WHY WE CAN’T WAIT: FIST SALUTES AND A MILLION TEARS

A series of essays....

THE RAISED FIST IS A SYMBOL OF SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT AND
USED AS A SALUTE TO EXPRESS UNITY, STRENGTH, DEFIANCE, OR RESISTANCE.

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

“Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse, and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper.”  —Martin Luther King, Jr.

An excerpt from his 1963 book entitled, ‘Why We Can’t Wait.‘

Everyday is a crisis within the current presidency. And, like small children awaiting the ultimate joy of Christmas morning, we are tucked into bed each night with the wonder of what we’ll have to face next when the morning’s light awakens us to another day, another challenge. In the meantime, we understand that our prospective joy will be measured this November by the outcome of one of the most important elections this country has held (one we will have to fight for) in a very long time.

It’s been one hell of a past ten days for all of us. A broad mixture of emotions are running through me down into my very soul: fear, disgust, mild depression, the loss of innocence, and anger all swirl within my core and continue to haunt my thoughts, my entire being. My skin is being plagued by itchy hives that were first thought to be bug bites. I know better now. I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat it: I am frightened out of my wits!

We had been trying so hard and with all the best intentions to do something right for several months now with wearing our masks, social distancing, isolation...only to be sabotaged by four men in uniform. A choke hold lasting almost nine minutes but reopening a world of hate and denial that’s been going on for hundreds of years. My gut reaction upon seeing the video of George Floyd’s murder for the first time was, “This man has just been lynched in public right on the streets of Minneapolis!” Four men in blue uniforms effectively placed a noose around George Floyd’s neck in broad daylight and took his breath away forever.

“I can’t breathe.”

— George Floyd as his life was passing away 

What does this mean for the rest of us? Are nationwide protests part of the answer? Yes! We can’t wait or place denial in our path any longer. Peaceful demonstrations allow us to be heard in large numbers and in solidarity. This is very important right now, as is throwing down the gauntlet and openly challenging an administration who has consistently bolstered white supremacy, destroyed the written rules meant to protect us, and strongly believes in dictatorship over democracy.

The challenges we are facing are enormous. Most of us don’t have the power of the U.S. military force under our thumbs (thank goodness) to apply towards those with whom we disagree or want to hold in line via brute force. Our alternative is to continue to make our voices heard loud and clear, never giving up, and always keeping our faith in the system. Our ultimate goal of pushing back against the evil that is residing within the hearts of so many is predicated on the belief in good people. Good people, including ourselves, who must prevail over the hatred that is chewing us up inside and relegating the grave health issues of a pandemic we face together on the back burner instead of in the forefront as they should be. Yet another diversionary tactic, among many, used by this administration.

While a black man is being suffocated in the streets in broad daylight, fires burn within cities set by opportunists bent on stirring-up the cauldron of hatred, and innocent people are tear-gassed in order to clear a path of safety for one of the most hate-filled people walking today, it would be appropriate to ask ourselves, “Where is hope these days?” Hope is with all of us, my friends, sitting right there between faith and charity.  Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love), are the Theological Virtues as defined by Saint Paul who has placed Love as the greatest of them all. There shines hope, ever present between our faith in and love for mankind. Hope can be found in our pragmatic youth and future leaders. We must believe in the power of these virtues and keep them active inside of us because they are our ticket to freedom and a better life.

Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.” 

― Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can't Wait

Just as I believe that the coronavirus represents the transparent display of reaching out to the world in order to recognize and, hopefully, repair many of the faults perpetrated by mankind throughout our history, I believe that weak, hateful people like Donald Trump will always exist. They exist to remind us of what could and will happen if we deny having faith, hope, and love in our lives. He has already been entered into the annals of history alongside the most evil people and events ever witnessed by humankind throughout the course of time itself and has earned this status a hundred times over, at least.

Taking the words from many placards displayed across the television screen within the past several days, “Rest in power, George Floyd,” your name, your purpose, and your message will not be forgotten. Rest in power because the sacrifice of your life and the power of your death is what will carry us through, by the most amicable means possible, and aid us in acquiring the true peace we are lookin for.

It is time for all good women and men to come to the aid of their country. We can’t wait and risk running out of options. We are encouraged to participate in the process. Keep working as hard as possible on it. VOTE. Vote in November no matter what obstacles are thrown in our way. Keep working to make good things happen. Respect one another even if your beliefs in the process don’t always line-up. Nothing worthwhile is obtained easily because there will always be someone or something impeding our progress. If that’s the case, work even harder.

“No Justice, No Peace.”

— Chant of protesters around the world

May all of us take good care of ourselves and strive to remain healthy. The countdown to November 3rd is our reminder that faith, hope, and charity will gracefully guide our way into a stronger, better future. We can’t afford to wait until all hope is lost and there is no turning back. All the world is watching us.

Rest in power, George Floyd. Rest assured that your death was not in vain.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

"WE ARE NOT MAKERS OF HISTORY, WE ARE MADE BY HISTORY" ...MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

A series of essays....

THE DECLINE OF HISTORICAL THINKING
BY ERIC ALTERMAN

        Courtesy of inxti


....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

A recent article in The New Yorker states that there is a huge decline in historical thinking. (Eric Alterman, published on February 4, 2019). Mr. Alterman claims that, “For the past decade, on American campuses, history has been declining more rapidly than any other major, even as more and more students attend college.” He also believes that, “The steep decline in history graduates is most visible beginning in 2011 and 2012. Evidently, after the 2008 financial crisis, students (and their parents) felt a need to pick a major in a field that might place them on a secure career path.”

With the base cost of an undergrad education rising swiftly, this approach by both middle class parents and their children would seem to make good sense. Student loans do not pay for themselves and only by securing a good job upon graduation would one be able to pay them off, eventually.

I can understand this line of thinking. I don’t like that it exists, but I can offer-up some of my own reactions, emotions, and reasons for this particular decline of History majors within our country’s higher education institutions.

After this current administration came into office and the likes of Betsy DeVos was slated to run the U.S. Department of Education, I began calling her new project ‘The Dumbing Down of America,’ and with good reason. The emphasis of each move she made was to slowly deteriorate our current public school system by any means possible. What better way to under educate and under develop our young minds than to take away sound, basic programs (the arts and science, reading programs, geography, history) that were previously in place in order to elevate the public school’s curriculum, spark imagination, and enhance the education of America’s youth? For me, DeVos and the current administration’s agenda was quite obvious right from the beginning and deemed highly compromising if planning out a prosperous future for our country.

The King of Lies who happens to reside in the White House today personally ignores the fact that it is clear that historical analysis would demonstrate that legal immigration into America has accounted for much of our creativity, innovation, and economic production. By ignoring the facts, misrepresenting our own history, and blatantly lying to the American public, “the Republicans have, for the past few decades, depended on Americans’ inability to make sense of history in judging their policies. Under Trump, they have succeeded in turning legal immigration into the excuse for all the country’s ills,” Mr. Alterman explains.

If we are educating someone to be able to handle all of life’s experiences, without having an historical background or any knowledge of the past they cannot be totally ready for life. The last generation, at least, have become people who live in the ‘now’ and often fail to recognize the importance of ‘where did we come from, how and why did we get to where we are today, and are we capable of knowing what mistakes we have made in the past so as not to repeat them?’ I’ve written before how instant gratification is the name of the game for so many of us today and our electronic devices have become attached to us in, sometimes, very unhealthy ways.

Walter Lippmann, an American writer, photographer, and activist, once warned nearly a century ago that, “Men who have lost their grip upon the relevant facts of their environment are the inevitable victims of agitation and propaganda. The quack, the charlatan, and the jingo (One who vociferously supports one's country, especially one who supports a belligerent foreign policy; a chauvinistic patriot)... can flourish only where the audience is deprived of independent access to information.” In other words, if the citizens of a nation have no knowledge of history, they are asking to be led by jingos!

The amassing of Trump lies just within the past two years of his presidency proves that he is a quack, a charlatan, and a jingo. And, unfortunately, as explained by Mr. Alterman, “Without more history majors, we are doomed to repeat him.” 

Like a brand new parent, we learn to live with and by our own mistakes. And, by the time a second child comes along, we, with any luck, have become more prepared to handle the general welfare of our new ‘little one’ than we may have the first time around. So it goes with the works of historical fiction and non-fiction authors, storytellers, history professors, and the all important student graduating with a degree in history. Life comes around full circle and the more we can learn about ourselves, research that which came before us, and study the habits (right or wrong) of our ancestors, we will always be a step ahead in the game of life and discover the process of enclosing the circle that completes us.

IS THIS HOW WE WANT OUR
HISTORY BOOKS TO LOOK IN THE FUTURE?

                  Courtesy of roundex

We can ill afford to leave the pages of our history books empty. The generations that follow us will surely be deprived of independent thinking, as well as the access to information that will help shape a sound and prosperous future.

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E. Hughes

All rights reserved