Selma

I don't know if the movie "Selma" is an Oscar-winning worthy movie, or if its lead actor, David Oyelowo, and director, Ava DuVernay, should win either. Personally, my votes would lie elsewhere. I also wish a powerful, history-based film would have been more true to that history, especially as regards President Lyndon Johnson.

However, "Selma" is an extraordinarily important film and it merits strong praise and commendation. As I sat watching the movie, the most important thing that entered my mind was the reminder of the struggles that had to be fought, and are continuing today. 

The bravery that so many anonymous people displayed in the Civil Rights movement is astounding. To have the fortitude to walk into a government office to register to vote in Alabama in the 60's, or to lead marches and rallies while Klansman salivated nearby over the opportunity to beat and lynch you, or to stand up to incredible power and force and say, "I will not go quietly," is remarkable for its courage. 

We can remember Dr. King and other famous figures. But we cannot forget the countless, unnamed people who were bruised, battered, hosed, attacked by dogs, lynched, shot, and bombed all in the name of simple and basic equality.

So as I left the theater, my hope became that "Selma" might be a movie that is shown to schoolchildren all over the nation. That viewing would be followed by long discussions on Dr. King, President Johnson and the entire Civil Rights movement, and then connected to our modern times in the on-going struggle for full equality for blacks ... and Hispanics, gays, women ...

Je Suis Charlie

It is time to put an end to radical, extremism in all religions. Islam is currently the worst strain, but all three major religions need to keep their beliefs to themselves on a personal level.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/12/charlie-hebdo-cover-je-suis-charlie_n_6458876.html

Poem: Evil's Triangle

Evil’s Triangle

Do not speak to me of holiness,

Or piety.

Wretched and weak, the soul

And mind

Of the mindless worshipper;

Following works; myths, illusions.

Delusions

To remind you that you stand for something;

Something destructive,

As you inflict upon others divisiveness, fear, intolerance,

And subservient obedience.

This leads me to ask what you follow?

Why?

A madman who heard voices and was a slaughterer?

Muhammad.

Or the twisted fabric of stories wound by a malevolent force?

The Church.

For if Jesus existed; a question, he was not this Christ;

Your creation.

Now of bigotry, smallness and corruption.

Devoid of God.

Finally, the radicalism of the Chosen zealots.

Fiction’s account.

Oppressive, obsessive and possessive of “righteous” land,

Tainted completely.

Stubbornly held devotion … to … to … to

Religious insanity.

Copyright SGW 2015