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Last Words
Author: Raine    Date: 07/30/2020 12:55:05

Today I am going to do something I rarely do.

I am quoting an entire opinion piece from the NYT, becuase I know some of us can't get past the paywall this late in the month.

Together, You
Can Redeem the Soul
of Our Nation

Though I am gone, I urge you to
answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.


By John Lewis
Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral. Editorial Page Editor Kathleen Kingsbury wrote about this piece and Mr. Lewis’s legacy in Thursday’s edition of our Opinion Today newsletter.


While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.

Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.

Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, though decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.


Today, President Obama will deliver Mr. Lewis' eulogy at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He will be put into the ground and become one with earth as he is now with his maker. I am a better person for living in a world that had John Lewis walk this earth.

and Good Trouble.
Raine



 
 
 

21 comments (Latest Comment: 07/30/2020 19:01:41 by Raine)
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Comments:

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Comment by Scoopster on 07/30/2020 13:00:29
Mornin...

Aching more than normal today. It's overpowering the Tylenol, and I'm already at the maximum daily dose (2 EX tabs every 8 hrs).

Comment by wickedpam on 07/30/2020 13:33:18
Morning



Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 13:35:15
welp...




Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 13:35:43
Quote by wickedpam:
Morning




Comment by BobR on 07/30/2020 13:36:56
Quote by wickedpam:
Morning


right there with you

Comment by BobR on 07/30/2020 13:38:16
Quote by Raine:
welp...



Only his idiot base is going to fall for this. He doesn't have the authority to do anything about this, but any attempts will be fast-tracked through the courts

Comment by livingonli on 07/30/2020 13:47:45
Fucking dictator Trump. There has to be a special place in hell for him.

Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 13:58:09



Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 14:03:24
Lincoln didn't delay during the civil war.

FDR same for WW2

You know who tried to delay an election? Rudy Guiliani after 911 -- he wanted to, but failed.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/30/2020 14:07:05
Good morning, bloggers!!!

Raine, thank you for sharing the final words of John Lewis to our nation and our world. Both this nation and this world are better for him living among us for eight decades.


I fear Trump will try to lie, cheat, and steal. We had elections under worst circumstances and we will have to fight for our rights every inch of the way. No retreat, no surrender.

Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 14:24:50
Dana wasn't kidding:



Comment by wickedpam on 07/30/2020 14:28:33
Quote by Raine:
Dana wasn't kidding:




Oh shit!

Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 14:32:43
Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/30/2020 14:52:43
Quote by Raine:
This is awful.


Newsmax reporting Herman Cain has died.


CNBC has confirmed Herman Cain's death.

I disagreed with Cain but I did not wish this for him or his family. It is important to take precautions with this pandemic.

I hate to say it but I do not see Trump's supporters changing their behavior due to Cain's death.



Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 15:11:27
Wapo has a live youtube channel to watch Mr. Lewis' Funeral.



Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 15:28:08
Bernice King delivered an amazing prayer --

Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 15:37:49
Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 16:15:39
It just breaks my heart to see Speaker Pelosi truly trying not to cry....

Comment by Scoopster on 07/30/2020 18:09:49
Obama has me all emotional, which has made me forget about the pain in my shoulder today.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/30/2020 18:16:01
Quote by Scoopster:
Obama has me all emotional, which has made me forget about the pain in my shoulder today.


This is a solemn day for our nation.

My hope is that the legacy of John Lewis will loom large in the history of this nation and our world.


Comment by Raine on 07/30/2020 19:01:41
Quote by Scoopster:
Obama has me all emotional, which has made me forget about the pain in my shoulder today.

((hug))