Tag Archive for Barack Obama

Editors' Choice, History

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “We shall always march ahead, we cannot turn back”

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The day set aside to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday is a good day to reflect on the power of resistance, the power of peaceful demonstration, the power of We The People insisting that our government reflects our values and addresses our needs.

Last year, the Holiday Proclamation was written and signed by President Barack Obama, the first black president, and was marked with a speech by then Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the first black woman attorney general.

Today is about them – and tomorrow will be about them and every tomorrow will be about them until that day when our government once again reflects the values of her citizens.

On August 28, 1963 a quarter of a million people gathered to support civil rights, and share Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equality.

Dr. King:

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.[…]

With [our] faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Full transcript below along with a video of John Lewis, President Barack Obama’s presidential proclamation for the final Martin Luther King Day holiday of his presidency, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s speech in Birmingham.

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Found on the Internets, It Takes a Village

It Takes A Village – VNV Tuesday: The Eye of the Hurricane 8/29/17

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By NASA/International Space Station ([1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I’ve only experienced one hurricane in my life; Hurricane Gloria in 1985, when I was living in Portsmouth, RI on Aquidneck Island. As a native Midwesterner, I had no idea what to expect, and so I hunkered down with my dogs gathered round me and waited. I distinctly remember my reaction when we were in the eye. I found myself breathing again, even when I knew there was more to come. (We were lucky. Gloria hit during low tide, and the island did not sustain much damage as compared to other areas of Rhode Island and New England.)

Today I want to celebrate the good we see around us. I do not want to minimize what is happening in TX and LA; nor am I suggesting that 45*s idiocy can be ignored. But August recess is almost over, and the need for daily/weekly calls to our reps will be essential once again. We are more aware than ever of the need to confront racism and sexism in all its forms, and there will be ongoing calls for support as Harvey moves on and the rebuilding begins. We’re far from out of the storm, but today, let’s create and enjoy a brief breathing space.

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Democratic Party Values, Editors' Choice

Barack Obama: “No tweaks can change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”

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President Barack Obama took to Facebook yesterday to weigh in on the Republican Party’s legislation to repeal healthcare:

“Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, that’s what we need to do today.

I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party. Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did.”

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Featured Posts, History

Charleston Remembered – President Obama: “We must not allow ourselves to slip into comfortable silence again”

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From the Obama White House, June 27, 2015 …

President Obama travels to the College of Charleston in South Carolina to deliver a eulogy for Reverend Clement Pinckney and 8 other congregation members of Emanuel AME who were killed on June 17, 2015. June 26, 2015.

President Obama:

Over the course of centuries, black churches served as “hush harbors” where slaves could worship in safety; praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout hallelujah — rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. They have been, and continue to be, community centers where we organize for jobs and justice; places of scholarship and network; places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harm’s way, and told that they are beautiful and smart — and taught that they matter. That’s what happens in church.

That’s what the black church means. Our beating heart. The place where our dignity as a people is inviolate. When there’s no better example of this tradition than Mother Emanuel — a church built by blacks seeking liberty, burned to the ground because its founder sought to end slavery, only to rise up again, a Phoenix from these ashes.

On the Confederate flag and its removal:

For many, black and white, that flag was a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation. We see that now.

Removing the flag from this state’s capitol would not be an act of political correctness; it would not be an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers. It would simply be an acknowledgment that the cause for which they fought — the cause of slavery — was wrong — the imposition of Jim Crow after the Civil War, the resistance to civil rights for all people was wrong. […]

For too long, we’ve been blind to the way past injustices continue to shape the present. Perhaps we see that now. Perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty, or attend dilapidated schools, or grow up without prospects for a job or for a career.

On the work ahead:

… it would be a betrayal of everything Reverend Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allowed ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again. Once the eulogies have been delivered, once the TV cameras move on, to go back to business as usual — that’s what we so often do to avoid uncomfortable truths about the prejudice that still infects our society. To settle for symbolic gestures without following up with the hard work of more lasting change — that’s how we lose our way again.

Full transcript below …

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Featured Posts, History, Obama Coalition

Ten Years Ago: Barack Obama – “I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.”

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On February 10, 2007, United States Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) announced his candidacy for president of the United States. On a cold day in Springfield IL, near the statehouse that he and Abraham Lincoln both served in, he addressed the gathered crowd.

Barack Obama:

This campaign can’t only be about me. It must be about us – it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice – to push us forward when we’re doing right, and to let us know when we’re not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail. […]

I’m in this race [not] just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle – for justice and opportunity.

I want to win that next battle – for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.

I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.

Transcript below.

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It Takes a Village

It Takes a Village

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Morning meese…I know I haven’t been around much and plan on fixing that here shortly. I guess I’ve taken my getting axed from that place where the sun only seems to rise for the purists a little harder than expected. So as long as everyone bears with me for a little longer you’ll see more of my obstinate and sunny personality.

We knew coming into this mess that has been created by bigotry,misogyny,racism,lackadaisicalness, and stupidity, from the electorate as a whole and the untrustworthy of those on the left that voted for someone of the caliber of Jill Stein who stated Tuesday…”Why would we have a tie on such an egregious nominee? Because Democrats serve corporate interests”, that it was going to be an up hill battle. Well yesterday was a VERY bright spot in our stopping Dump and his agenda of divisiveness.

So since I fought this format for a week you all are getting a smorgasbord, which when it comes down to it isn’t any different than I always do…lol…and as always I’ll end up with the woman that brought us all together…Thanks…Love ya all!

TGIF

 

 

The last weeks have brought some cheering news: Many Americans are determined to defend their democracy against Donald Trump.

 

Trump has endangered every American dog and cat (yours included) and removed your right to know about it

Had to put this tweet in…I give it an 11 on a scale of 1-10 and had me ROFLMFAO

Another for your enjoyment since today is TGIF..

Here she is…Our champion…The woman with more smarts and  backbone than DJT will ever have…

JanF…Thank you for allowing us to storm your doors…Means a lot to us..

My thanks as always to WYgalinCali…

Well that’s all folks…Have fun reading and have a great weekend.

 

 

 

 

Editors' Choice, Obama Coalition

Barack and Michelle Obama: “We’ll be back to work with you on the issues we care about”

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From the Obama Foundation … and the Obamas:

“What’s Next from Barack and Michelle Obama”

The Obama Foundation will be a living, working startup for citizenship — an ongoing project for us to shape, together, what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century. We are based on the South Side of Chicago and will have projects all over the city, the country, and the world.

We want to hear from you. Send us your ideas, your hopes, your beliefs about what we can achieve together. This will be your Foundation just as much as it is ours, so share your voice at obama.org.

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Editors' Choice, From the White House

President Obama’s Final Press Conference: “I think we’re going to be okay”

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President Obama held the final scheduled press conference of his administration yesterday. He spoke of the role of the press, his plans for the future, including when he would speak out, and once again expressed his confidence in our institutions and the peaceful transfer of power.

President Obama on the role of the press:

I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I’ve enjoyed every story that you have filed. But that’s the point of this relationship. You’re not supposed to be sycophants, you’re supposed to be skeptics. You’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here. […]

It goes without saying that essential to [our democracy] is a free press. That is part of how this place, this country, this grand experiment in self-government has to work. It doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenry. And you are the conduit through which they receive the information about what’s taking place in the halls of power.

So America needs you, and our democracy needs you. We need you to establish a baseline of facts and evidence that we can use as a starting point for the kind of reasoned and informed debates that ultimately lead to progress. And so my hope is, is that you will continue with the same tenacity that you showed us to do the hard work of getting to the bottom of stories and getting them right, and to push those of us in power to be the best version of ourselves. And to push this country to be the best version of itself.

On when he would break with the tradition of a president not criticizing his successor and speak out:

There’s difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake. I put in that category, if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion. I’d put in that category, explicit or functional obstacles to people being able to vote, to exercise their franchise. I’d put in that category, institutional efforts to silence dissent or the press.

And for me, at least, I would put in that category, efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are American kids and send them someplace else when they love this country; they are our kids’ friends and their classmates, and are now entering into community colleges or, in some cases, serving in our military. The notion that we would just arbitrarily, or because of politics, punish those kids when they didn’t do anything wrong themselves I think would be something that would merit me speaking out.

He concludes:

At my core, I think we’re going to be okay. We just have to fight for it. We have to work for it, and not take it for granted.

We all hope he is right.

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Editors' Choice, History

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “We shall always march ahead, we cannot turn back”

by  • 

Today, the day set aside to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, is a good day to reflect on the power of resistance, the power of peaceful demonstration, the power of We The People to insist that our government reflects our values and addresses our needs.

On August 28, 1963 a quarter of a million people gathered to support civil rights, and share Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equality.

Dr. King:

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.[…]

With [our] faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Full transcript below along with a video of John Lewis, President Barack Obama’s presidential proclamation for the final Martin Luther King Day holiday of his presidency, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s speech in Birmingham.

(Read More)