join in solidarity with the women of the world.

In fact, we have a state legislature that meets for 45 days. Utah Women, on January 23, 2017, broke the record for the largest demonstration in the history of the state.  More than 6,000 women and those who care about ‘human rights’  marched to the capital on its first day session.

What is driving these women? You tell me. I can’t speak for the millions of my ‘sisters’ who recognize “Human Rights and Needs” are not being addressed. It is time for us to look around and see if you are pleased by your local and Congressional representation.

Elected officials pay attention. Committed women continue communicating to your Congressional Delegation using http://countable.us  

Voice your concerns and suggestions to your local legislator by using https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

BE BOLD. RUN FOR OFFICE. You don’t have to have to jump into a big political office. Try running for school board or county board, etc.

Americans, we can make a difference. Start by communicating with the individuals placed in office to represent you.

Washington, D.C. Update

I cut  and paste the following list from my friend’s Facebook post today. Take two minutes and read what the individuals who represent “We the People” have accomplish in the first week of the 2017 Congress.

A Washington DC  Week in Review:

1. Trump fired all Ambassadors and Special Envoys, ordering them out by inauguration day.

2. House brought back the Holman rule, allowing them to reduce an individual civil service, SES position, or political appointee’s salary to $1, effectively firing them by amendment to any piece of legislation. 

3. Senate schedules 6 simultaneous hearings on cabinet nominees and triple-books those hearings with Trump’s first press conference in months and an ACA budget vote, effectively preventing / limiting any concentrated coverage or protest.

4. House GOP expressly forbids the Congressional Budget Office from reporting or tracking ANY costs related to the repeal of the ACA. It could cost trillions – they refuse to be accountable.

5. Trump continues to throw the intelligence community under the bus to protect Putin, despite the growing mountain of evidence that the Russians deliberately interfered in our election.

6. Trump breaks a central campaign promise to make Mexico pay for the wall by asking Congress (in other words, us, the taxpayers) to pay for it.

7. Trump threatens Toyota over a new plant that was never coming to the U.S. nor will take jobs out of the U.S.

8. House passes the REINS act, giving them veto power over any rules enacted by any federal agency or department–for example, FDA or EPA bans a drug or pesticide, Congress can overrule based on lobbyists not science. Don’t like that endangered species designation, Congress kills it.

          We need to wake up and take careful notice about what is actually happening in our  country. If we don’t agree phone, text, or email your senators and representatives. You also can tweet our President-elect. “We the People” are the government. The people who are in Washington are elected to represent us not to carry out a political agenda. “We the People” need to be vigilant and voice our opinions.  The members of both Houses of Congress are placed in Washington, D.C. to serve all the “People.” Your vigilance plus every citizens voice of approval or disapproval is critical to have true representation in Federal Government.

Fill 2017 with Accountability & Action

As this country transitions to its newly elected government, “we the people” need to focus on our representatives in government. Active citizens make a country stronger and show our congressional delegation the direction we desire the country to go. We need to focus on the needs and voice of the people not the political parties’ agenda.

The U.S. ideals, principles, and dignity continues as long as  “we the people” demonstrate how we want  our elected officials to act. We need to raise the bar higher for all politicians. Unbridled, unfounded information both by citizens and congress needs to eliminate. As citizens we need to know what is happening.

The application http://countable.us helps citizens track what your representative is doing in congress. The app is available on iTunes and Google Play. It allows you to respond to your representative from the application. Download it and become active in your government without leaving your chair.

Americans, it is time for us, “the people” to unite and follow the instructions of the Constitution to:

“establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, “

To need to be vigilant and vocal. We need to let our Congressional delegates know our voice.

As our country accepts a new president in 2017, we, “the people” need to focus on action and accountability.

Use this  link Find your Senators.

Use this link Representative in the House

Millennials Wanted

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Millennials your vote counts in this  2016 American Presidential Election. You showed us your political passion with your support of Bernie Sanders. You knocked doors. Handed out information reminding us to register to vote. You reminded us that we could register and vote online. You diverted your energy to helping local candidates by door to door canvassing.

Yet, you hesitate to declared your Presidential pick. It’s your right to remain mute about  your selection.  You are an American. You have the right to your silence, but you also have the privilege of voting.

Voting is the price we pay for being able to speak out, choosing how we want to live our life.  Voting supports our ability to be part of a religious group or to declare our agnostic position.

Elections determine educational funding, taxes (city, state, federal), who is on the Board of Education. Health plans: who, how, and why you and I are covered is decided by the voters.  Are you going to be one of those people who vote for a person because you know where they stand issues not only facing you today but in the future?

Millennials, this isn’t a scolding. This is the conversation my family is having around the dinner table. Our millennials speak their minds with their friends and at the polls.

Your vote counts. If you vote for a third-party candidate, you give up you voice. A third party candidate will not be president. One of the major party candidates will be president.  Which can you live with?  Which candidate has your future in mind? Which candidate represents you?

Why not look into the platforms of the two  major party candidates. Decide if you really want to throw a vote away. Check out what PoliticalFacts.com has to say about Clinton and Trump using the links below.

This is link gives you PolitiFacts.com article about Hillary’s Plans  http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/22/hillary-clintons-top-10-campaign-promises/

This link gets you to PolitiFacts.com article on Donald Trump’s  Campaign  Promises.http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/15/donald-trumps-top-10-campaign-promises/

Story 108 Years Supressed

bldgfireA news story of business burned to the grown and the owners massacred not revealed for 108 years sounds unbelievable to us.  We live in  world of multiple social platforms with 24 hour news.

Yet  only a generation or two Wilmington, South Carolina families shared a story no one spoke aloud. It as a tale of the injustice,  murder, and discrimination.

An organized white mob massacred the black majority of the town of Wilmington, South Carolina on November 10,1898.  Yet it wasn’t until  2006  when the South Carolina  it General Assembly first published a report about this horror. Prior to this publication, the Wilmington citizens of both races spoke in hushed voices about the dark day.  The white men claimed they captured the city back. The Negro families spoke about  killing of the black business owners and the burning of their property.This is one of many repress incidents in Black History. It is one of many stories told from generation to generation.  Each story retold with emotion and pain.

The  September 19,2016  edition of the New Yorker  published Lauren Collins article “A Buried Coup D’Etat in the United States.”    Collins interviews Christopher Everett, the director of the documentary -“Wilmington on Fire,”  depicting the events of the massacre and upheaval of Wilmington.

Everett  took Collins on a tour of the Wilmington City  and pointed out where the events occurred on November 10, 1898. This story seething from generation to generation of cannot be discarded. Everyone who has concerned for this nation needs to have an understanding for our propensity to be cruel to each other.

There are those who say “don’t open old wounds.” There are those who argue that what’s done is done. Live in the present.” Yet, we know when individuals feel they have been wrong for centuries, forgiveness is not easy.

Lincoln said it best: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Americans awaken the better angels within you. We must. We need to be open to differences. Our nation was built on differences. We take pride in being the world’s “melting pot.”

Americans:We Are One

A plane drilled through the North Tower in Manhattan.
“It must be an accident.”
The city shook.
First responders rushed.
Tower occupants told love ones,
“Don’t worry, help is on the way.”A second plane circled round.
It plowed through the South Tower.
“This is more than a coincident.”
“We’re under attack!”The twin buildings burn.
The first Tower hit is an inferno.
The firefighters hampered by bodies falling from the sky.
Love ones disconnected.

Numb from the horror unfolding in New York,
A plane crashed into the Pentagon.
American’s eyes scan the sky.

A plane goes down in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
We later learned of the heroic passengers.

The unthinkable, the first Tower imploded.
The giant guardian crumbled.
Tons of steel, concrete, glass, plastic crushed all.

The second Tower’s dwellers fate revealed.
Some took the stairs.
Others sought their salvation flying through the air.

Humans covered in white grit, stream from the site.
They all looked the same.
The fumes, the horror, the residue took away any distinguishing differences.
We saw our fellow Americans.
Our hearts ached for our fellow Americans.

On 9/11 remember the Americans we loss.
On 9/11 remember we all became one nation.

Photo: http://cdns.yournewswire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/911-john-lear-planes-twin-towers.jpg
Source:http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-timeline

 

 

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