by Kathie MM & Pat Daniel
Yes! We shall overcome. Vote! And help every vote in your community count..
Category: resistance
Honoring a truly great man, deserving of peace prizes
by Stefan Schindler
There are many things we could say about this leader and the respect he has earned–for his courage, his values, his integrity. But he says it best himself.
“I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die. You my enemy, not no Chinese, no Vietcong, no Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for my right here at home. “ — Muhammad Ali (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the US Gandhi Foundation, 2007)
That quote says it all. Which is why we honored Ali with The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award (“we” being The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey family and friends), and why we were equally honored to have his presence and his words at the unveiling of The Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War — Ali reminding all of us gathered there that nine out of ten casualties in modern war are civilians, and more than half of these are children.
Stefan Schindler is a philosopher, teacher, and poet. He is co-author with Lewis Randa, the founder of The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey, of The National Registry for Conscientious Objection. Stefan is a frequent contributor to Engaging Peace; a Board Member of The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey; author of The Courage of Conscience Awards for John Lennon and Howard Zinn; and author of Space is Grace, Discoursing with the Gods, The Tao of Socrates, and America’s Indochina Holocaust, and Buddha’s Political Philosophy.
Cartoon: What Trump wants
by Joe Kandra, Pat Daniel, Kathie Malley-Morrison
Voting in 2020 is at risk. If you value freedom and democracy, act now, while you still can.
Starting gate question: Are you registered to vote?
Even if you think you’re registered, double check–things may not be what you assume. For example,
1. Voter rolls have been and are still being purged in many states; see here or here .
2. If you moved recently, your polling place is likely to have changed and you may need to register again in your current community. See here and here .
3. If you are not registered yet, get a move on. Deadlines are rapidly approaching for voter registration. Check them out in your state here and now and do it.
Followup question: Do you know how to outfox voter suppression efforts by the power mongers?
As you may have heard, in order to suppress voting by people who aren’t part of the current power structure–particularly poor people and people of color–illegal politically-based efforts are being made to interfere with the popular vote.
Solution: Fight back by voting early. Mail-in voting (and depositing ballots in official drop boxes) has already begun in some states. Take advantage of these opportunities and vote early—but, please, please, please, not often. Disregard any evil advice to vote twice. (That’s a violation of federal law and another effort at destroying our democratic system.) For more about early voting, see here and here .
The biggest question: Do you want what Trump wants? You know what that is–the death of democracy. If you’re not in the market for authoritarianism and facism, exercise your Constitutional rights.
DEMOCRACY WANTS YOU to do everything you need to do to vote–and have it count!
Cartoon: Farewell Justice Ginsburg
by Joe Kandra, Kathie Malley-Morrison, Pat Daniel
