November 29, 2014

Albert Einstein Called Racism “A Disease of White People” in His Little-Known Fight for Civil Rights

Albert Einstein’s activities as a passionate advocate for peace were well-documented during his lifetime. His celebrity as a famous physicist and one of the world’s most recognizable faces lent a great deal of weight to his pacifism, a view otherwise not given much consideration in the popular press at almost any time in history. However, according to a 2006 book titled Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Roger Taylor, the scientist was also as passionate about combating racism and segregation as he was about combating war. This facet of Einstein’s life was virtually ignored by the media, as was a visit he made in 1946 to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the first degree-granting college for African-Americans and the alma mater of Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall.

Invited to Lincoln to receive an honorary degree, Einstein gave a lecture on physics but also bluntly addressed the racial animus that held the country in its grip, reportedly calling racism, “a disease of white people” and saying he “did not intend to be quiet” about his opposition to segregation and racist public policy. Lest anyone think the Nobel-prize-winning physicist was pandering to his audience, the Harvard Gazette offers a comprehensive summary of Einstein’s support of progressive anti-racist causes, including his personal support of members of Princeton’s black community (he paid one man’s college tuition), a town Princeton native Paul Robeson once called “the northernmost town in the south.”

Einstein formed relationships with several prominent black leaders—inviting opera singer Marian Anderson to stay in his home after she was refused a room at the Nassau Inn and appearing as a character witness for W.E.B. Dubois when the latter stood accused of “failing to register as a foreign agent.” But it was his 20-year friendship with Robeson that seems central to his involvement in civil rights causes. The Harvard Gazette writes:

Einstein met Paul Robeson when the famous singer and actor came to perform at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre in 1935. The two found they had much in common. Both were concerned about the rise of fascism, and both gave their support to efforts to defend the democratically elected government of Spain against the fascist forces of Francisco Franco. Einstein and Robeson also worked together on the American Crusade to End Lynching, in response to an upsurge in racial murders as black soldiers returned home in the aftermath of World War II.

http://www.openculture.com/2013/08/albert-einstein-civil-rights-activist.html


Albert Einstein And Segregation In America





“Einstein, when he arrived in America, was shocked at how Black Americans were treated. “There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States,” he said. “That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. And, I do not intend to be quiet about it.”

And, he wasn’t. Although he had a fear of speaking in public, he made all the effort he could to spread the word of equality, denouncing racism and segregation and becoming a huge proponent of civil rights even before the term became fashionable. Einstein was a member of several civil rights groups (including the Princeton chapter of the NAACP).

http://nedhardy.com/2013/04/22/albert-einstein-and-segregation-in-america/

November 18, 2014

UNFUCK AMERICA! Blackness is not a threat.

Gov Jay Nixon activates the MO National Guard to #Ferguson in the event of unrest



I am so distressed. Governor Jay Nixon activates the MO National Guard and issues A State of Emergency based on what he THINKS black people may do at the announcement of the Darren Wilson Ferguson Grand Jury decision. OMFG! Preconceived notions!!! How in the living hell can police not have preconceived notions about black people when a Gov activates the National Guard based on the same idea?

The Klan protest, law enforcement gives them an escort. Black people protest, the National Guard is activated. A State of Emergency is issued! Black people can’t walk while black, drive while black, seek help while black, shop while black and now protest while black because black people protesting is a threat & dangerous for white society.

UNFUCK AMERICA! Blackness is not a threat.

Governor Nixon is not slick. He’s using the State of Emergency to violate citizens a right to protest because in a State of Emergency citizens can lose their individual rights. We see you, Governor Nixon!

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November 16, 2014

Will pundits finally acknowledge President Obama's intelligence?

******Sigh~ This is posted in the Barack Obama Group. You are welcome to post if you follow our mission statement here~ Read More If you cannot, then GD----------------->Is that away. TIA************


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Over the last six years what I've noticed is that when President Obama succeeds, pundits have tended to call him "lucky" and when he fails, they call him "naive." I've found both labels to not only be wrong, but offensive - based on how intelligent this President happens to be.

As a result, I've looked a little deeper into what his strategies might be. We all know that as a lawyer in Chicago, Barack Obama taught classes on power and conflict. From a pragmatic point of view, he's obviously thought more deeply about those topics than your average political pundit. So whether he succeeds or fails in his exploration of "the viability of politics to make change" (how Michelle Obama described his foray into politics), I've found it fascinating to assume his intelligence and try to understand what he's up to.

Here's a great quote in it from Michelle Obama:

...after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, his wife, Michelle, told a reporter, "Barack is not a politician first and foremost. He's a community activist exploring the viability of politics to make change." Recalling her remark in 2005, Obama wrote, "I take that observation as a compliment."

This is who he is and who he's always been. He affirmed that during the primaries in his great "Yes We Can" speech in New Hampshire.We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

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This column from Paul Waldman is one of the first I've seen in a very long time that goes a little bit deeper to assume President Obama knows what he's doing. In it, Waldman is exploring the possibility that Republicans will actually try to impeach the President over his upcoming executive action on immigration - even though their leadership knows it will come back to haunt them.

They [Republican leadership] really would be super-mad, not least because it would highlight their own impotence. In that state, they might well do something rash...And they'll be getting plenty of encouragement from the conservative media, for whom impeachment would be a ratings bonanza.

Barack Obama knows all this, of course. He obviously feels that the particular immigration steps he's contemplating are the right thing to do, and he understands that Republicans are never, ever going to pass a comprehensive reform bill that would be remotely acceptable to him. But he also knows that taking executive action will drive them batty, making some kind of emotional outburst on their part more likely. Which would end up being good for him and bad for them.

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BOG

November 9, 2014

My Father~ He slipped quietly away from me this morning

[url=http://postimg.org/image/padbgestp/][img][/img][/url] 1922~2014

Not a perfect man, yet he was my father and I loved him. He passed away in his sleep early this morning. We knew it was almost time. All day yesterday family, that were well enough, arrived to sit with him. I had four hours alone with my dad. I held his hand and said goodbye as I looked out the window, watching the sun shine through the brilliant autumn leaves. None of us knew, he would die hours after the last one of us left.

In the last year he never knew my sister or me. He had reached the final stage of Alzheimer's disease. He never knew me, yet I know he loved me.


Omaha Steve posted this Op for me almost thirty days to the day of my Fathers passing. It was so very kind of him. There is a video at the link of Glen Campbell, his final ballad is called “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”. Glen Cambell is reaching the finale stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

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http://betterment.democraticunderground.com/1017220580#top


Here are the words~


http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-not-gonna-miss-you-lyrics-glen-campbell.html

I'm still here, but yet I'm gone
I don't play guitar or sing my songs
They never defined who I am
The man that loves you 'til the end
You're the last person I will love
You're the last face I will recall
And best of all, I'm not gonna to miss you.
Not gonna miss you.
I'm never gonna hold you like I did
Or say I love you to the kids
You're never gonna see it in my eyes
It's not gonna hurt me when you cry
I'm never gonna know what you go through
All the things I say or do
All the hurt and all the pain
One thing selfishly remains
I'm not gonna miss you
I'm not gonna miss you

It's is a cruel disease. You sit there and watch the light slowly fade away and the memories turn to dust. Tears~

Someone suggested that I write down one memory so that I don't forget, so I will do it here then print it. I was my dads baby girl and a tomboy to boot~ He had a trucking company and would take me along with him. He would lift me up high and put me in the cab of the truck with this huge window spread before me and I could see the whole wide world. It was just my dad and me, on top of the world and laughing out loud, we could be anything. I was about 5 at the time. Yes that is my fondest memory by far~