Category: Race/Ethnicity

Malcolm X: Tides of Change

  By , , ,

Heroes Of The Civil Right Movement:

Malcolm X, Tides of Change

 

digitalprintclothing, Funny T Shirt, malcomxtshirt, Casual T-Shirt

MALCOLM X, TIDES OF CHANGE

By Trevor K. McNeil

A Complicated History

No one is perfect, including and especially those who claim to be. It is usually a mistake to meet one’s hero’s, particularly because it is difficult for anyone to live up to the hype. No where is this more true than with political leaders and martyrs. Many is the celebrated later found out to hold some less than savory ideas or to have done some strange things.

Revisionism Not Necessarily Bad

One of the few cases this has worked in reverse is the legacy of Lord Byron who, while largely thought of as a swaggering sex-mad dandy, was also a strong advocate for the labor movement and republican ideals, and was mostly against the church and war in general. A labor supporting, anti-monarchist, Republican pacifist not the safest thing to be in 19th century Britain. An American early civil rights leader that has had a morphing of his image recently is the famous and infamous 1950-1960’s civil rights activist Malcolm X.  In your case you are interested, Malcolm took the last name of “X” because he had no way to trace his African ancestral family name. That ancestral name has been lost to history because of the slave trade.

A Voice In The Wilderness

It is difficult to understate the influence Malcolm X had on the struggle for racial reckoning in the early 20th century. Still held up as an example along with other Civil Rights leaders such as  Martin Luther King, Jr. and the lesser known, but no less important, Medgar Evers. Malcolm is the most controversial. Preaching a ‘by any means necessary’ approach to race relations.  Such ‘means’  included violence against the police and the state, as well as anyone else who threatened black lives. X also propagated the idea of black separatism, and even black nationalism. Not in America mind you, despite being a believer in so-called ‘black supremacy’ at the time, he wasn’t arguing that black people should take over America, so much as form their own nation separate from it. He was often very critical of the mainstream Civil Rights movement, particularly due to its principle of non-violence and preference for racial integration, particularly in terms of schooling.

Rage of Youth

While generally associated with the 1960s many of the most controversial statements made by Malcolm X, were made in the early 1950’s.  The 1950’s was a time of  ardent racism in America, when the notorious Jim Crow laws were  at their full strength. For context, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in 1955. Malcolm X first came to attention with his fiery rhetoric in 1952. While it in no way takes back or erases some of his more unsavory statements, it is important to keep in mind that he was 27 years old at the time. An adult to be sure but, as anyone who has made it to the saner side of 30 can attest, with age can come perspective.

Stepping Back

By the early 1960s, Malcolm X had distanced himself from the controversial and notoriously violent Nation of Islam. Instead he converted to Sunni Islam, generally considered the more moderate of the Islamic paths. It was a first step on a path to reform. The once violent firebrand embraced the explicitly non-violent mainstream Civil Rights movement, as put forward by King and Evers after completing the Hajj to Mecca.

Ghost From the Past

In February 1965 Malcolm X was gunned down in Harlem during a speaking engagement. It has been believed for decades that members of the Nation of Islam assassinated Malcolm X,  due to the severely strained relationship. Two Nation of Islam members were convicted in Malcolm X’s murder. On the other hand King and Evers were both killed by Klansmen. If anything, showing the backlash from angered white people was not the only threat the Civil Rights movement faced, and it is, therefore, even more impressive it managed to largely succeed.

New Evidence Emerging

Fifty-six years after his murder new evidence has come to light as I write this piece, indicating that the FBI and the NYPD were involved in the killing of Malcolm X.  A retired NYPD undercover officer admitted in a death bed confession that he had been responsible for making sure that Malcolm X’s security detail was arrested before the assassination. The confession further states this move would guarantee Malcolm X would have no door security at the Audubon Ballroom where he was killed. Malcolm’s family is asking the murder investigation be re-opened. In a separate case, last year the Manhattan DA began reviewing the convictions of those Nation of Islam members convicted of Malcolm’s murder as part of an Innocent Project request.

On Saturday the NYPD released the following statement:

“Several months ago, the Manhattan District Attorney initiated a review of the investigation and prosecution that resulted in two convictions for the murder of Malcom X. The NYPD has provided all available records relevant to that case to the District Attorney. The Department remains committed to assist with that review.” At this point the best I can say is, time will tell, as to who killed Malcolm X one of the heroic voices of the civil right movement.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2021/01/18/the-words-of-martin-luther-king-jr/

 

The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.

  By , ,

The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Birthday MLK

The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.

By D. S. Mitchell

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.

The third Monday of each January we celebrate MLK Day. Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who died too soon. Today is a great day to re-read some of his most well-known quotes. Be inspired.

MLK Quotes:

  1. “The time is always right to do what is right.”
  2. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
  3. “So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
  4. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
  5. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
  6. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
  7. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
  8. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
  9. “I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.”
  10. “A right delayed is a right denied.”
  11. “The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.”
  12. “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
  13. “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”
  14. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
  15. “I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.”
  16. “There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
  17. “If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.”
  18. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

David Shadrick “Stay Home”

  By , , , , ,

David Shadrick “Stay Home”

Stay Home

David Shadrick is back with his regular video cast, but today he has a few things to say to any folks who are planning to protest at state capitols around the country and otherwise stir up trouble. Stay the fuck home!  Dave says,   “It’s time for me to rant about the possible civil war brewing on the 20th of January, 2021.  This is my reminder to please stay home, put your gun in your gun cabinet and watch the action on TV.  No matter where you stand on the issues we don’t need shade thrown on our election process.  Stay Home!”

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2020/06/17/world-on-fire/

David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

  By , , , , , , ,

David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

 

David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

Calamity News and Politics is happy to welcome Dave Shadrick back with some valuable information if you intend to join a protest demonstration. Stay tuned, stay informed.

 

“Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble”

  By ,

“Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble”
John Lewis was one of the giants of the Civil Rights movement

“Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble”

A Tribute To Civil Rights Warrior John Lewis

By Wes Hessel

Black And White

February 21st, 1940, John Robert Lewis was born near Troy, AL, the third oldest of his nine siblings.  His parents were sharecroppers, eking a living out of the land.  As was typical for African-Americans in the South at the time, segregation was just a part of life.  John was not really aware of the difference elsewhere for some years until he began traveling to visit relatives in the North.  This particularly became apparent when, at 11 years old, an uncle took him to Buffalo, NY, where he saw clearly the integration of Northern businesses and institutions, in stark contrast to the boldly drawn lines of Troy in black and white.

Faith In Action

From a young age, he was a man of faith who spoke out about it and from it.  At 5, Master Lewis was pronouncing lessons over his first flock, the family’s chickens.  Ten years later, Mr. Lewis gave his debut sermon in public.  That same year, John had heard Martin Luther King, Jr.  speak for the first time on a radio broadcast.  Mr. Lewis then watched closely the King-led boycott of the Montgomery city buses, sparked to flame by the resolve of Rosa Parks.  John first met MLK when he was 18.  In addition to Dr. King’s inspiration, Mr. Lewis later credited evangelist Billy Graham as a significant influence on his choice to enter Christian ministry.

“The Boy From Troy”

Having been denied admission by Troy University, Mr. Lewis wrote to MLK, and an invitation was extended for John to discuss it personally with Dr. King.  The civil rights leader and Mr. Lewis considered together the possibility of pursuing a discrimination suit against the school but MLK cautioned “the boy from Troy”, as Dr. King came to call John, that Mr. Lewis’ family could be put at risk.  After conferring with his parents, John opted instead to attend a historically black college in Nashville, American Baptist Theological Seminary.  Mr. Lewis was ordained in the Baptist church, and later continued his education, receiving a second Bachelor of Arts in religion and philosophy from Fisk University.

Continue reading

Editorial: Surprisingly Unsurprised

  By , , , , , ,

Editorial: Surprisingly Unsurprised

Editorial: Surprisingly Unsurprised

**The House of Representatives has drafted a Resolution of Impeachment against Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection” following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. President Donald Trump spoke to his supporters at a rally on the National Mall prior to the mob breaching the Capitol. House Democrats are charging Trump with “willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States.”  “He also willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.”

By Trevor K. McNeil

Predictability

Humans like predictability, to know, within a reasonable margin what will happen next. If, for no other reason, so they can be prepared for it. We make up rules and reality for ourselves, and get very upset when these rules are violated. One of the mythical theories of the American context, is that of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism is the idea that America is somehow superior to other nations or that it has a unique mission to transform the world.

How Dare They?

Using this theory as its banner and its hammer, America acts as though it can do whatever it wants in terms of foreign policy or damn near anything else. And boy do Americans get upset when there is any kind of push back. As in the case of the psychological meltdown after 9/11. The Bush administration and most American citizenry were unable to fathom that a small group of Saudi terrorists were able to pierce the bubble of American security.  A theme going all the way back to the civil war with Confederate surprise attacks. ‘How dare they?’ The populace would ask indignantly, ‘don’t they know who we are?’

Strike First, Then Lie

One of the most hilarious examples of this, is the one that has come up in the wake of the events at the Capitol in recent days. Everything is showing the siege was planned, but it was not well planned. The events quickly descended into a chaotic riotous seizure of the U.S. Capitol. The resulting mayhem familiar in the tradition of South America, such as when American troops helped to install Augusto Pinochet as the president of Chile. The shock of such events, despite the clumsy execution, having otherwise intelligent commentators, on CNN no less, referring to when “The British attacked us in 1812.”

We Started It

Two corrections are in order. First, while the war started in 1812, it did not end until 1814. Second, the United States absolutely started it by thinking they could annex Canada from Britain. A notion of which they were disabused when British troops, with the help of Native strategy, drove the invading, that is invading now, Americans back across the border.  The offended Brits burned down the White House and nearly every public building in Washington D. C. in retaliation for the farms the American troops routinely sacked and razed during the course of the war. Still making sure to spare civilian homes. Because the Brits didn’t gain ground in the war, which was never their intention, Americans now mistakenly think that they won the war. The end result being closer to a Vietnam-style stalemate. Neither nation really gained or lost anything but British-Canada maintained its sovereignty.

This Could Be Anywhere

The main cause of dismay in the aftermath of the Trump rioter’s insurrection is that they would dare to attack the Capitol. A sacred temple of holy democracy watched over by God himself. Never mind that there is meant to be a separation church and state. The only problem with this line of thinking is that it is entirely symbolic.

Just A Building

The Capitol is just a building with doors, and can be entered like any other building with doors. There is no force-field around it keeping evil-doers at bay. Nor was there around the capitol building in Serbia when Slobodan Milosevic was dragged out in 2000 by a mass of angry citizens. Capitols are just buildings and governments are made up of people. Right now investigations are underway. The power of social media deserves close examination. Details are emerging by the minute. We may even learn that there were Capitol Police involved in allowing insurrectionists into the Capitol. All we can do is try to learn and see where improvements need to be made.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2018/10/05/there-is-one-born-every-minute/

OPINION: The U.S. Is NO Melting Pot

  By , ,

The Amish are just one of the sub cultures of the United States
OPINION: The U.S. Is NO Melting Pot

By Trevor K. McNeil

White Like Me

Every nation has it’s own mythology, some of them more literal than others. Cultures such as the Greeks and the Norse largely outsourced in terms of national mythology to celestial deities. Younger nations like, say America, to pick a name out of a hat, tend to mythologize themselves, having no real history to speak of before the Industrial Age. Seriously, Norway has trees that are older than the nation of America. One of the first myths perpetrated by the new nation was they had the right to lay claim to a name applying to no less than two continents, namely North and South America.

Silly Myths

Other myths of the ‘American Nation,’ aside from the silly ones like being discovered by Christopher Columbus, despite him getting close, Leif Erickson actually beat him by about a thousand years and the Polynesians may have beat him to the Southern Hemisphere by 10,000 years. And what about this American democracy “thing?” The U. S. “democracy” everyone ballyhoos has never actually been a democracy at all. If in fact, America was a democracy or even intended to be one, there would not have been every effort, imaginable to methodically deny suffrage to women, immigrants, blacks, and Native American peoples. Other myths include the idea of America as a melting pot.

My Definition Is This

There is some disagreement about what the term melting pot actually means. The general idea is that America has cultural identity that is not only distinctly identifiable but also consistent across all individuals. This holistic, and frankly absolutist, notion implies that anyone born or naturalized into the ‘American Culture’ will be speaking English, playing baseball, and eating apple pie within a couple of months. A somewhat odd claim considering the massive cultural difference between many of the states, in part thanks to states rights, that lead to a literal war in the 19th century. Any Yankee who thinks ‘Rebel Pride’ isn’t still a thing is just wrong. Southern Americans, of all races, are an example of cultural diversity in America. There still being hardliners who identify as ‘Confederates’ or ‘Southern’ before even ‘American.’

Pardon My French

Another primarily southern group, mostly ignored and dismissed by the melting pot idea are the over one million Acadians living within America’s borders. Known variably as ‘Acadians,’ ‘Cajuns,’ and sometimes ‘Louisiana French,’ the Acadians are a distinct cultural group, originating in both France and Eastern Canada. They speak a dialect of French. Often it is the first language. The largest population of Acadians reside in Louisiana. In Louisiana they constitute a major voting block and have a major influence on the culture of the state. Famous Cajuns in popular culture include Gambit from the X-Men universe, Marg Simpson [nee Bouvier] in The Simpsons and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire. The first major acknowledgement of the Louisiana French, that I know of in national politics, recognizing them as distinct voting group came when then candidate Joe Biden acknowledged their voting impact when campaigning in Louisiana.

Father Land

Take a look at the Pennsylvania Dutch. Generally a sub-group of the Amish break-away sect of the Mennonite religion. The term refers both to the Amish of the Pennsylvania community in Pennsylvania, made famous in the Harrison Ford vehicle Witness, and the language spoken by them and other Amish groups. In terms of ethnic groups in America and cultural diversity the Pennsylvania Dutch are a sterling example. Not only do they have a clearly distinct culture they also have a unique language officially recognized as a sub-set of the German language family, often used in place of English unless they are addressing an English speaker. I’ve read that the Amish refer to American non-Amish as ‘English.’

More Not Less

Some would say a few examples don’t matter and they are the exception that proves the rule. Usually they would be right. Except in cases of absolutism, one exception brings down the entire notion. Despite the oft repeated idea that America is a melting pot, just look around. There is much more cultural diversity in America than most people would like to admit or even understand.

Salad Bowl Theory

Many are suggesting the term “melting pot” needs to be replaced by the more sociological correct “salad bowl.” We are all together, as one, but we also all have distinct cultures. Chinese-American citizens still celebrate the Chinese New Year, Mexican-Americans  celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Day of the Dead. They are American, but they still celebrate elements of their own culture.

On The Other Hand

Some would still argue the metaphor “melting pot” is applicable. Most immigrant families celebrate traditional American holidays, even if it is not part of their own culture.  The most common measurement of assimilation into the American culture is the adoption of the English language. Being non-English speaking in the United States is costly in every avenue of life. There seems to be little tolerance for the non-English speaker. So, in this case there is extreme social pressure to become English speaking as if the language would bind the society into one monolithic culture.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2020/01/27/minority-identity-representation-mainstream-art-culture11689/

A Look Back at AIM and Russell Means

  By , , ,

A Look Back at AIM and Russell Means
The Dream Catcher symbolizes Native American Culture

EDITORIAL: A Look Back

AIM and “Modern Day Warrior” Russell Means

D.S. Mitchell

*November is Native American Heritage Month. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the various cultures, art, religions, languages, music, and traditions of America’s Native peoples. It is also a good time to look back at the American Indian Movement (AIM) and its fearless warrior Russell Means.*
Introduction

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives. Sadly the Bureau often seems to be working against the indigenous people of the United States.  The actions of the Bureau and other federal departments are often operating in direct opposition to the people that they are supposed to be protecting.

Champion For Native American Rights

History may view AIM as a militant group, but AIM saw itself as a spiritual movement. AIM encouraged participation in age old religious ceremonies that had been outlawed by the federal government after the Wounded Knee Massacre (December 29, 1890). AIM members actively and publicly participated in Sun Dances, sweat lodges and other long hidden ceremonies, hoping to re-ignite the spirit and the culture of Native Americans by bringing the long outlawed practices out of the shadows. Russell Means was an early leader of the group. Above all he was a champion of Native American civil rights. Means drew public attention to the mistreatment of native people according to biographer Michael Ray, “with audacious and controversial actions that were equal parts protest and theater.”

Charismatic Leader 

From the 1970’s thru the early 2000’s Russell Means was the face of AIM. He was as famous as Sitting Bull. Means, was tall and ruggedly handsome with long traditional braids. He often seemed bigger than life. He had a forceful and charismatic personality. He was a Native American activist, actor, painter, politician, musician and writer. Means was born in 1939 on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. His Lakota name “Wanbli Ohitika” means “Brave Eagle.” His mother was a Yankton Dakota Sioux and his father an Oglala Lakota Sioux.

A Harsh Life

In 1942 his parents left the reservation, in an effort to escape the poverty and depression of the reservation. They settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where his father worked in the shipyards during WWII. In his 1995 autobiography Russell Means described living with his alcoholic father and abused mother. It was a harsh life. In his biography he describes how he fell into “years of truancy, crime and drugs”, before finding purpose and direction in the American Indian Movement.

1964 Alcatraz Occupation

In 1964 Russell and his father joined a protest occupation of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, CA.  The protest lasted a mere 24 hours. Native Americans were protesting against the U.S. government for its long history of treaty violations. He later remembered the 1964 Alcatraz event as the catalyst for a life time of activism for protecting the rights of Native Americans. Alcatraz was in AIM’s view a legitimate symbol of the federal government’s rejection of treaty agreements. A 1868 treaty provision guaranteed that Native people had the right to appropriate surplus federal land. Reclaiming “the abandoned Rock” became a rallying cry for Indians, many of whom viewed the island as a symbol of government indifference toward the treaties with our indigenous population.

Continue reading

EDITORIAL: The Ugly Face Of RACISM

  By ,

The Ugly Face Of RACISM 

By Trevor K. McNeil

Dark History

America has an ugly history of racism, on both the systemic and individual level. Even the Irish, who are known to crackle audibly in the sun, were not considered “White” in the capital W social-economic sense in America until the late 19th century. One of the most diverse places in American cities during the Victorian era were the ghettos. Irish, Scots, Pols, Blacks and Asians all lived side by side, often in close quarters with little animosity between them.   A grouping galvanized by their common enemy. The White Anglo-Saxon Protestant elites who thought they owned the land because their families fended off the British after stealing it from the natives. It wasn’t until after the Civil War and enforcement of Jim Crow Laws that black and white separation was solidified.

Not Exceptional

This situation is not, of course unique to America. There have been many instances of the intentional segregation of “othered” minority groups throughout the history of the world.  Two groups often targeted for exclusion are the Jews and the Roma. The oppression of Africans, while mostly limited to nations involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, primarily Britain (who abolished it in 1833), the United States of America, and the islands of the Caribbean, have been among some of the longest lasting and most brutal.

Shockingly Similar

An example of colonialism on Africans in Africa, is South Africa. Despite constituting roughly 8% of the overall population, the Dutch and British settlers in the southern tip of Africa managed to dominate the entire area. At least that is the simplest description of what happened.  The white colonialists created the segregated state that the Republic of South Africa was to become. A long history of separation of the races in South Africa was perpetuated after the Boar War which ended in 1902.  The National Party election in 1948 led to enforcing policies of formalized segregation.  Control allowed them to push through the notorious Apartheid doctrine.

South Africa

Change would eventually come to both America and South Africa, though it would come in very different ways at different times. Both nations have gone through years of unrest. Many black groups including the African National Congress battled against the government of South Africa and the apartheid model.  The world took notice and placed paralyzing sanctions on South Africa.

Facing the Truth

The Apartheid era in South Africa was deeply and openly racist. No one denied it, least of all white South Africans. Though it is easy to forget that the end of the Afrikaans Party was spelled by the party itself. First came the release of Nelson Mandela form prison in 1990 and then the opening of the 1994 general election to the native population for the first time since colonization in 1652. The election ended in a historic moment of poetic justice, when Nelson Mandela became the nation’s first black president. There is still a long way to go to repair the damage of hundreds of years of colonialism but they are at least aware of this and taking the first steps.

Denial

The general belief by white Americans has been that systemic racism ended with the Emancipation Proclamation and went away entirely, including on the personal level, some time in the late 1960s. The names changed but the situation hasn’t. The policy of segregation turned to red-lining, voter suppression, mass incarceration and veiled police brutality.

Civil Rights

In America the Civil Rights movement fought for change with aggressive activities in the 1960’s. Two factions evolved. One militant and one peaceable, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King occupying opposite ends of the spectrum. MLK and Malcolm bravely stood  up against government oppression, most clearly represented by the segregation doctrine of Jim Crow.  This era of activism peaked with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

 Devils In the Details

Recent events have shown racism is alive and well in America.  Numerous high profile murders of African Americans by the police or individuals claiming to be making citizen’s arrests on the behalf of the police have inflamed activists. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks have spotlighted police brutality. These murders have slapped complacent white America in the face. Nearly nine minutes with a police officer’s knee on a black man’s neck caught on video shook up the American psyche. White America for the first time has been shaken to its core. Black Lives Matter activists have filled the streets with protesters. For the first time, protesters are as much white as black.  Hopefully, America is finally looking racism in the eye and is willing and ready to do something about it. The demand for a multi-racial democracy is louder in the United States than ever before.

 

World On Fire

  By , , , , , , ,

firefighters working to put out fires started during protests

WORLD ON FIRE

Trevor K. McNeil & D. S. Mitchell

Better Angels

Humans are complex. Neither angels nor devils, but something in between. As with many things it is a continuum. Abraham Lincoln understood this perfectly and touched on it when he referred to “the better angels of our nature.” As with human nature, so with human action. Which assists in understanding our history of civil disobedience. Particularly when it happens to turn ugly. Such as when legitimate protests based on genuine grievances turn into deadly riots.

Rebels With A Cause

Henry David Thoreau was a vocal abolitionist, anti-expansionist and a  conductor of the underground railroad. In 1849, Thoreau, an infamous proto-anarchist, published his essay “Resistance to Civil Government”.  “Anarchist” in this case meaning classical Anarchism. A political ideology that accepts rules, but opposes the notion of rules in a top-down coercive system, where using lethal violence, or the threat thereof, to keep the populace under control.  Thoreau advocated “resistance to an unjust state.” He said, “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government”.  Thoreau said “the government that governs best is that which governs least.” Though notice the phraseology. Government. To govern. There being a vital difference between a government and an administration.

 Historical Perspective

America has a long, rich history of civil disobedience. “Fight the Power” being the unofficial national motto. Setting the American Revolution aside, one of the places this first came into focus was in lower Manhattan in 1863. From July 13th to July 16th, during the throes of the American Civil War, hundreds of citizens, many of them immigrants took to the streets to protest the draft that would send them to fight the Confederacy. What started out relatively peacefully soon grew into a large violent, three-day riot. In the end an estimated 120 people lay dead.

Continue reading

Verified by MonsterInsights