Women’s International League, 5/1/22. This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID npcc.06273. In the public domain in the USA
By Kathie MM
It’s International Women’s Rights Day, March 8, 2018—a day not just to celebrate women’s escape from bondage, or women’s courageous struggle to gain their inherent social, economic, and political rights, but also to press for progress/ . When gun rights outweigh women’s and children’s rights and the NRA agenda outranks human rights, it’s time to act.
In every nonviolent struggle for rights, role models can play a crucial role. Today, let a child lead you. Watch and take courage from the words and deeds of some very young women—the young women who are organizing the March 24, March for Our Lives on Washington, DC. https://marchforourlives.com/In particular, make your day by watching this video in which Sarah Chadwick, one of the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting (which left 17 students and staff dead), takes on Dana Loesch, spokespropagandist for the NRA.
Then decide how you can support the March 24 March for Life, for women’s rights, human rights, and peace. To remind yourself that the activism of ordinary citizens can move mountains while congresspeople sit on their hands and worry about their wallets, read this .
Women, for further inspiration about the particular differences women can make, also read this and join the cause.
Martin Luther King Jr, at a press conference / World Telegram & Sun photo by Walter Albertin, 8 June 1964. No known copyright restrictions.
Welcome to the Land of King!
by Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D.
Ladies and gentlemen, I write to you today from Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the birthplace and national shrine of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, Nobel Prize laureate, and martyr to the cause of justice.
I write to welcome you to the land where one man made the word “justice” a living reality, where one man’s relentless and indomitable pursuit of justice for his people, and for people everywhere, changed history through nonviolent protest.
I write to welcome you to the land where one’s man’s vision changed a nation’s identity, conscience, and heritage of slavery and abuse of African Americans, and of all people living in bondage, seeking opportunity, screaming for dignity.
It was here, more than 50 years ago, in Atlanta, Georgia, and in a thousand other places across the land – from Alabama to Chicago, from Washington, DC, to California – the deep, resonant, baritone voice of a black man electrified the air with words of such magnitude, of such righteousness, of such eloquence, of such truth, they crushed historical roots oppression, lifting the human spirit to new levels of hope.
It was here, in Atlanta, Georgia, a black man refused to be silenced, denying fear, injury, and pain, and threats, dangers, and risks to life. It was here, and across the land, hundreds of thousands hearkened to King’s inspiring words, joining in protests at costs to their safety, health, and life.
The task before King, and for countless others taking the cause of justice in those tumultuous years, was to undo a history of oppression and to build a future founded on laws that guarantee justice, equality, and liberty, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, or any social identity marker.
This, then, is the pressing challenge of life in our global age, as nations withdraw from social responsibilities and dismiss ideals promised by government and guaranteed by universal human rights and accepted moral codes.
Today, in celebration, we gather to share ideas, to seek wisdom, to pursue inspiration, and to bond in common purpose, in honor of Reverend King’s legacy. Let me, however, be clear in my message:
I do not write to tell you that the profound changes inspired by King and countless others who followed his ways in the 1960s are sufficient. Nor do I write to tell you that we must be content with the many broken political barriers, proud of social advances, and patient with remaining challenges.
I write today to tell you King’s words are enshrined in stone to remind us that the struggle for justice will always continue. I write to you today to tell you the fierce and exhausting struggle beginning in the Land of King 50 years ago has not ended, and will continue for generations to come.
I write today to tell you that the roots of hate, ignorance, and evil endure, nurtured by the protective veils of government corruption, cronyism, greed, and religious prejudices sanctioned by dogma and custom. I call upon you today to join King’s call to justice, now more than 50 years old, as it still echoes throughout our global age.
Listen! Can you hear the cries of the masses around the world who lead lives of desperation, lives devoid of hope, lives existing from moment to moment, each breath lacking reflexive assurance the next breath will come, bringing temporary solace to an aching body and mind.
Today, we are engaged in a global struggle for justice. There are victims of war and violence. There are victims of labor, gender, and child exploitation. There are victims of oppression; there are victims denied freedom. All victims yearn for recognition, support, and justice. All victims are you, for there is no other! This was the message in King’s words.
Answering King’s call and the call of billions of others living amid injustice will not be easy! Heeding King’s call will add burdens to conscience, press discomforting responsibilities upon daily rounds, and risk threat to security.
In answering the call, your life will not be the same. You will be required to face harsh realities; you will be singled out for abuse from reactionary forces whose accepted inhumanity keeps them locked in hate. Your life itself will be at risk.
What will not be at risk, however, is your personal integrity, your dignity, your identity, and your position of gratitude, respect, and admiration in the heart and minds of those you help.
Pursuit of justice is not for the faint of heart. You can expect condemnation, ridicule, insults, entrapment, and defamation. Costs are high, but rewards are more than gold or silver. Rewards come in knowing that in our brief time on Earth, you have done something to advance the cause of justice.
This week, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., our posts offer you exemplars—100 in all—of contemporary peace and nonviolence activists; we celebrate the virtues they, like MLK, personify. Please join us in the cause; celebrate the legacy of MLK, celebrate the efforts of people today who actively pursue the path of peace and justice. See you tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Camp Pendleton Counseling Services’ POWER Workshop is a program designed to help service members and their families overcome domestic violence and child abuse. This image is a work of a U.S. military or Department of Defense employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. In the public domain.
The corporate media, when it does not have enough juicy crime and scandal stories to shock and awe, often provides us with a new episode in the “war on terror”.
Internationally, the dominant approach to combatting terror appears to be using or threatening more terror.
I think we know how well that has served us. (Is the world safer for democracy yet?)
Let’s face it, wherever there is an imbalance of power, there is a potential for terrorizing.
Often, throughout history, in much of the world, men have terrorized women (including husbands terrorizing wives), first borns have terrorized later borns (think of Cain and Abel), members of different gangs have terrorized each other, bullies have terrorized whomever they can, and, sadly, the rich and powerful have terrorized the poor and meek (who seem to have a long way to go before they will be allowed to inherit the earth).
If we are going to have a successful war on terror, we need to take an ecological approach; that is, we need to tackle terrorizing at all levels of society—in the home, in the neighborhood, in the broader community, in states, and in the international community.
Terrorizing behavior is contagious—once you allow it into your home, it can go viral.
All of these programs have flaws; after all, they were developed by human beings. However, if you want to participate in the most general, most far-reaching, most likely-to-succeed war on terror, then supporting , defending, trying to improve, and contributing to the success of those programs is as good a place to start as any.
Women’s International League, May 1, 1922. In the public domain.*
I have often preached on the indispensability of empathy in cooperative human relationships—e.g., here and here and here. But to “make the world a better place,” as so many of us want to do, empathy is not enough. It is also essential to sympathize with individuals and groups treated inhumanely, to feel compassion for the sufferings and misfortunes of others, and to accompany those who are struggling against violence and injustice.
If we ask people with which sex they are most likely to associate these characteristics, my guess is that most of them would say “women.”
Not coincidentally, all four of the indispensables are reflected in the mission statement of the Women’s March on Washington, which led the protest movement against the Trump agenda in January. For example:
“In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore… We practice empathy with the intent to learn about the intersecting identities of each other….[Nonviolence] is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice and utilizes the righteous indignation and spiritual, emotional, and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation…. ”
Wednesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The theme this year is #BeBoldForChange. The organizers of the Women’s March on Washington are staging another series of events for Wednesday—a Day without a Woman action. Please read about the plans for that campaign, and think about how you can express empathy, sympathy, and compassion, and also accompany the protestors in words and spirit even if you will not be actively protesting, as they strive for social justice, human rights, and peace.
To read some suggestions for participation in Wednesday’s events, read this.
Martin Luther King Jr, at a press conference / World Telegram & Sun photo by Walter Albertin, 8 June 1964. No known copyright restrictions.
