Remembering Jesse, part 2
When I came here, I put my hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. I didn’t put my hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible. ― Jesse Jackson Jr.
Remembering Jesse
Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow — red, yellow, brown, black and white — and we’re all precious in God’s sight. ― Jesse Jackson
Unique
“One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.” —Franklin Thomas, President and CEO of the Ford Foundation
Self-Deception
People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception. Their decisions are not really decisions at all — a real decision makes one humble, one knows that it is at the mercy of more things than can be named —…
The Vitality of Language
The vitality of language lies in its ability to limn the actual, imagined and possible lives of its speakers, readers, writers. Although its poise is sometimes in displacing experience it is not a substitute for it. It arcs toward the place where meaning may lie. When a President of the United States thought about the…
Crucial Time
At this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. — Nina Simone
We Make Mere Echoes of Ourselves
“Beware: All too often, We say What we hear others say. We think What we’re told that we think. We see What we’re permitted to see. Worse! We see what we’re told that we see. Repetition and pride are the keys to this. To hear and to see Even an obvious lie Again And again…
Change That Truth Into Love
We all know sometimes life’s hates and troubles Can make you wish you were born in another time and space But you can bet your life times that and twice its double That God knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed So make sure when you say you’re in it but not of…
I Am Not My Hair
I am not my hair (I am not my hair), I am not this skinI am not your expectations, no (Hey)I am not my hair, I am not this skinI am a soul that lives within (Hey)I am not my hair, I am not this skinI am not your expectations (I am not your expectations,…
Author a New Chapter
This is the era of just redemption. We feared — at its deception. We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.So, while once we asked, “how could we possibly prevail…