A History Lesson

This isn't so much a call for action but more a public service announcement, dedicated to my friend Kat on account of her being an actual historian ...

From potential GOP candidate Michele Bachmann, or as I like to think of her, Crazypants Bachmann:

In a [2011] address to the group Iowans for Tax Relief, Bachmann praises the Founding Fathers for their commitment to…diversity: "It didn't matter the color of their skin, it didn't matter their language, it didn't matter their economic status, it didn't matter whether they descended from known royalty or whether they were of a higher class or a lower class, it made no difference. Once you got here [to the United States] you were all the same. Isn't that remarkable?"

In the same interview, she praises the Founders for working so hard to abolish slavery: "We know there was slavery that was still tolerated when the nation began. We know that was an evil and it was scourge and a blot and a stain upon our history. But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."

from "Michele Bachmann Said What!?" by Tim Murphy on Mother Jones
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/michele-bachmann-greatest-hits?page=3

I think that CB here could use a course in U.S. History, or at least a viewing of 1776 ...

How Many Bullets Are Left, Chino?

“How many bullets are left, Chino? Enough for you? And you? All of you! You all killed him. And my brother. And Riff. Not with bullets and guns. With hate! Well, l can kill too, because now l have hate! How many can l kill, Chino? How many, and still have one bullet left for me?”

I was thinking of the final scene from West Side Story today because Arthur Laurents (the man who wrote the book) passed away yesterday. This is probably one of the most famous scenes from any American musical, and one of the most quoted - often in jest. I mean, seriously, who can resist? "How many bullets are left, Chino?" I certainly can't ... but anyways ...

Maria (actually Laurents) makes some really good points though. Tony and Maria couldn’t make their love work out not because of their personal differences or normal relationship boo-honky, but because of prejudice, hate, and violence. I could be wrong but I don’t think they are the only two people who’s lives have been affected by those three things.

Sadly, I think those three things are hallmarks of American culture, and they've become exceptionally pervasive in the last year and a half. It’s not good folks. Not good at all. I’ve been thinking about this a lot in light of the national reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death (didn’t think that’s where this was going, did you?).

Dr. King once said, “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” I’m not saying that bin Laden should not have died, I think it unrealistic to think that he could have been captured and rehabilitated, but reveling in the violence of his death does nothing to heal the soul and it won't bring anyone back. We have all been hurt by this individual’s actions, but one of the worst injuries of all is the amount of hate that has filled people’s hearts and minds ever since. Sure the nation has been unified of sorts, but there has to be a better way to bring folks together.

We will never know how the 21^st century would have unfolded without 9/11 and the subsequent military actions. But we can chose to not let one individual’s prejudice, hate, and violence teach us to hate and kill. That is a sad and awful legacy - one that is not worthy of the men, women, and children who have lost their lives because of bin Laden’s darkness.

Stick with love, my friends, because as Dr. King also said, “Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Peace, Peeps.

Speak Up and Speak Out.

also enjoy the fun subtitles ...

I've Been to the Mountaintop

I've been reflecting on many different things today - Amnesty International @UTK's first even Human Rights Week, President Obama official announcing his campaing for 2012, the Florida GOP wanting to ban the use of the word "uterus" on the House floor (I know, right?),  labor unions and collective barganing rights, and most especially how the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr fits into all of those things.

Lately I've been struck by how similar our contemporary world is to the world of the 1960s and by how important it is for us to learn from the examples of the great men and women who came before us, struggling for equality and justice. I've said this many times, but there is still so much left to do. So much ground we have to cover in order to reach that glorious day when America really is what our ideology tells us she should be. It is important to remember that the persuasive public rhetoric is our rhetoric too - it does not belong soley to the closed-minded members of our society who hold a very narrow vision of the world and wish to push this vision onto all of us. We cannot let that happen.

Forty-three years ago today, at 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968 Dr. King was gunned down in Memphis, TN at the Lorraine Motel and pronounced dead at 7:05PM at St. Joseph's Hospital. While his life was ended, his light was anything but snuffed out. We carry it on, shining light into the darkest of places in our communities, our country, and our world, we commit ourselves to creating change and to being change. We stick with love and we dream dreams. And most importantly we stand in solidarity with each other - continuing to press onward. In his last speech, on April 3, 1968, while standing in soldiarity with the unions of Memphis Dr. King said:

 "If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on."

So we are going on. I hope you will consider the world that Dr. King imagined for all of us, the world that we are capable of reaching. Please take a moment to look at the following actions - your voice is vital, don't be afraid to raise it now when it is needed most.

• Collective barganing rights
• Reproductive rights
• Obama/Biden 2012

And if you are in the Knoxville area this week check out these fantastic events that Amnesty International @UTK has planned for you and are participating in! All are welcome!

• Human Rights Week
• National Teach-In

Peace, Peeps.

Speak Up and Speak Out.

The Weekend Slacktavist

It's a beautiful sunny day, Spring has sprung, the birds are chirping and the flowers are dancing in the breeze.

What could be a better time for a little slacktavism?

Definition: slacktavism (noun) the use of online, social media outlets and networks to create change.

We are reclaiming this term, my people. Letter writing and petitions have worked for years and this generation is going to show the world just how much can be accomplished in much the same on the world wide web. We are so hooked into our technology and information is spread faster than it ever has been before. There is a reason the Mubarak shut down the internet. It's not because the people of Egypt were wasting time watching youtube videos of funny babies and animals. It's because the people of Egypt were communitcating with each other and the wider world. That's not to say that the Egyptian Revolution was successful because of online social networking, but it certainly played a part.

Thus, we have the first edtion of Have Soapbox, Will Travel's Weekend Slacktavist

The following are a series of online petitions and letter writing actions that will take you about 30 seconds to 1 minute to complete. (If you register with the various sites it will take you even less time in the future!)

• Stop the Republicans' Brutal Cuts
• Demand Chipotle Treat Workers With Integrity, Apologize, and Pay Up
• Urge Costco to sell ethical gold

• Stand Up for Dignity and Against Anti-Immigrant Laws in Georgia

Peace, Peeps.

Speak Up and Speak Out

Life and Death

I realize that a great many people see the world in very cut and dry ways: black and white, yes and no, life and death. I'm not a huge proponent of that. I think that much of what we experience and create exists in more of a gray zone. However life and death is the combo that seems to be more fixed than any other. Yes, I realize that there is still some wiggle room in there but for the purposes of this discussion we are going to leave that alone.

I want to talk with you all today about a very tricky subject, a not very nice subject. The Death Penalty. With the Death Penalty there is no gray zone (I don't think that this is a lower case subject matter so please excuse the free form grammar). Yes, you may be on the fence about it, or only condone it in certain situations, but what it comes down to in the end is this: You cannot un-kill someone. Dead is Dead. To me, that is the most important part of the discussion because I simply do not think that We the People should execute anyone if there is any doubt about his or her guilt.

Seems simple, right?

End of story.

Except not really.

The following is from the Amnesty International USA fact sheet about Troy Davis.

Troy Davis has been on death row for more than 18 years for the murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. His compelling case of innocence raises critical questions about the death penalty and the larger criminal justice system.
There was no physical evidence against Troy Davis
The weapon used in the crime was never found
The case against him consists entirely of witness testimony
Seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimonies
Many of the witnesses have stated that they were pressured or coerced by police
One of the two witnesses who has not recanted or contradicted testimony is the principal alternative suspect
Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating the alternative suspect Troy Davis received an evidentiary hearing in June, 2010 at the federal district court in Savannah, Georgia, which was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge ruled on August 24, 2010 that Troy Davis did not meet the "extraordinarily high" burden of proving conclusively that he is innocent. However, the hearing made it abundantly clear that doubts about his guilt are numerous and persist.

Troy Davis’ appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court was denied this morning [March 28, 2011]. This puts him at risk of an execution date within as few as two weeks. We are concerned, but we remain determined in our fight to prevent him from being executed!

Now is the time to mobilize our clemency campaign to prevent his execution. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is the entity (not the governor) who can spare Troy Davis and who can commute his sentence to life.
I can say in all honesty that Death Penalty Abolition was never something I thought I would be involved in, and since we are being honest here, you should know that it is a subject that I still wrestle with. But here is the thing, you know I love America and being American, and part and parcel of that love is my love for the Constitution and American ideology. And to me what it boils down to is this, the way that the Criminal Justice System in this country is being misused and abused, especially in regards to the Death Penalty. It's couched in secrecy and misinformation, it's racial and economically biased, it is arbitrary and capricious, hiding the facts from the citizens who are paying for it and are culpable for it's mistakes.

And really, Capital Punishment? I say call a spade a spade - Capital Punishment is nothing less than Official State Killings. If we are asking for transparency in our government, being honest about what goes on in the Criminal Justice System should be one of the first places we start.

However, there are still things that can be done to save Troy's life - and at this point exoneration isn't even on the table. We are simply asking that the State of Georgie not kill a man that they cannot prove 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is guilty of the crime for which he has spent his entire adult life in prison for.

What are the steps you ask? Here is what Amnesty International is asking:

1) Please continue to amass petitions on Troy Davis’ behalf

-spread the online petition
Peace, Peeps.

Speak Up and Speak Outhttp://tinyurl.com/l79wpy http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/pdf/TroyDavisPetition.pdf http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/clergy%20sign-on%20letter-10-22-10%20final.pdf http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/legal%20sign-on%20letter-10-22-10%20final.pdf http://tinyurl.com/4o9zdg8
3) Be prepared to come out for an international day of solidarity

If an execution date gets scheduled, which is now very likely, we will hold a day of action. We will join our voices across the U.S. and across the world to tell the parole board in Atlanta that Troy Davis must not be executed. Vigils, tabling, street-corner demos and other activities will be encouraged on this day. We will use this action to drive up the number of petitions and generate media visibility. Stay tuned for a date and instructions.

4) Spread the news

Here’s our press statement:
 http://blog.amnestyusa.org/deathpenalty/troy-davis-appeal-denied-execution-date-could-loom/
Please tweet and Facebook-share the blog entry:
 www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/069/2009
Read Amnesty International’s report: ’Unconscionable and Unconstitutional’: Troy Davis Facing Fourth Execution Date in Two Years
 www.JusticeforTroy.orgVisit

Let’s all tell Georgia: Especially when there’s doubt, do not execute!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!

So here we are folks, welcome to the very first post on Have Soapbox, Will Travel!

For those of you who may not know me, in the interest of full disclosure, let me share some home truths about your's truly:

• I am a woman - a feminist in fact, who for the next 15 months will continue to enjoy the Down-Slope to 30.
• I am a liberal - a Democrat to be exact.
• I am a Catholic - however, in no way should I be taken to be representative of the entire community.
• I am proud to be an American - I think that quite frequently the best parts of our ideology as Americans get lost, or blatently ignored. To me liberty and justice for all means just that, liberty and justice FOR ALL.
• I am the Iron Goddess of Justice - just kidding, sort of. Come hell or high water I am willing to do what it takes to make this world a better place, a place where everyone is ensured of their rights to life, liberty, adn the pursuit of happiness (as the saying goes ...) I should note that by "right to life" I mean the right to self-determination. ;) 
• My cat, Callie the Wondercat, is the greatest cat.
• I love red shoes.
• Also celery and dinosaurs.

So today's inaugural post will feature two issues that I am extrememly passionate about - rascism and women's rights. The linked article from feministing.com is about a 67 year old case in Alabama where an African American woman, Recy Taylor, was raped by 7 white men in 1944 and NEVER SAW JUSTICE.

This case has been brought to the attention of the Alabama State Legislature and a House resolution has been proposed calling for an official state apology to Mrs. Taylor. At the end of the article there is another link that will take you to a petition on Change.org demanding a public apology.

Now, I don't know about you, but part of me feels like this is kind of a case of "too little, too late" but then again, "better late than never."  I do think it important to recognize how far we've come in the years since Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Women's Movement of the 20th Century. But we are not done yet. We still have a long way to go ...

"To the wrongs that need resisting, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance - give yourselves."
-Carrie Chapman Catt

Peace, Peeps.

Speak Up and Speak Out.



**Special shout-out and a multitude of Gold Star Stickers to Meg Jones, Ace Reporter for introducing me to feministing.com**