I Have A Dream: surely, and unquestionably, that great speech by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most important, and most beautiful, uplifting, empowering, ennobling, visionary and inspiring speeches ever given. Listen again to these words. These words were never more relevant than now. Unity
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: Know Your Enemy
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious. – Sun Tzu * Never underestimate what a few individuals will do in pursuit of wealth, privilege, or power. The danger of a sociopathic powerful few being able to carry out monstrous acts, because the many refuse to believe
Continue readingAlberta Politics: AHS to Pincher Creek docs: We made a mistake, we gave it to you, now we won’t take it back … and you can’t quit!
Physicians in Pincher Creek who gave three months’ notice they were withdrawing from hospital service in response to Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s War on Doctors were told they had to show up for August on-call duty anyway in letters Tuesday from a top official of Alberta Health Services’ South
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: A Royal Wedding, Or A Royal Life, And A Royal World?
Some find a royal wedding moving and beautiful. But I disagree. Beautiful would be taking the vast fortune of the “royal” family of England and sharing it with the five billion people on Earth living in poverty, one billion of whom live in extreme poverty. Until that happens, the beautiful
Continue readingPostArctica: Charles Moore – Civil Rights Photographer
Charles Lee Moore (March 9, 1931 – March 11, 2010) was an American photographer most famous for his photographs documenting the Civil Rights Movement. Perhaps the most famous of his photos is the one he managed to get of Martin Luther King Jr.’s arrest for loitering on September 3, 1958. It is this photo that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Will Ferrell does a mock music video of gangster rap – and it’s a scathingly hilarious critique of the genre
A musical commentary, followed by social and political analysis, followed by hilarious spoof rap videos, and more This is scathingly funny. Will Ferrell does a mock music video of macho gangster rap. Man, how I despise that music. As Rage Against the Machine said, “So-called rap’s a fraud.” Worse, most
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Civil Obedience
“Laws control the lesser man… Right conduct controls the greater one.” – Mark Twain Never be obedient. Obedience is for dogs. No offence to dogs – I love dogs, and dogs are very admirable, as well as lovable, and there is much that we can learn from dogs. But we
Continue readingLeDaro: Rep. John Lewis’s dance
Clapping and swinging his hips, civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis danced to Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy” in a recent YouTube post.“This is my song!” the 74-year-old Georgia Democrat exclaimed… Mr. Lewis hopes that good days are ahead as the civil rights movement has made a lot of progress
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The deeper reasons for the “war on drugs”
There is a deeper reason for the war on drugs, which is the central reason for the policy, even outweighing profits from private prisons and seizure of property by law enforcement officers, both of which no doubt are also significant and strong motivations for keeping the “war on drugs” going.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Labour Day, 2013, in North America: Facing up to improving society for everyone
Striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. Martin Luther King played an active role in their struggle. Below: Striking Fast food workers in New York in 2013; Dr. King addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963; marchers on the National Mall in Washington. With Labour
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Cornel West Is Upset Obama Was Sworn In On Martin Luther King’s Bible
Dr. Cornel West, America’s most provocative public intellectual, progressive and champion for racial justice, explains why he’s upset that President Barack Obama was sworn in on Martin Luther King’s bible. He questions the first black president’s commitment to the values the slain anti-war civil rights leader stood for, including: peace, truth and
Continue readingLeDaro: How Martin Luther King would have felt about, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice?
In a sketch that Art Spiegelman proposed during George W. Bush’s first term, King’s dream becomes a nightmrare as black leaders like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice provide cover for George W. Bush. A proposed cover which The New Yorker did not publish. See more here.
Continue readingLeDaro: Barack Obama: A moving picture
Barack Obama sits on the seat in the bus where Rosa Parks sat, and refused to move, during the height of Civil Rights movement under Martin Luther King Jr.. The bus is currently located at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
“I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue
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