I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through nonviolence.
I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.
I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.
A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
I never sought nor have I been given assurances or promise of leniency by the regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in the end justice will emerge triumphant.
According to Gandhi, the WILLING sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
Three years ago when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.
Rather than move forward, we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.
During the martial law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for Habeas Corpus. It is most ironic, after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last April ruled it can no longer entertain petitions for Habeas Corpus for persons detained under a Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can cover almost anything.
The country is far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully restored.
The Filipino asks for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 Constitution -- the most sacred legacies from the Founding Fathers.
Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?
The nation-wide rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the blood-letting of the past that brought forth our Republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?
I have often wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants only dared to define their terms.
So as to leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:
1. Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a Military Tribunal whose jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my IMMEDIATE EXECUTION OR SET ME FREE.
I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading communist leader. I am not a communist, never was and never will be.
2. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a Dictator. No compromise with Dictatorship.
3. In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build.
4. Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom, and
5. For the economy to get going once again, the workingman must be given his just and rightful share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so much uncertainty if not despair.
On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish:
"How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith."
I return from exile and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer -- faith in our people and faith in God.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Due Process
Of all the rights guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution, the right to due process is one of the most significant. It is in fact our foremost safeguard against any invalid act that curtails our right to life, liberty and property. Thus, the fundamental law declares: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and property without due process of law...".
Contrary to common notion, the right to due process is not only inherent in judicial proceedings but in administrative proceedings, as well. An employee can only be removed for just cause. This "just cause" must be proved by clear, convincing evidence before a tribunal, a tribunal that is impartial. The process must not however end there; the tribunal must hear the defending party, with or without the service of counsel. In addition, when the defending party presents controverting evidence the tribunal must consider such evidence presented; otherwise, the process is incomplete, therefore undue or invalid. After both parties have been accorded their respective day in court, the tribunal renders judgment based only on the matters proved and evidences duly submitted. In sum, this is the essence of due process--hear, after wards, condemn if warranted.
Due process as a principle is inherent in any civilized and moral society. This is because due process is based on fairness and equity, which are foundations of any God-fearing community. There is thus no point in making due process limited to legal and administrative proceedings; it must be sacredly observed even in our day-to-day dealings.A father, before he employs the harshness of the rod, must hear his child first; otherwise, the lesson he wants to impose is likewise lost by such denial. More so with persons who are privileged to hold high offices. With more reason that they should act with caution. They must be responsible in whatever words they utter and whatever judgment they make. A false belief, which is held as "the" truth by the official becomes "the" truth that almost everybody believes in. If the official opines that a group is "bad" and all "rotten eggs", the people who hears the opinion will be more inclined to hold that the opinion is true. As people differ in understanding situations, there will be those who will believe that the opinion is flawless whether or not it has basis. And when this happens, we perpetrate injustice. We perpetrate an act of depriving some faultless individuals with their right to a clean name. And there is nothing more regretful than that....
Contrary to common notion, the right to due process is not only inherent in judicial proceedings but in administrative proceedings, as well. An employee can only be removed for just cause. This "just cause" must be proved by clear, convincing evidence before a tribunal, a tribunal that is impartial. The process must not however end there; the tribunal must hear the defending party, with or without the service of counsel. In addition, when the defending party presents controverting evidence the tribunal must consider such evidence presented; otherwise, the process is incomplete, therefore undue or invalid. After both parties have been accorded their respective day in court, the tribunal renders judgment based only on the matters proved and evidences duly submitted. In sum, this is the essence of due process--hear, after wards, condemn if warranted.
Due process as a principle is inherent in any civilized and moral society. This is because due process is based on fairness and equity, which are foundations of any God-fearing community. There is thus no point in making due process limited to legal and administrative proceedings; it must be sacredly observed even in our day-to-day dealings.A father, before he employs the harshness of the rod, must hear his child first; otherwise, the lesson he wants to impose is likewise lost by such denial. More so with persons who are privileged to hold high offices. With more reason that they should act with caution. They must be responsible in whatever words they utter and whatever judgment they make. A false belief, which is held as "the" truth by the official becomes "the" truth that almost everybody believes in. If the official opines that a group is "bad" and all "rotten eggs", the people who hears the opinion will be more inclined to hold that the opinion is true. As people differ in understanding situations, there will be those who will believe that the opinion is flawless whether or not it has basis. And when this happens, we perpetrate injustice. We perpetrate an act of depriving some faultless individuals with their right to a clean name. And there is nothing more regretful than that....
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Noone Can Put You Down, But Yourself
I believe that nothing is impossible... The only barrier that separates YOU and SUCCESS is your will to succeed. Noone and nothing can ever hold you back from what you aspire to achieve. They will only succeed in doing so if you allow them to pull you down. You are the lone creation who is near perfect. God Himself has designed you that way...a unique and supreme creation of this earth.
I believe that nothing is impossible...because IMPOSSIBLE is but a mere creation of the dictionary. The word "impossible" doesn't exist in my vocabulary so why make it a part of my life? I am as powerful as my thoughts and as weak as my imagination.
I can...only if I make up my mind that I CAN. So long as I allow myself to be a prisoner of my self-made prison cells, so long as I allow myself to be manipulated by Fate... and so long as I consent to the whims and caprice of manipulators...I CAN'T.
As long as the sun shines and the moon lingers up in the night sky, I have all the chance in the world to be the person I want to be. But, this golden opportunity, this belief that I am a unique creation will just turn to cinders unless I find my purpose and decide to be committed to it no matter what.
Indeed, noone can hold me back but myself.
I believe that nothing is impossible...because IMPOSSIBLE is but a mere creation of the dictionary. The word "impossible" doesn't exist in my vocabulary so why make it a part of my life? I am as powerful as my thoughts and as weak as my imagination.
I can...only if I make up my mind that I CAN. So long as I allow myself to be a prisoner of my self-made prison cells, so long as I allow myself to be manipulated by Fate... and so long as I consent to the whims and caprice of manipulators...I CAN'T.
As long as the sun shines and the moon lingers up in the night sky, I have all the chance in the world to be the person I want to be. But, this golden opportunity, this belief that I am a unique creation will just turn to cinders unless I find my purpose and decide to be committed to it no matter what.
Indeed, noone can hold me back but myself.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Include These Things in Your Report
1. Your topic.
2. Definition of important terms. (You may get these from other references, in case the primary reference does not provide for them).
3. Your Discussion and Illustration.
4. Ask your classmates if everything is clear.Provide answers to questions, if any.
5. Summarize.
2. Definition of important terms. (You may get these from other references, in case the primary reference does not provide for them).
3. Your Discussion and Illustration.
4. Ask your classmates if everything is clear.Provide answers to questions, if any.
5. Summarize.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Schedule of Reporting in English
IV-Bonifacio
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Cyrus, Jellexie, Kevin will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Three reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 11: Give the pros and cons of an issue.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV-Rizal
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Jerome, Roberto, Ronell will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Three reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 12: Identify the similarity between the river and human life.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV- Aristotle
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Tyrone and Christian D. will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Two reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 11: Give the pros and cons of an issue.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV-Galileo
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Ken and Jowen. will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Two reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 12: Identify the similarity between the river and human life. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
Reference/s: AHEAD: Texts and Exercises in English IV (latest ed.)
Any other appropriate books, workbooks, materials, etc.
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Cyrus, Jellexie, Kevin will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Three reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 11: Give the pros and cons of an issue.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV-Rizal
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Jerome, Roberto, Ronell will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Three reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 12: Identify the similarity between the river and human life.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV- Aristotle
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Tyrone and Christian D. will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Two reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 11: Give the pros and cons of an issue.. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
IV-Galileo
Boys first, in alphabetical order (ex. Ken and Jowen. will be team 1; so on)...I will not tell you who the next reporters will be; just follow the list of students of your class. Two reporters per team. One or two lessons per day depending on the length and complexity of the topic so make sure that 2 teams are ready per day. Start the report on Lesson 12: Identify the similarity between the river and human life. The first set/s of reporters will begin on Wednesday.Make sure you have visual aids. Explain the topic very well. I will give a quiz after every report.
Grading System: 97 Outstanding; 92 Very Satisfactory; 87 Satisfactory;NI 82; 65 No Report
Reference/s: AHEAD: Texts and Exercises in English IV (latest ed.)
Any other appropriate books, workbooks, materials, etc.
Monday, July 27, 2009
TAKE HOME ACTIVITY
Accomplish the following tasks. Due date of submission is on Friday, 31 July 2009, until 12 noon. All your answers must be HANDWRITTEN and placed on short bond papers with 1.25 by .5 inch margin (left-right).
Important: Your work should be original. Any work which is substantially similar to that of another student's work will not be graded.
For IV-BONIFACIO
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Define each section.
2. Make clippings of articles and tell where they can be commonly found.
3. What are the different kinds of journalistic articles? Define and give an example of each kind.
4. What is lead? What the different kinds of lead? Give examples.
For IV-RAJAH SOLIMAN
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Define each section.
2. Make clippings of articles and tell where they can be commonly found.
3. What is news? What are the different kinds of news articles? Define each kind.
For IV-RIZAL and IV- GALILEO
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Give examples of materials most commonly found per section.
2. What are the different kinds of journalistic articles? Define and give an example of each kind.
3. What is an editorial article? What are the different types of editorial? Define each and cite an example per type.
4. Give at least 4 techniques on how to begin and end an editorial. Give example of each technique.
5. Write an editorial of praise and criticism about NEHS.
6. Why do we have to protect the freedom of the press? Give examples of real situations that show violation of this basic right.
For IV-ARISTOTLE
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Give examples of materials most commonly found per section.
2. Make clippings of articles commonly found in newspapers.
3. What is an editorial cartoon? Give at least five examples taken from popular newspapers. Draw an editorial cartoon about NEHS.
4. What is a feature article? Give two examples.
Important: Your work should be original. Any work which is substantially similar to that of another student's work will not be graded.
For IV-BONIFACIO
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Define each section.
2. Make clippings of articles and tell where they can be commonly found.
3. What are the different kinds of journalistic articles? Define and give an example of each kind.
4. What is lead? What the different kinds of lead? Give examples.
For IV-RAJAH SOLIMAN
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Define each section.
2. Make clippings of articles and tell where they can be commonly found.
3. What is news? What are the different kinds of news articles? Define each kind.
For IV-RIZAL and IV- GALILEO
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Give examples of materials most commonly found per section.
2. What are the different kinds of journalistic articles? Define and give an example of each kind.
3. What is an editorial article? What are the different types of editorial? Define each and cite an example per type.
4. Give at least 4 techniques on how to begin and end an editorial. Give example of each technique.
5. Write an editorial of praise and criticism about NEHS.
6. Why do we have to protect the freedom of the press? Give examples of real situations that show violation of this basic right.
For IV-ARISTOTLE
1. What are the different sections of a newspaper? Give examples of materials most commonly found per section.
2. Make clippings of articles commonly found in newspapers.
3. What is an editorial cartoon? Give at least five examples taken from popular newspapers. Draw an editorial cartoon about NEHS.
4. What is a feature article? Give two examples.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3
Monday, July 6, 2009
I HAVE A DREAM by Martin Luther King Jr.
Watch the actual footage of this historic speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.
Note: The author does not intend to infringe the copyright of the above footage. Its inclusion here is for educational purposes only.
WHO IS MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.?
(This biography was sourced from Nobelprize.org)
Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank. In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.
Note: The author does not intend to infringe the copyright of the above footage. Its inclusion here is for educational purposes only.
WHO IS MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.?
(This biography was sourced from Nobelprize.org)
Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank. In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Save the People of Darfur!
(CREATE A 250-WORD REACTION PAPER ABOUT THE VIDEO AND THE SELECTION BELOW).
While the principles of sovereign equality and self-determination are important concerns, it is also an accepted and time-honored principle of international law that international agreements like the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute must be upheld and used decisively to protect Humanity.
The President of Sudan and his confederates should face the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity now pending in the International Criminal Court. Submitting them to the power of the ICC can never be construed as an invasion of their country's sovereignty as it is admittedly an exception to the rule that "sovereignty is absolute".
The possibility of reprisals from the perpetrators and their allies is but natural. Whenever acts of those in 'power' are challenged on grounds, valid or otherwise, it is foolish to expect that such challenge will be accepted with open arms and firm handshakes.
With 400,000 death toll and 2.5 million Darfuri refugees, the violence in Darfur is beyond the grasp of logic and reason—a case beyond justification, indeed. An intervention from the international community has long become ripe. Let us act now lest we become part of the perpetration of this great evil.
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