The Spirit Lives

On May 26, 1937, members of the Steel workers organizing committee were gunned down by members of the Chicago police department in what would be known as the Memorial Day Massacre. Some 73 years later, our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin have also been attacked. Not shot in the back, as in Chicago but stabbed in the back by the very people elected to protect their rights and livelihoods. These Union members are under attack as all unions are across the nation . These lawmakers may have killed collective bargaining but they will not kill our spirit. In the end we will prevail. This is one chapter, not the end of the story.

MLK, New Jersey and Other Observations

I was watching CBS Sunday Morning on this MLK weekend and there was an interesting story concerning the state of New Jersey . They called New Jersey the Rodney Dangerfeld of the U.S. but they also brought that New Jersey was one of the richest and smartest states in the union.
In light of this and MLK, I would like to reflect my own New Jersey story in the way of Dr. Joseph Camarrano, of Providence College. Joseph hails from Metuchen, New Jersey ( exit 10 on the New Jersey turnpike), as does Susan Sarandon , Joe is one of the finest men that I know . He is a kind and brilliant gentle man, who lives his life through principle and devotion to his family and his students. I knew Joe when I worked at Close-Up in Washington DC. A particular story brings to mind the fullness of Joe's integrity .
One day as we were coming in from a long day in the city and returning back to our hotel in Arlington Virginia . Our bus driver, an African-American man who was a former Marine and Vietnam veteran pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and was cut off by another vehicle driven by another man in a suit.
This man shouted out the word "nigger " to the driver . Our bus driver was so distraught that he stopped his bus and got out to ague with the driver of the car which brought out hotel security to see what was amiss.
The driver of the car denied that he had called our driver a "nigger" . Both of us came to the driver's defense and Joe stood about an inch from the man's face and said yes you did and don't you lie.
He stood up to this man with integrity and conviction and showed me that America has to a nation of right and wrong not black and white.
I still stay in touch with Joe and he continues to maintain the sense of purpose and integrity that he exhibited some 27 years ago.
To this day, I remember this story, and I will never forget the example of what fighting racism really is. It is a personal battle for all of us and no matter how easy it is to turn away and join the status quo . It is better to take the path of resistance and walk the road of Dr. King as Joe Camarrano does.

The South Despised Again

In the 1950s and 60s Southern members of Congress were seen as the antithesis of progress. Strom Thurmond still has the record for having the longest filibuster in the history of the Senate. What was he so passionate about that he wanted to hold up the progress of the Senate and stop the business of the government in its' stacks? It seems that Mr. Thurmond wanted to stop the passage of the 1957 Civil Rights bill. He spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes, longer than any other Senator before and after. Why, because he thought that equality was against the fabric of the nation and that equality for the negro would upset the culture and traditions of the South. Mr. Thurmond did everything to keep that bill from passing . During his filibuster he did not give profound speeches but used delaying tactics like reading from the phone book or reading the newspaper. Why, because progress was against the fabric of the nation. Many Americans thought that this type of ignorance and bigotry had left the south when Jimmy Carter became president. But guess what? It is back with a vengeance.
Senators like Alabama's Richard Shelby are out to make sure that the progress and hope promised by the Obama administration dies in it's tracks. These southern gentlemen have dogged health care reform from the start with no alternatives or compromise just rhetoric and contempt.
There are a number of good people from the south, I happen to be one of them, but we must all band together like we did in the 50s and 60s to thwart the efforts of men like Richard Shelby to destroy the progression of this nation. To paraphrase Winston Churchill. We shall fight them in the streets ( through protest and demonstration), we shall fight them in the press, we shall fight them on the floor of the House and Senate. We shall never give up until this nation is what it says it is a government of the people, for the people and by the people.

New Year's Resolution

I think that everyone should make it their New Year's resolution this to mind their own damned business.
Don't get me wrong, It is nice when people like to help out or lend a hand to someone who asks for it but other than that mind your own damned business. Helping out is one thing, but being the judge and jury for the world is another. Everyone from vegans who yell "meat is murder" from their middle class podiums or liberals who want to help the less fortunate as long as the less fortunate sit down and shut up. Or the conservatives who do not want to help anyone but want to dispense advice and caveats to all they deem unworthy of help. It is okay as long as they say it is okay.
Those of you who want to impose your values on everyone else and are angry when those people tell you where to get off should mind their own damned business.
Everyone does not value the same things even if we want them to. There are people who do not value education, so be it . That does not make them bad people because I am sure they value things that other people do not .
We must in 2010 stop dispensing judgment on those we deem unworthy of our respect and listen to them as well as the people who agree with us or just tell us want we want to hear.
As a teacher ,I think this is very important because some of the people that I work with are not as reserved in their judgments as others and feel as if they are like Peace Corps dispensing knowledge, virtue and morals to the less fortunate. Get off of it we are public school teachers and we work for those people that we deem unfortunate, they pay our salaries just as well as the Crocus Hill crowd and they deserve respect not pity or moral judgement.
Stop the moral judgments especially those of us who do not mind teaching in the public schools but would die and go to hell before we let any of our own kids attend them.
We are all guilty of dispensing moral judgments ( I am doing it right now), but 2010 should be the year to cut back and learn more about the people we criticize before we make moral judgments that hurt more than help, wound more than heal and above all drive us farther and farther apart. Live and let live, judge lest we not be judged.
Happy New Year

The Secret of Eternal Life

Yesterday was the 100 birthday of Johnny Mercer, famous lyricist and singer and it brought something to mind. As Westerners we are deftly afraid of death we do not want to die and we will do anything to prolong life.
We see death as the end and it probably is at least from the physical side true but there is more to life than the physical life and people like Johnny Mercer teach us this. Mr. Mercer has been physically dead for the last 38 years but his spirit lives on through what he gave to the world.
I often find myself whistling or singing one of his tunes like " Blues in the Night", "Jeepers Creepers" or "Moon River" every time this happens whether it is me or Tony Bennett Johnny Mercer lives.
This also comes to mind when I think of Michael Jackson and think that this rare human being was ageless, timeless and will always live in the hearts and minds of the world. His music,manner and style will never be repeated. Michael lives on.
We all will live on when we depart the physical world through everyone who knew us even if if it was just one person.
I often think of this because my father as the result of a stroke is in a nursing home. Physically he is not the person that he once was but I will always remember him in the way he has been. When he finally departs this world he will live on . I remember his wit, strength, compassion and sense of humor all of which I have inherited. To know me is to know him and through me and everyone who knew him he will live on.Do you know who told me this? My father.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today I celebrated my birthday and it was today as it always has been, a very special day.
When I was younger, it was special because I got a special gift and a cake and ice cream where everyone in the room sang happy birthday, gave me my special present and a good time was had by all.
When I got older, I asked my mother for pizza instead of a cake, I think it was something that I saw on an Archie comic book cover but my mother who was always a good sport went the extra mile and not only gave me a pizza for my birthday but made it from scratch with all of my favorite toppings. She did this for the rest of my childhood and teen years.
Because we had such a big family and I had few friends, I never had a birthday party and have only had three in my entire life. As I got older, I discovered the the real importance of birthdays and the real gifts that we receive.
A birthday is a celebration of one of the most important days of our life, the day we left the protection of our mother's womb and began our life in the outside world. The day we went from being an expectation to a person it must be and should be the greatest day of our life.
As for gifts the greatest ones we receive are the ones from those closest to us . My parents gave me the greatest gift of all, they gave me life and made me the person that I am. My sisters gave me the love of siblings. All three of them would do anything for me and I them. They would rush to my side if and when I am in need. My family gives me family love that couples praise with criticism. My love for my wife and daughter is unconditional as is their love for me. This is a gift that is priceless and like many gifts is returnable.
My friends give me the gift of friendship that goes beyond all boundaries and is requited . My friends give me both support and criticism they share in my good times and bad. There has never been a time when they did not come when I needed them and made me feel better than I did before they came. sometimes they say everything sometimes nothing.
I received the gift of writing from my grandmother who could always spin a good yarn on the front porch of our house. She told me that all is possible with faith not just faith in a higher being but yourself. She like my parents gave me the gift of learning and the love of learning.
When I think about this birthday, I am happy to say that my cup runneth over with gifts and will never become empty.
Happy birthday to me.

I live in Charlie Brown Land

When I moved to Minnesota over 20 years ago there was this sense of that I had left the United States and gone into a totally different world, Charlie Brown land. Recently, I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and I realized that Minnesota is so Charlie Brown Not because Charles Schultz was born and raised in Minnesota but there is an air about this place that brings to mind kids skating on a winter frozen pond safe, secure and without a care.
In Charlie Brown land there are diners on every block and fresh bakeries on every corner. When I first arrived here, there was a malt shoppe on the corner of Randolph and Snelling called the James Soda Grill, where you could still get milk shakes, fries and grilled cheese sandwiches for a great price. The soda jerk even had the traditional white uniform, garrison cap and all and this was 1988.
In Charlie Brown land, the politics are as clean as the streets and as liberal as the portions at Keys Cafe. Education was a priority in Charlie Brown land where in Garrison Keillor's words the children are above average as noted from the test scores.
In Charlie Brown land, the snow falls every winter and it is greeted with joy instead of disgust. Kids still skate on frozen ponds or ice rinks and hockey is not hokey . In Charlie Brown land people still have that sing-song accent that can lull you to sleep and make you dream of better times.
Sometimes it is almost like Minnesota is in a time warp stuck between Eisenhower and Nixon and sometimes it is past George Jetson. Charlie Brown land is not some fictional place in the mind of a dreamer, it is a real and vibrant place where life is lived and changes are made.
Minnesota may be Charlie Brown land but that's OK because I am Charlie Brown.