Renaissance of the Civil Rights Movement Led by Martin Luther King, Jr.: Reflections and Projections

 Martin Luther King, Jr. made friends across the country who engaged in the civil rights movement. We have focused on him alone with celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and seem to have forgotten that it was a movement involving a great many people.

And he was a celebrity, too, in those times, who had many celebrity friends. We can all learn how to bring about social change by galvanizing our networks of friends in the renaissance of the civil rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement we see today. Now we have many powerful politicians involved in this struggle as well.

I've been learning that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great letter writer, and that is one way that he communicated with his friends. Today we use social media and email to communicate with others, but we should not forget the power of a letter that is highly personal when handwritten.

I support President Joe Biden and the Democrats who want to pass voting rights legislation. I support Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight that has worked successfully to turn out the vote in Georgia. I support Representative Barbara Lee and the progressive caucus she is part of.

I also support Vice President Kamala Harris in her efforts to stem immigration from countries south of the border by engaging private industry in efforts to boost their economies. And I support Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in the superb leadership she has given us on so many important issues.

I make the commitment right now to write and send letters through snailmail to President Biden, Stacey Abrams, Representative Barbara Lee, Vice President Kamala Harris., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

The struggle to pass voting rights legislation and so much of the Build Back Better legislation is the face of the civil right movement and support for women today.

It seems to me that Black Lives Matter has made such a significant impact on our politics that we are seeing a backlash from white supremacists (and corporations that don't want social change that might threaten their profits) in the repressive legislation of Republican dominated legislatures in so many states .

Who owns corporate media? Billionaires, of course, who use our mass media to further their own agendas. Who is attacking President Biden in his efforts to make corporations pay their fair share of taxes and strengthen labor unions? Connect the dots.

Republicans have made themselves a party of contortionists with the truth as they promote the interests of the wealthy and corporations. Never in my life have I seen such a clear difference between Republicans and Democrats. I am a Green Party member and peace activist myself, but my allegiance in this struggle between the two major parties goes to the Democrats.

The truth of the matter is that humanity is in a process of spiritual evolution. Truth, kindness, compassion, equality, respect, fair play and love will prevail over greed, ego, avarice for power and control over other people, hatred and fear.

Every time you take an action for the benefit of others (and maybe yourself, too), you shift the paradigm. Every time someone says something mean to you or hurts you, and you turn the other cheek and bless them, or return their shabby behavior with kindness and compassion, you are part of the pardigm shift, of the evolution of humanity.

I'm not saying that it's easy, and I am not able to do it all the time myself. I know that it is a worthy feat when I can do it. We can't measure the moments or even our successes. It's bigger than that. All we can do is engage in the process as best we can at the moment. The fate of our race depends on it.

Are Electric Cars an Answer to Global Warming? A Return to Village Life Might Help More

 Are Electric Cars an Answer to Global Warming?

If you factor in the environmental costs of manufacturing batteries, electric cars are not such a great investment in the environment. Also it perpetuates the need for a cultural lifestyle dependent on cars, a lifestyle that we need to diversify.

Let's look at a move to village living again, riding bikes or taking buses or vans to feeder lines to commute by rail to the nearest city.

Now building transport systems that make it viable for people to live in the country without a car makes all the sense in the world. Break up our large cities.

Not everyone living in a village would need a car or even to commute to work in a nearby city. Many could work from home or work on projects for the benefit of the community.

There might be car sharing and cooperative ownership of a fleet of various vehicles and ways to get around: trucks, golf carts, motorcycles, electric bikes and bicycles.

Energy could be sourced locally from photovoltaic cell clusters. There could be a town hall to discuss political and community concerns, provide a music and arts rehearsal and performance center for concerts, dancing and parties.

Community gardens and orchards could provide some of the food for villagers. A broad based of trade and exchange with surrounding villages could share the abundance of a variety of food that is grown. There could be a baking collective and a wide range of cooperative food preparation and meal sharing from weekly potlucks at the community center, to breakfast clubs, etc.

The village would need a good, reliable source of water. Perhaps a ring of wells strategically placed could provide an independent source of water. We know how to build up the aquifer below the land today.

A ring of trees could provide an outdoor ceremonial site for weddings and funerals, parties and harvest feasts. Hickory, walnut, and pecan trees could also be a source of food for everyone.

A return to village life could meet many social needs for belonging, a sense of mission and purpose, connection with the land and other people that is so often missing in modern life. It would not be the remote and isolated village life of the past, but one of connection through the Internet that provides a good quality of life.

However, if the grid should fail, if the Internet were to crash permanently, life would go on, and it would be a good life, as it would be possible to become more or less self sufficient.