Do you remember...or did you ever know?
Today was lovely. The weather was great in New York, but that didn't make the day good. My cousin and I worked on our bags and added a new element. They will be posted onto our etsy site this week. I love being productive!
Today was also a major day for information. I listened to WBAI this morning (I took a break from our beloved public radio station) and tuned into Democracy Now. Great source of information on North Korea's nuclear test, a Russian journalist who was assassinated and the current administration's failed foreign policies.
Yesterday I caught the tail end of Moyers on America (see blog entry below) and wrote down some of the key players/victims of the DeLay/Abramoff scandals. You can watch the episode Capitol Crimes by clicking here.
*Ralph Reed
*the Tigua Nation of Texas
*Congressman Ney
Tonight though I watched Eyes on the Prize. Have you ever seen it? If you have, watch it again! You can never see this series too many times.
If you've never seen it - I'm so sorry. You should immediately write down the date of the next airing (next Monday at 9PM) and tune in. There is only one more chance to see it.
Some of the history that this country (and many others, incidentally) tries to erase from public consciousness is presented in engaging hour long segments. The series takes you into the Civil Rights movement and drops you off into the bus stations, churches, jails and courts that our people protested in, marched on and died inside.
The triumphs are beautiful. The brutality is shocking. Funny that this country with such a short history should have such a short-term memory.
We often forget how people were battered and bloodied in order to live their lives in accordance with Federal laws. Segregation, voter rights, housing equality, intrastate travel, educational equality - these are some of the issues that our people worked and fought and died to ameliorate.
A few decades ago. That's not very long. Forty years ago - can you imagine children being beaten en masse by police officers? Their little bodies pummeled by a wall of water coming from the hoses of firemen? Their cute little faces being lined up and shipped to maximum security prisons for protesting nonviolently? Unless you lived in South Africa or Namibia in the last two decades, I'm sure you're shudder at the thought.
My question...after a mere forty years, is it possible to change the mindset of the people who committed these crimes against humanity? Do you think their children think differently?
Let me know what you think.
Well, it's time to embrace our history. As a country. No more short-term memory. We have to recognize and face our past.
Today was also a major day for information. I listened to WBAI this morning (I took a break from our beloved public radio station) and tuned into Democracy Now. Great source of information on North Korea's nuclear test, a Russian journalist who was assassinated and the current administration's failed foreign policies.
Yesterday I caught the tail end of Moyers on America (see blog entry below) and wrote down some of the key players/victims of the DeLay/Abramoff scandals. You can watch the episode Capitol Crimes by clicking here.
*Ralph Reed
*the Tigua Nation of Texas
*Congressman Ney
Tonight though I watched Eyes on the Prize. Have you ever seen it? If you have, watch it again! You can never see this series too many times.
If you've never seen it - I'm so sorry. You should immediately write down the date of the next airing (next Monday at 9PM) and tune in. There is only one more chance to see it.
Some of the history that this country (and many others, incidentally) tries to erase from public consciousness is presented in engaging hour long segments. The series takes you into the Civil Rights movement and drops you off into the bus stations, churches, jails and courts that our people protested in, marched on and died inside.
The triumphs are beautiful. The brutality is shocking. Funny that this country with such a short history should have such a short-term memory.
We often forget how people were battered and bloodied in order to live their lives in accordance with Federal laws. Segregation, voter rights, housing equality, intrastate travel, educational equality - these are some of the issues that our people worked and fought and died to ameliorate.
A few decades ago. That's not very long. Forty years ago - can you imagine children being beaten en masse by police officers? Their little bodies pummeled by a wall of water coming from the hoses of firemen? Their cute little faces being lined up and shipped to maximum security prisons for protesting nonviolently? Unless you lived in South Africa or Namibia in the last two decades, I'm sure you're shudder at the thought.
My question...after a mere forty years, is it possible to change the mindset of the people who committed these crimes against humanity? Do you think their children think differently?
Let me know what you think.
Well, it's time to embrace our history. As a country. No more short-term memory. We have to recognize and face our past.
posted by Fela in New York at 11:21 PM
4 Comments:
As much as I say I don't want to know what is going on in the world right now because of the recent birth of my daughter and the complete happiness it has brought me, I must take my head out of the sand, for her sake.
The sad state of the human race is that we forget. We swear Never Again and yet Rwanda was only 12 short years ago and here it is 2006 and we allow it again in Darfur. The U.S. will always spout its democratic values and forget how so many of its citizens have been denied equal rights, justice and basic human rights for as long as there has been a United States. So Fela, thank you for being the one to keep me informed. (even when I don't want to be.)
Giving your musings a bit more than a cursory glance, one must say it is surprising you would refer to Anna Politkovskaya as simply a 'Russian journalist'. Just linking to a story on her doesn't make up for it. While Democracy Now is good and well, the content in this case is a mirror of all the regular newswires.
It may be interesting to note that - not unlike the author of your honourable blog - she too is a New Yorker, the child of Soviet diplomats.
The day of her killing [un]surprisingly coincided with Putin's Birthday, the man under whose rule the country slides into a Dictatorship; a KGB agent who according to Anna is akin to a czar whilst the west nods repeatedly as if it were a Mos Def song.(that damn oil once again) Taking the cake France gave this man the Legion d'Honneur this past September, it's highest decoration. When it comes to perilous reporting everyone keeps staring at Iraq when true outrages (ca 100 reporters assassinated) occur in Russia
But all these details...
Mrs. Politkovskaya was brave beyond belief and put it best with what she often said that with a KGB officer as president, the least you could do was to smile sometimes, to show the difference between him and you.
Gotta love that woman!
The second impression i got..:
Damn girl, U watch a lot of telly
Aimee, I love you and am equally disappointed in the claims "never again" and the unfulfilled promises here. And your head is never in the sand!
Plumpkio, thanks for the cursory glance. Anna Politkovskaya was obviously more than a "Russian journalist" she was a brave woman who fought to expose the horrors committed by her government.
Thank you for your view on this issue. I am sorry that I did not go in depth enough for you. But, hey that's what comments are for.
MY focus was on the Eyes on the Prize series and how it personally resonates with me.
Please don't mock Democracy Now, they're a good source of information. I am open to any sources you'd like to suggest - just keep it limited to 2-3 please.
Thanks for your comment.
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