her best songs are great poetry-
#J15 PATTI SMITH "People Have The Power" MLK & #OWS Solidarity @ Riverside Church 1/15/12
Uploaded by Schlockumentaries on Jan 16, 2012
"The people have the power to redeem the work of fools"
The great Patti Smith moved us all to tears with her beautiful poem in honor of Martin Luther King and in Occupy Wall Street Solidarity during the #J15 Candlelight Vigil at Riverside Church tonight, reminding us that it is the people who have the power. Thank you Patti and thank you for donating that beautiful tent with the colored letters for The People's Library!
With messages from Russell Simmons, Yoko Ono and so many more to a packed house it was an amazing night of hope
Occupy!
@Twitter/sandibachom
and city of Chicago is working hard to keep the people who dare to Occupy silenced one way or another.
Just remember how Chicago reacted to peaceful though vocal protesters at the 1968 Democratic Convention in which the police were given carte blanche and so rioted against their fellow American citizens .
When MLK marched in Chicago he said the hate expressed was palpable and barely restrained as the white citizens hurled insults , objects and spit upon him and the marchers . He later expressed his feelings at the time that he was never so fearful for his own life and that of others protesting then he ever was when marching in Mississippi.
Labor Beat: Chicago City Hall Press Conference Against NATO/G8 Ordinance
Mayor of Chicago attacks the freedom of speech and assembly.
New regulations will shut down protests.
For instance every sign to be used in a protests must be detailed on application for future demonstrations.
Freedom to protest is only allowed if it does not in any way shape or form challenge those in authority and of course the 1% who are the true rulers of America.
This is a bit ironic for America since it was over similar issues which sparked the American Revolution against the colonial governments which were controlled by England. To stand up and take a stand against English Tyranny in the colonies was considered a traitorous act.
Now those who dare question the corrupt government in power in the USA at the federal, state or municipal level is deemed UnAmerican or even anti-American.
People seem to forget or never understood that the Civil Rights movement was supported by a minority of Americans at the time in the 50s and 60s . The various levels of government private corporations and the media at that time were not in favor of massive protests or the use of Civil Disobedience. The movement manage to get increasing public support only after thousands had been jailed and nightly the news casts on TV showed the violent reaction by the police to peaceful demonstrations .
Americans act now as if the Civil Rights Movement had been embraced positively by most Americans from the get go but conservatives such as William F. Buckley and others believed that the government should be accountable to the majority of voters and not to defending the rights of minorities or they fell back on the old racist cant about State Rights versus the rights of the federal government .
They also like Ron Paul believe that it is up to private businesses and communities to decide how to treat minority groups such as African-Americans.
Ron Paul and others believe that a restaurant for instance as a private business has the right to refuse to serve whomever they please.
Ron Paul ignores the part of the social contract as it were which says that all minorities in a democracy are to be protected against " the Tyranny of the Majority".
This in practical terms means that African-Americans, Hispanic Americans Jewish Americans , Arab-Americans, Asian -Americans and other groups such as LGBT community and the religious groups such as Mormons, Quakers, Buddhists, Hindus , Sikhs, Muslims and so forth are all to be protected from the bigots in America.
So over the last couple of centuries the notion of democracy has changed to mean something beyond mere majority rule. In a civilized society it is to be expected that minority groups be protected by law. Unfortunately human beings tend to have various forms of irrational prejudices against those considered as outsiders as not part of the majority.
In practice America has not always been an enlightened or civilized nation as it has from time to time allowed for the Tyranny of the majority to deny equal rights to minorities .
If America were the enlightened nation it claims to be and has always been we wouldn't be talking in terms such as the Civil Rights struggle for it would have been a no-brainer once the issue was made public the public would have insisted on equal rights for African Americans. America as an enlightened nation has been one of the myths of America which has staying power even when the reality is radically different from the myth as it has been promulgated throughout American history and continues even in the present.
Just look at how nasty the election campaigning became in 2008 when Obama an African-American was running for president and the attacks on him since by some groups and individuals were or are tainted by racism. Obama is still being accused of being a communist, a secret Muslim or not a Real American or in fact not-even an American citizen .
Just because someone criticizes Obama's policies should not be construed as being racially motivated.
Like any other president once in office he too can be criticized without it being racially motivated. Obama can be criticized by his supporters or former supporters for not living up to election promises or that many of his policies seem to favor the 1% that is the rich and powerful over the 99% that is average Americans.
There was a large percentage of the American population which believed that black Americans were exaggerating their plight. The civil rights movement was seen as unAmerican and that the protesters were being influenced by the Communists in America and so did not represent the views of average Americans or even the majority of black Americans.
J.Edgar Hoover for instance called Martin Luther King Jr. the most dangerous man in America whom he saw as a puppet or willing operative of the Soviet Union.
The very idea of insisting on the protection of equal rights for all Americans including black Americans was seen as a threat to America itself.
In the same way there were many Americans who did not trust electing a Catholic as president since a Catholic president was perceived as having divided loyalties that is to the Vatican on the one hand and America on the other.
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