Words to Remember ~ Trump Edition

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Dictators, Trump, Words To Remember

During a freewheeling interview with Steve Doocy from Fox News on Friday morning, Trump uttered these chilling words about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un:

Hey, he is the head of a country, and I mean he is the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.

Asked by another reporter later on about this comment Trump claimed he was kidding. Does anyone believe this?

 

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Words To Remember ~ 50 Years After the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

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Robert F. Kennedy, Words To Remember

The enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and abiding practice of any Western society. The essential humanity of men can be protected and preserved only where government must answer not just to the wealthy, not just to those of a particular religion, or a particular race, but to all its people.

Words To Remember ~ George Peabody

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George Peabody, Words To Remember

Today, on the anniversary of his receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 1867 for charitable work, Google has chosen to honor “the Father of Modern Philanthropy”, George Peabody. I have a special fondness myself for this man as the library where I worked for so many years, was founded by him. If you’re unfamiliar with him I encourage you to look him up. A man of humble beginnings, during his lifetime he endowed a multitude of schools, museums and libraries here in the U.S. as well as establishing the Peabody Trust, which is still one of the biggest housing trusts in the U.K.

And, if you have time, take a look at the video Google’s provided of the creation of this gorgeous mural by volunteers at the George Peabody Elementary School in San Francisco.

Education: A debt due from present to future generations.

~ George Peabody ~

 

Words to Remember

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Gun Violence in America, Words To Remember

Please, take action. Ideas are great, ideas are wonderful and they help you get re-elected and everything, but what’s more important is actual action.

…We’re the children. You guys are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together. Come over your politics and get something done.

Heartfelt plea from 17-year-old David Hogg who survived yesterday’s massacre at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Words to Remember ~ Birthday Edition

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Birthdays, Inspirational quotes, Madeleine L'Engle, Words To Remember

The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.

~ Madeleine L’Engle ~

 

*This counts as my birthday wishlist every year as well!*

Words To Remember ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

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Ursula K. Le Guin, Words To Remember

Photo by: Dana Gluckstein/MPTV Images

No, I don’t mean love, when I say patriotism. I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression.

 

Words To Remember

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Octavia Butler, Words To Remember

I know I usually do a Whimsical Wednesday post here, but to be honest, with everything going on right now in Washington, I don’t have a single drop of whimsy in me. So, I found this quote by one of my favorite authors and thought I’d share it instead due to its relevance. I promise next Wednesday I’ll have another whimsical post that will hopefully make you all smile. 

Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.

Author, Octavia Butler

Words To Remember

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James Baldwin, Words To Remember

Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.

~ James Baldwin ~

Words To Remember ~ #Oprah2020

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Inspirational Speeches, Oprah Winfrey, Words To Remember

Oprah Winfrey was awarded the Cecile B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Golden Globes last night. Her acceptance speech was one of the most powerful and moving ones I’ve heard. It’s further fueled speculation on whether she’s planning on running for President in 2020. Many of you probably heard or read the speech online, but I think it bears repeating, so here it is in its entirety.

In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother’s house in Milwaukee watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope and said five words that literally made history: ‘The winner is Sidney Poitier.’ Up to the stage came the most elegant man I had ever seen. I remember his tie was white, and of course his skin was black, and I had never seen a black man being celebrated like that. I tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone tired from cleaning other people’s houses. But all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney’s performance in Lilies of the Field. ‘Amen, amen, amen, amen.’

In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille award right here at the Golden Globes and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award. It is an honor—it is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them and also with the incredible men and women who have inspired me, who have challenged me, who sustained me and made my journey to this stage possible. Dennis Swanson who took a chance on me for A.M. Chicago. Quincy Jones who saw me on that show and said to Steven Spielberg, ‘Yes, she is Sophia in The Color Purple.’ Gayle who has been the definition of what a friend is, and Stedman who has been my rock—just to name a few.

I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association because we all know the press is under siege these days. We also know it’s the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice. To—to tyrants and victims, and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I’m especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories. Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories we tell, and this year we became the story. But it’s not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It’s one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace. So I want to tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue. They’re the women whose names we’ll never know. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they’re in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They’re part of the world of tech and politics and business. They’re our athletes in the Olympics and they’re our soldiers in the military.

And there’s someone else, Recy Taylor, a name I know and I think you should know, too. In 1944, Recy Taylor was a young mother walking home from a church service she’d attended in Abbeville, Alabama, when she was abducted by six armed white men, raped, and left blindfolded by the side of the road coming home from church. They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone, but her story was reported to the NAACP where a young worker by the name of Rosa Parks became the lead investigator on her case and together they sought justice. But justice wasn’t an option in the era of Jim Crow. The men who tried to destroy her were never prosecuted. Recy Taylor died ten days ago, just shy of her 98th birthday. She lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up.

Their time is up. And I just hope—I just hope that Recy Taylor died knowing that her truth, like the truth of so many other women who were tormented in those years, and even now tormented, goes marching on. It was somewhere in Rosa Parks’ heart almost 11 years later, when she made the decision to stay seated on that bus in Montgomery, and it’s here with every woman who chooses to say, ‘Me too.’ And every man— every man who chooses to listen. 

In my career, what I’ve always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere and how we overcome. I’ve interviewed and portrayed people who’ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘Me too’ again.

Will Oprah run against Trump in 2020? According to close friends she is now seriously considering it. Regardless, one thing is apparent. Despite Mr. Trump and his minions holding office, their time is limited. I believe this with every fiber of my being. Sweeping change is coming and all it needs is for us to join together and say in one voice: THEIR TIME IS UP! To find out more about the Times Up Now Movement, please visit https://www.timesupnow.com

Words To Remember

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Ken Burns, Slavery, The Civil War, Words To Remember

Many factors contributed to the Civil War. One caused it: Slavery.

~ Ken Burns ~

  Filmmaker of numerous respected documentaries including the multiple award-winning The Civil War.