The American historians of yesterday and today dare not tell the whole story of George Washington Carver’s very painful life. George Washington Carver was castrated as a slave boy.
The times when white men could be as depraved as the worst animal and do things to black people no one could imagine.
There was no humanity:
When I was being mistreated and violated, did you stand up and speak out in my favor?
Today, we have a responsibility to speak out in his favor to our children.
“Join me this week , Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in prayer and fasting for the reinstatement of Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson to the Tennessee legislature. The effectual fervent prayers of the righteous availeth much” —Reverend John H. Moore
When Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson expressed their outrage over gun violence in the halls of the Tennessee legislature they were ousted by their Republican colleagues who are the majority of the Tennessee legislature. Their expulsion caused an uproar all over America and an outpouring of support grew enormously for the two men to be reinstated. Twitter was ablaze with outrage over the unfairness done to these two men who were simply calling out the crisis of gun violence in America. Their call to action for gun control came on the heels of the most recent school shooting that happened in Nashville, Tennessee. The horrible shooting was followed by “Thoughts and Prayers” phrase from an ignoble Republican Party. This is always their go to phrase after a school shooting. Democrats Rep. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson took it upon themselves to cry out in the loudest voice on behalf of the people for sensible gun reform. On Sunday, I awoke to: “Am i my brother’s keeper?”
It leaned on me heavily, history is filled with great moments of transition. Sunday being Easter, Sunday being the resurrection of Jesus. Easter marks the dawn of a new day. So I went to my Bible and “Am i my brother’s keeper?” still pressed upon me heavily.
“And the Lord said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Moses 5:34
To be our brother’s or our sister’s keeper means being willing to put aside whatever we might be dealing with at the present time in our lives , and receiving direction from God on how to best help someone. This was crystallized by a tweet I read by Reverend John H. Moore.
“Join me this week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in prayer and fasting for the reinstatement of Rep. Justin Jones and Rep Justin Pearson to the Tennessee legislature. The effectual fervent prayers of the righteous availeth much.”-Rev. John H. Moore
These words capture the full meaning of being the brother’s keeper. I prayed for my brothers.
Soon there after I read where Rep. Jones and Rep. Pearson were to be reinstated on Wednesday, April 12, at 1:30.
We are our brother’s and sister’s keeper if we listen to that voice of grace from God.
“A people without a voice cannot be heard.” –The Atlanta Voice
Malcolm X is one of the greatest orators in American history and I dare say he was the greatest orator of the 20th century.The strong remarkable voice of Malcolm X was not just heard in Harlem, New York, but in Jackson, Mississippi, Charleston, South Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Compton, California, Atlanta, Georgia and all across the nation. Malcolm’s message never changed, he sought justice and equality for people of color. Malcolm’s voice even went beyond the borders of America; his loud voice swept over the continent of Africa, swept over Europe and the Middle East.
In 1962 Malcolm X was invited to Paris, France to give a lecture but when his plane landed in Paris he was refused entry into the country because of his remarkable skill as one of the world’s greatest orators and irritants to the white man.
This tag, Orator is very seldom used when speaking about Malcolm X but as an Orator myself I can tell you Malcolm X was 100% Orator!
That is the talent that God gave to Malcolm. He was not someone to hold a sign in the street, he was not someone to go to jail, he was not even a writer. Malcolm X was the greatest orator of the 20th century, even greater than the great John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. While Malcolm X was alive he literally had no equal in the area of public speaking. Yet he never went to school, never had any formal training. Malcolm lectured at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Universities. And set the lecture halls on fire!
My favorite quote my Malcolm X will always be:
“If you want to make things better, make some noise.”
–Malcolm X
Minister Malcolm X did just that he made lots of noise and he made things better for 22 million Black Americans and his remarkable life is enlarged each year by a new generation of activist for social justice.
“The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is personal dignity.”–Jackie Robinson
Jo Ann Robinson in some cases can be called an unsung hero of the civil rights movement. She was born in a small town in Georgia on April 17th, 1912. Her family moved from Culloden, Georgia to Macon, Georgia when Jo Ann was a small girl. In high school she would become the valedictorian of her graduating class. She went from there to Atlanta University and from Atlanta University she would go on to Columbia University in New York City.
In 1949 Jo Ann Robinson moved to Montgomery, Alabama to teach English at Alabama State College. In 1950 Jo Ann became the president of the Women’s Political Council (WPC), this group was formed to motivate black-women to take political action. On December 1, 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger on the city bus, Jo Ann Robinson and the Women’s Political Council crafted and distributed 50,000 flyers in 24 hours calling for a bus boycott and for her role as the leader she was arrested and targeted with violence.
A white police officer threw a rock through the window of her home and poured acid on her car. She did not relent, she did not stop the work of protest. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and after it was over the white bus company has lost $300,000 in dimes! The bus company was on the brink of going out of business.
Jo Ann Robinson had her own personal experience five-years before Rosa Parks; it was in 1949 when Jo Ann Robinson was confronted by a white bus driver for taking a seat reserved for white passengers only. The bus driver screamed at her and she fled the bus with fear thinking that that white bus driver would strike her. The incident never left her and a dream was born, she created the (WPC) Women’s Political Council; Jo Ann Robinson planned on focusing the organization’s ambition on ending desegregation of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.
She accomplished her ambition!
Jo Ann Robinson wrote a book about her life called,
The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Woman who started it.
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and critic of the state, and never its tool.” –Martin Luther King Jr.
(*This article was written for The Atlanta Voice)
Reverend John H. Moore
@RevJohnHMoore1
Greetings and peace to all… lately I have had my dear friend Dick Gregory on my mind and his passion for the Black church. I first met Dick Gregory in 1978 at a community college where he was giving a lecture. I was a young actor who had just came by the school to pick up my publicity pictures and the photographer asked me if I’d like to meet Dick Gregory. Well when he came into the President’s office I was deeply impressed. So from 1978 I have been in love with Dick Gregory. Over the decades I have made it my business to go to all of his lectures. Dick Gregory taught me more lessons on how to be a man than my own father. I hasten to add, Dick Gregory was the most intelligent man I have ever known. Now that our beloved sage has passed on his voice still speaks to me and I’m sure millions of others across America. So, let’s talk about the Black church…In the 1950’s something happened in Montgomery,Alabama…Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus, a seat she paid for. Soon someone called Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and told him of Rosa Parks arrest; Reverend Abernathy called the 26-year old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and they called in all the Black preachers in Montgomery and they planned a protest that would go on for over a year. Because the Black people of Montgomery refused to ride the bus, it was the Black church who organized carpools to take their members back and forth to work, or to the hospital or anywhere they had to be. Today, we recognize that event as the beginning of the civil rights movement and we call Rosa Parks the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. The Black church is the most powerful institution for Black Americans. Strangely to me, Dick Gregory was the only one speaking with great passion at every stop, every lecture, every church service he was invited. Since his passing the Black church has taken on an importance I could have never imagined. I look back over my life and so many times I was witness the Black church being the glory of a person and a community. The great Black preacher is invaluable and his or her contribution to social justice cannot be weighed.
Twenty years ago my wife’s sister asked me to come to her church, I was a in the ministry and I thought she was asking me to come speak at her church. Later I found out she wanted me to visit her church which she was so proud of. I was working under Dr. Macie Tillman who was the Chaplain at the Maryland State Prison in Baltimore. Dr. Tillman and I would be in church all day Sunday and we would visit other churches each and every Sunday often to be special speakers and sometimes just to meet a new pastor to give them our support.
At any rate I asked Dr. Tillman if I could have Sunday off so I could go to my wife’s sister’s church. He told me to go.
My wife and I went and the service was excellent!
At the end of the service, Reverend Faust told the church if anyone had anything they wanted to say they should walk up to the front of the church and speak into the microphone. Well there was one young man who looked to be about 30-years old. He stood up and then nervously made his way to the front of the church. He stood close to the microphone, he cleared his throat.
“Hello everybody, my name is James, I just got out of prison…I live with my sister. She having a tough time and with me its even tougher on her. She told me I can’t stay with her much longer. So I really got to find me a job.
I, I, really don’t want to go back to prison. If anybody, know of somebody need work would you tell them about me? I’ll do anything. Please if you know somebody. Thank you.”
Immediately eight people stood up ready to offer James a job, but then there came this booming voice from the back of the church,
“JAMES. CAN YOU START ON MONDAY?”
The tears began to fall from my eyes, and then my wife began to cry too.
I was so very proud of the Black church for saving that young man’s life and I closed my eyes and I thought this is what Dick Gregory was talking about. And I remember Dick Gregory saying to me,
“I came to the Black church to be visable.”–Dick Gregory
I later learned the man owned a construction company and he hired James at a salary of $750.00 per week. The Black church, the Black preacher is the glory of Black America, and let no one forget it!
“Make sure that classroom teachers, know his story-Leonard Peltier especially history and government teachers. Students can engage in activism by writing their local and national representative. I’ve got lesson plans if someone needs them.” –Kathy Durham
Kathy Durham is someone I follow on Twitter and one cannot find a stronger advocate for Leonard Peltier than Kathy. Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Kathy about her life and her journey into activism. You can follow Kathy on Twitter @NanaTeacher22
Q.) Thank You for granting me this interview today. So tell me, what’s your ambition for 2023?
A.) To continue to bring passion and energy into the classroom in hopes of inspiring students to become the best version of themselves they can be. To help students find their own passions, discover their purpose and then give them the tools they need to pursue it.
Q.) When did you know you wanted to be an educator?
A.) I did college late in life, I was in my late 20’s early 30’s when I went back to college and only to get my dad off my back about getting an education. I took a couple of history classes because I knew that’s what my dad would take. I fell in love with the subject matter thanks to my professor- Dr. Harold Bauman he changed my life.
Q.) Do you remember the first time you read The Diary of a Young Girl–Anne Frank?
A.) The first time I read Anne Franks’s diary I was in the 4th or 5th grade-I was absolutely fascinated, and later obsessed with the Holocaust. Of course I was heartbroken with the end.
Q.) Where were you born?
A.) I’m an Army brat, so I was born in Dugway, Utah not far from where I live today. It’s a military base where many of America’s chemical weapons are created and tested. I like to joke that being born at a military base where chemical weapons are made is all you need to know why I’m a bit crazy and a bit off.
Q.) Who were your heroes in college?
A.) Tough question, my Nana, who is still alive at 102 and living on her own, has always been my hero, my biggest fan and supporter. I guess if I had to to pick someone famous I’d go with the resistance fighters from the Warsaw Ghetto. They fought to the end, they stood for what they believed in, they persevered though the odds were against them, they had died fighting for a righteous cause. I admire their courage in the face of such difficult and horrific times.
Q.) What is your favorite quote?
A.) “Educating the heart without educating the mind is no education at all.” -Aristotle
Q.) Who is your favorite poet?
A.) Don’t really read a lot of poetry-but I do love Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. I think songwriters qualify as poets, I think Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Van Zandt would be at the top of my list.
Q.) What is the best investment you’ve ever made?
A.) My education was the best investment I ever made in my life. I’d never have met my husband had I not gone back to college, I’d never been able to take care of my kids and grandkids in the way that I have had if I had not gone back to college.
Q.) What is the thrust of your Twitter platform?
A.) Oh Twitterverse, I went to Twitter because I heard it was a great way to connect with other educators, to collaborate and share ideas. I started two accounts because I found myself worried about having “educator” in my bio and then getting drawn into all the political discussions. But then, I got to the point where I said, No, I am who I am and I shouldn’t have to seperate my political views from my “teacher views.” They are one and the same.
Q.) What’s the best novel ever written?
A.) I’m going to say everything and anything by Agatha Christie. As a kid I was a voracious reader. I’ll admit, I didn’t read as many of the classics that are considered to be the cannon of great literature, but as a young kid I read everything she wrote.
Q.) What is your greatest accomplishment?
A.) Greatest accomplishment, personally it is my family, we’re all a bit dysfunctional like any family but we’re good. My husband and I are both on our second marriage so we had a blended family and everyone survived it. Of course the kids all wrote different life stories or chapters of their lives their way, on their terms and they are good people who do great things that make us proud. Professionally, my greatest accomplishment has been my teaching career. It’s where I met my husband, it’s what provided me with the life I live and I’d like to think I’ve made my own parents proud of the chapters I’ve written. I think I planted a lot of good seeds along the way in the minds of young people and if nothing else I made a lot of kids laugh and smile during class. I would also throw in being elected to the city council as a big accomplishment. We were able to do some pretty good things for our community economically and I think any time you give up your own time to serve the interest of others in the capacity of “Public Service” well that’s a big deal.
Q.) If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere in your hometown with anything on it, what would it say?
A.) Love one another.
Q.) What has inspired you to become such a strong advocate for Leonard Peltier?
A.) Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I couldn’t do anything for Anne Frank, or the millions of other people persecuted under Nazi Germany, I wasn’t there. I couldn’t right the wrongs of my own country for the sins of slavery or genocide against Indigenous people who were here long before Western Europeans. I wasn’t here. I was too young to understand let alone participate in the Civil Rights Movement. Yet I teach about these historic times, I always wondered who I would be , and of course I answer myself with, I would be the one to hide a Jewish family. I would be part of the Underground Railroad. I would speak up on behalf of broken treaties. Well Leonard Peltier is still here. The events at Pine Ridge isn’t old history, it’s an example of yet another miscarriage of justice and this time I can do something!
Everyday I say the pledge in class with my students…”with liberty and justice for all.” Those words can’t be just words that we say and then go about our daily lives. To not fight for Leonard Peltier is to allow the sins of the past to be carried into the future, to perpetuate more injustice, and it means to shoulder the blame. Life is precious, everyone’s life has value. I deeply care about my fellow mankind, we are all in someway connected and not to act, not to care, not to speak up on Leonard’s behalf would be contrary to everything I feel in my soul about how we should treat each one another. What our country did to Mr. Peltier is unconscionable and as long as we’re both alive, I will continue to advocate for his release and educate others in hopes that they will as well.
Leonard Peltier’s life matters.
Q.) When did you first learn of Leonard Peltier’s story?
A.) I learned about Leonard Peltier from a Stevie Van Zandt post. I have the most profound and deepest admiration for Mr. Van Zandt. He is one of the most brilliant people I have ever met. His activism inspires me because those are the kind of people I like to associate with. People who care about humanity and the dignity of others. People who want to stand up against injustice. So when he tweeted something about Leonard Peltier I had to go learn the story, woah, what can I say, my eyes were open and my heart on fire to do something to make this right.
Last question…
Q.) You’re at the bakery and the baker tells you he only has two cakes left; Lemon or Strawberry, which one do you purchase?
A.) Lemon, but then I ask him why’s always out of chocolate!
“The best way to preserve a child’s vision is to let them see things their way rather than yours.”-Jacob Liberman Today there is conflict all across America over the new 20-foot tall, 40 foot wide MLK statute- The Embrace in Boston Commons. The artist, Hank Willis Thomas unveiled his long awaited sculpture on January 13, 2023 to mixed reviews. When I first saw the piece the word esoteric jumped into my head. Artist love to drive into that lane and then look at themselves in the mirror. What do children see when they view this sculpture?
A few have told us:
“It’s creepy! “
“It’s a penis!”
Now imagine being a elementary school teacher and this is the reaction you receive from your students. Not a good thought is it? If I were a teacher I would never take my students to review this disturbing statute. Did the artist take into consideration the developing minds of school children? I think not! All the madness concerning removing books that deal with slavery to protect the minds of children and here we have right in our face a work that can easily be viewed unhealthy for school children. I hasten to add, I am against removing books from schools and libraries. I have the highest regard for all serious artist especially those men and women who are driven by passion to educate and provide us solace during the most difficult times of life. On the other hand I have contempt for those artist who want to be cute and controversial just for the sake of attention. I read long ago that great art, whatever its style has qualities of hardness, firmness, realism, clarity, detachment, justice and truth.
What Mr. Hank Willis Thomas has given us is conflict and fodder for bad comics to disrespect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King.
Someone suggested to me for me to really appreciate the piece I should see it in 3-D to really see it for what it is.
I say this to that idea:
Don’t pee on my shoes, and tell me its raining.
When children tell you something is creepy, believe them!
” I’m dreading another year in here. Doksha.” –Leonard Peltier
We celebrate Leonard Peltier’s 79th birthday on September 12th 2023 there will be a rally in Washington, D.C. outside the White House from 12:00–2:oo P.M.
If you cannot make the rally, please call the White House at (202) 456-1111.
Year after year, decade after decade millions of people from all over the world have called for Leonard Peltier to be released from prison. The fact that he is an innocent man held for 48-years is one of the worst crimes against humanity of the 20th century. I want to show you a short list of the best of humanity that have advocated on behalf of Leonard Peltier.
Saint Mother Teresa,Pope Francis, Archbishop Desmund Tutu, Dalai Lama, Coretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Congressman John Lewis, Ruth Anna Buffalo,Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Brian Schatz, Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Markey, Ringo Star,Robert Redford, Dick Gregory, Willie Nelson, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Stevie Van Zandt, Pete Seagar, Silent Bear, Kimberly LaFrom, Amnesty International and the great Nelson Mandela.
The names above are the very best of humanity and even more important is the fact that Leonard Peltier is cut from the same noble cloth as Mahatama Gandi,
Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela; in fact, Leonard Peltier is the Nelson Mendela of this generation.
Today, President Biden can free Leonard Peltier with the simple stroke of his pen. Few are guilty of Leonard’s imprisonment, but all are responsible for his freedom. A noble challenge introduces a woman to herself.
I implore everyone to write a letter to President Biden today; they say one voice can move a rock, but a million voices can move a mountain. Hey family, let’s move this mountain and free Leonard Peltier.
To those who ask why we fight each day for Leonard Peltier I say to you, just imagine if YOU, YOU were convicted of a crime that you were innocent of, would you want someone to speak up for YOU?
That’s a question….that WE all know the answer to, and that’s why we fight!
“I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t have the answer. I hold no secret knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of past generations. I only know that without compassion and respect for all Earth’s inhabitants none of us will survive-nor will we deserve to.”–Leonard Peltier
Please contact the senators of your state regarding the release of Leonard Peltier.
“Well behaved women seldom make history”–Viola Liuzzo
The date is April 12th 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama when Firemen turned their high pressure hose on Black civil rights protesters. This ugly event was captured on national television and the nation was repulsed by what they were seeing. The fireman were ordered by the race hating Commissioner of Public Safety- Bull Connor.
The backstory to this infamous day is that after this happened a group of White women married to the firemen demanded that their husbands not carry out the orders of Bull Connor. The firemen- husbands of these women band together and they told Bull Connor they would never again turn their hoses on the Black protesters . In March of 1965 a White woman named Viola Liuzzo was appalled watching the “Bloody Sunday” massacre on her television.
She packed her suitcase got in her car leaving her family behind and drove alone 1,000 miles from Detroit to Selma, Alabama to march with Martin Luther King Jr. sadly, she was killed on March 25th 1965 while transporting voting rights workers . Viola Liuzzo is the only known White woman to be killed during the civil rights movement and her death sparked President Johnson to sign into law the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This one White woman gave her life so 22 million Black Americans could have the right to vote.
Today, I know some White women who are cut from the same cloth. Yesterday there was rally on Twitter and in the nations capitol to protest the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier. One White woman I know made over 140 phone calls on behalf of Leonard Peltier. Other women I know held an all day Tweet Storm to the White House/ President Biden, requesting he grant clemency to #FreeLeonardPeltier. These women poured out their souls yesterday to free an innocent man. These women each day work without fanfare to raise the consciousness of America on behalf of Leonard Peltier and every American Indian suffering from injustice.
I believe many good people in our country simply do not know the true, unbiased Leonard Peltier story because if they did I think they would contact the White House and ask President Biden to free Leonard Peltier.
When a few women have given their best for the cause of social justice, what else is there?
I say, we should follow the example of these women because after all, justice and equality is everybody’s fight.
To Women of all races I say “Thank You” for being an advocate for Justice, for Leonard Peltier. This article was not written to slight anyone but simply to acknowledge the great contribution a few standout White women make each day on behalf of Leonard Peltier.
Please follow Jennifer Bendery journalist for the Huffington Post on Twitter. @jbendery Jennifer is the most important journalist covering the Leonard Peltier story. Leonard Peltier is an American Indian Activist wrongly convicted of a crime he did not do. Mr. Peltier has spent the last 47-years of his life in federal prison. Faith leaders around the world have called on President Joe Biden to free Leonard Peltier.
“I was born where there were no enclosures.” –Geronimo
The name Geronimo was given to him by the Mexican Army after they suffered a major battle during the Mexican holiday: St. Geronimo Day. The birth name of Geronimo was Go-Yah-Kla.
Goyahkla (Geronimo) was a naturally gifted hunter, who, as the legend goes, as a boy he swallowed the heart of his first kill in order to ensure a life of success on the hunt. To the Apache tribe Goyahkla ( Geronimo) was the essence of the best and most skilled Indian warriors, he was fearless, clever, ruthless, and honorable as a man of his word. Goyahkla (Geronimo) proved time and time again that he was the most famous Apache of them all, even among white men he was held in high esteem.
General Nelson Miles wrote in his diary:
“He is one of the brightest, most resolute, determined -looking man I have ever encountered.”–General Nelson Miles
At the tender age of seventeen Goyahkla (Geronimo) fell in love with a beautiful Apache girl named Alope. The two young lovers were married and had three children together. One day while out on a trading trip, Mexican soldiers attacked the camp where Goyahkla’s (Geronimo’s) family were set up. Goyahkla’s ( Geronimo’s) mother, wife and three children were all killed in the attack. Goyahlka (Geronimo) was enraged and he rounded up two hundred Apache warriors and for the next ten years he hunted down and killed each one of the Mexican soldiers that had a hand in the killing of his family.
U.S. Paratroopers of World War II saw the 1940 movie GERONIMO the night before mass training jumps and as they fell from the sky they all shouted
G-E-R-O-N-I-M-O!!!!
Goyahkla was born on June 16th 1829 and he died on February 17, 1909.
I wrote this article for Yahoo and it was first published on October 31, 2013 to honor Native American Heritage Month.
MICHEAUX PUBLISHING 