Tag: Malcom X

100 new peace activists, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

By Kathie Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella

Be not afraid!  You are not alone! There are thousands of advocates and activists across the world who are bringing conscience to the struggle for peace and justice. They are willing to endure the dangers of speaking for peace and justice, wherever human and legal rights are violated by people in power.

In the face of abuses and oppression, we recall the iconic peace and justice leaders of the past, including Mohatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Samuel Gompers, Caesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, Rachel Corrie, Philip & Daniel Berrigan, Glenn Paige, Hedy Epstein, and Malcom X. Peace advocates like these are testimony to the enduring human quest to resist oppression and to claim liberty, even when the cost is life itself.

This is the second list of living peace and justice advocates and activists we have compiled and published to celebrate Reverend Martin Luther King’s enduring contributions to peace and justice.

We are eternally grateful for Rev King’s efforts to free people and nations from the brutal oppressions of governments, nations, societies, organizations, and individuals who support racism, prejudice, violence, and war.

We have chosen to demonstrate our responsibilities and commitment to Rev King by identifying another 100 living peace and social justice leaders and models, starting with 50 new names. You will recognize many of the names, while others have not yet received the  attention they deserve. 

Please help us make the lists grow. The list will include emerging local community activists as well as some who have already attracted media attention. Although our current lists include mostly journalists and academics, we welcome people from other disciplines.  Please use the comment section at the end of this post to nominate a wider range of peace and justice activists.

  1. Abu-Nimr: Mohammad Abu-Nimr 
  2. Adams: Glenn Adams 
  3. Arbuthnot: Felicity Arbuthnot
  4. Arrigo: Jean Marie Arrigo
  5. Arredondo: Patricia Arredondo
  6. Awad: Murbarak Awad
  7. Baez: Joan Baez 
  8. Barber: Reverend William Barber 
  9. Barnat: Ilyad Barnat 
  10. Bassett: Larry Bassett
  11. Belle: Deborah Belle
  12. Bigombe: Betty Oyella Bigombe
  13. Blackmon-Lowery: Lynda Blackmon-Lowery
  14. Blume: Art Blume
  15. Bowen: Kevin Bowen
  16. Bretherton: Diane Bretherton
  17. Bryant: Brandon Bryant
  18. Burghardt: Tom Burghardt
  19. Cacciatori: Joanne Cacciatori
  20. Campos: Pam Campos
  21. Caputi: Ross Caputi
  22. Carruthers: Charlene Carruthers
  23. Chappell: Paul Chappell
  24. Chomsky: Avi Chomsky
  25. Chossudovsky: Michael Chossudovsky
  26. Christie: Daniel Christie
  27. Clark: Ramsey Clark
  28. Connolly: David Connelly
  29. Cox: Lynell Cox
  30. D’Andrea: Michael D’Andrea
  31. Dunbar: Edward Dunbar
  32. Correia: Antone De’Jaun Correia  
  33. Degirmencioglu: Serdar Degirmencioglu
  34. Drake: Thomas A. Drake
  35. Fihn:  Beatrice Fihn
  36. Finklestein: Norman Finklestein
  37. Flowers: Margaret Flowers
  38. Fox: Matthew Fox
  39. Furtado: Michael Furtado
  40. Gagnon: Bruce K. Gagnon
  41. Giffords: Gabrielle Giffords
  42. Gillotti, Michael Gillotti
  43. Goldberg: Whoopi Goldberg
  44. Green: Paula Green
  45. Hall: Mitchell K. Hall
  46. Handwerker: Steven E. Handwerker
  47. Haney: Craig Haney
  48. Hazare: Anna Hazare
  49. Hines: Denise Hines 
  50. Jackson-Lowman: Huberta Jackson-Lowman

This is a somewhat condensed version of a post that appeared today on Transcend Media Services.  Part 2 will appear 2/19/2018 on this blog.

Silence the drums

Posted on by kathiemm
The guided bomb unit-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb prototype is shown in a weapons test moments before impact. The detonation created a mushroom cloud that could be seen 20 miles away. March 11, 2003. In the public domain. Author: U.S. Air Force

by Kathie MM

Uh, oh,  the war drums are echoing around this country, as bombs drop in Syria and Iraq, in Yemen, and horrifyingly with the mother of all bombs in Afghanistan.

My response to the beating of those war drums is to urge you to read and share this excerpt from an essay by Anthony J. Marsella on total war.  Scroll down for the excerpt.  You can find the complete essay here.

” CODA. “

“It is WRONG — morally, ethically, legally — for any nation or people to pursue political, economic, and/or cultural interests, security, and safety by openly or insidiously imposing on any other nation or people, a form of political, economic, culture (e.g., values, religion, language), and/or military invasion, occupation, and control, serving to colonize, oppress, and dominate this nation or people by any and all means which limit their rights, liberties, and freedom of self-determination.

“These are my words; but THEY are not words solely of my making. These words, and the thoughts they embody and represent, appear in timeless historical documents inspired by many noble sources, including: (1) Founding documents of nations (e.g., Declaration of Independence); (2) Global organization statements (Universal Declarations of Human Rights – UDHR); (3) Statements of human aspirations for justice, dignity, freedom (e.g., The Montpelier Manifesto; Magna Carta, Gettysburg Address); (4) Liberation leaders and writers (e.g., Martin Luther Ling, Jr., Frederick Douglas, Paulo Freire, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Malcom X, Susan B. Anthony, Franz Fanon); and (5) Scores of anti-war and anti-violence advocates, who have sacrificed their lives in service to humanity and life.

“The coda speaks to the timeless human impulse for self-determination, and to resist oppression.  At the heart of the coda is an abiding determination to resist domination by foreign powers seeking to subdue, subjugate, and eliminate resistance, by any and all means. This domination strategy is known as “total war.”   

“Total War”

“Total War” is not restricted to the USA. It is a timeless strategy designed to defeat a targeted population through the use of any and all means. While “Total War” may initially give priority to military warfare over destruction of civilian and civil society survival needs, it can, however, easily morph into ethnic cleansing, mass extermination, and genocide. Recall how early American settlers and the USA engaged in the extermination Native American Indians via small pox infestations, starvation, famine, assassinations of leaders, uprooting of homelands, and punitive forced marches.  Consider also the tragic consequences of USA “total war” on Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Middle-East nations.”

by Anthony J. Marsella

When you read these powerful words, what do you want to do?  The US has shown humanitarian impulses in the past, thereby strengthening rather than weakening national security–as in helping the AXIS nations rebuild after World War II. Recently, a bipartisan group of Congressmen have petitioned Trump to put on the brakes regarding his planned expansion of war in Yemen and there are hunger strikers at UN headquarters.

DON’T JUST SILENCE THE DRUMS.  REPLACE THEM WITH RATIONALITY, GOOD SENSE, EMPATHY, A DESIRE TO PRESERVE LIFE ON EARTH.

HERE IS A GOOD PLACE TO START:

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