We need words and acts of wisdom, ethics and compassion, from our leaders now more than ever. Since this is utterly lacking, take heart from the words of a truly gifted leader that could never be more relevant than today.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963
“Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
“I Have a Dream”, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963
My heart breaks for George Floyd, his family, and our country. Are we not better people than this?
There are no cheers today, only grief~
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https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision
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Thanks, Cindy, for this reminder of what a good leader says. Not self-aggrandizing and blaming others, but looking for hope and justice for all.
We need hope and justice for all and we do not have it now. Thank you Audrey დ
Thank you.
Thank you my friend დ
Shared it on Facebook.
I used to think we had worked through this is the 1960’s and 70’s. Clearly I was wrong. It is back more evil and destructive than ever.
It certainly feels more evil, but maybe it’s just because I’m old enough to see how deep the ugliness goes.
Yes. I had hoped it was getting better, but the last four years have proved me very wrong.
Sadly true.
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I thought so, too. Cindy. I just can’t believe that so many good people gave their lives for the civil rights of others, and we’re back to this.
I can’t believe it either. It is very sad.
Thank you, Cindy. It gives ME hope that so many are speaking up and speaking out. Much respect. ❤
And back to you. Thank you. We did it before. We can do it again დ
Reblogged this on Nesie's Place and commented:
Leadership matters.
Yes, and leadership that incites violence and hatred amongst Americans must be stopped დ
The words coming out of our current leader are totally disheartening. I never voted for George Bush (the younger) but he put out a wonderful hopeful video message in the midst of this pandemic that was truly what a leader should be saying. And we have the words of Obama these days as well – Lordy, I miss him. And yes, we do somehow have to learn to be so much better than this . I want to learn how.
George Bush’s message was beautiful and heartfelt and sincere. He lives his faith, saying “We are all equal in the sight of God.” There are so many good republicans. We need them speaking up. Bush & Obama’s recent statements reflect their awareness of the gravitas of the presidency and the country and the current danger in a way that is currently not present at all. We need more leaders with the courage to speak up for justice and fairness. დ
I agree 100%. These are very scary days, and I hope and pray we have a different president by next year.
I share your hope and prayers დ
It is truly heartbreaking how we don’t seem to have made much progress since MLK. For 8 glorious years, I thought the country was making strides by electing the first African-American president, but apparently that just threw more gas into the evil that was doing a slow burn below the surface. 🙁
It took me by surprise too. Although by the time the election rolled around, I was in the Navajo nation that night, and I predicted the outcome. My husband said it would never happen. I am sorry I was right. It has led us to this. Citizen against citizen, violence condoned. Sad.
It is truly heartbreaking.
It is.
Bravo.
Grazie Robert დ
Thank you for this Cindy. I’ve been thinking a lot about Dr. King the last few days and wishing he was here.
Yes. Me too. He was a person who exemplified the teachings of Jesus in a way that we are not seeing enough of now დ
It’s a crying shame.
Cindy, I have asked over and over… where is our great leader?
Where?
They are few and far between.
I still ask… why did JFK, MLK & RFK have to be murdered?
That was 70 years ago.
Have we come to nowhere?
Apparently, nowhere is where we are.
We certainly have not evolved in a forward direction have we? It is so disheartening to see the normalization of hatred, racism and violence from our president.
Agree!
I’m not thrilled with our Canadian leaders, but they are basically kind & well meaning.
Your president is a clear and present danger.
Yes. ‘A clear and present danger.’ And we are watching his effect unfold across the nation in real time now, with real violence, that he continues to incite. I think he expects to gain from it, scaring white people to vote for him in November, by overtly encouraging racial fear and hatred.
Agree…a great leader will clean up our world.
So desperately needed now…. დ
❤️
Indeed!
Thank you Bette დ
My worst fears came true the night Trump was elected. I saw it coming, but hoped otherwise. I knew it would be bad, but didn’t think it would be that bad.
It is extremely sad to witness the fall.
Thank you for posting this. I pray for wise leaders. I pray for the family of George Floyd and for all of us. Time to wake up and speak out. We all need to be activists these days.
Yes we do and thank you for saying this so eloquently დ
We ARE better than this.
I know we are. And we all need to stand now and make this clear. Thank you John დ
Cindy, thank you so much. I wonder if we will ever be able to trust the “leaders” again. Tragedy upon tragedy is made harder without comfort. I appreciate your comfort from Dr. King.
He shows us what we are missing დ
Awww…it’s heartbreaking to hear about George Floyd. So angry that such tragedy is happening again and again and again. Big hugs to you, my friend, ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
We can be silent no longer. Thank you my friend დ
(｡-_-｡ )人( ｡-_-｡) ♥
დ დ
I echo your comemnts. So sad to see what has happened and what is going on.
Thank you Gary დ
I find the current situation in the States utterly shocking. It’s such a shame.
It is shameful and sad.
😞
Thanks Cindy – truly disturbing. And it goes along with leadership responses all over the world to the pandemic – amazing in some countries, appalling in others resulting in frighteningly high numbers of cases and deaths.
Yes. I see some countries led by compassion and intelligence, overcoming. And I live in a different country. It is very sad.
This was a great read and I enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you more for appreciating it დ
Thank you for this beautiful post, Cindy. The world grieves with you.
We have to live with hope and strengthen it. I do love the speeches by Martin Luther King.
A peaceful man.
miriam
We need peace to move back into the light as a country. A place where hope and kindness rule დ
es gab und gibt mutige Menschen, schönen Samstag vor Pfingsten wünsche ich dir, Klaus
Danke und Gott segne dich. Wir brauchen einen ethischen und mitfühlenden Führer in den Vereinigten Staaten დ
Sadly – such a necessary post
Yes. Sad. Thank you Derrick დ
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Grazie mille დ
Sad but true.🙁
Thank you დ
Yes, a leader that puts humanity first is urgently needed!
Yes. Time without this passes slow and heavy დ
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Information for better leadership.
Please God, grant us good leaders. დ
The situation in the states is heartbreaking.
I have lived through a lot of history. But these days are so dark and bleak. Hatred and selfishness are the rulers now. It is heartbreaking.
This is much bigger than a blog post. Humans have always wanted what others have and have also looked down upon those less fortunate. People can walk any path they want but what festers in their hearts is the truth.
Humans are a nasty lot and have been since the beginning which is why we need laws, rules, and police to enforce them, thankfully I know wonderful cops but have crossed paths with a few disgusting ones who knew right away I was not one to let things slide.
These are trying times with the virus and for me watching people day in and day out show complete disregard for others’ health and calling it a scam is beyond pathetic. Liberals add gas to the fire and enrage even their own party.
I feel bad for the family who lost another to violence and the fact these two knew each other we will be subject to more dirt when reporters dig deeper but they need to do a better job period.
What country are you off shooting in? Did you get stuck outside of the USA for any of the quarantine?
Hope you are safe Cindy time for me to get back out to the garden have a wonderful weekend.
Oh, Eunice, such words of heart and wisdom. If we remain in this divide, hating on each other, never seeing the other’s viewpoint, then the chance for healing and compromise is hopeless. And this is what we need. Compromise. Healing. A willingness to listen to different points of view. Without this, all we will get is what we have now, escalating hatred and violence. You and I have lived through it all haven’t we my friend. But these are dark days indeed. We need to move collectively towards the light.
I have been home at The Holler hunkering down since early March. Love to you my friend & stay safe.
I try to always share the love and pray for peace, sadly some will never get it 🙁 Our nation is young with more battles will befall us as a nation which sickens me as we all are from the human race.
Another man dies and even though the law came down on the officer responsible it is still not good enough for the hoards who want to be a part of something so ugly destroying innocent people’s businesses. Hurting random people in the streets is never the solution. Glad you are safe at home. xo
Well said! I just hope you don’t have to suffer his incompetence, racism, bullying and hatred beyond this year’s election.
I now have a more direct experience of what it is like to live in a nation under a racist, authoritarian leader. It is a terrible feeling of hopelessness. Four more years is eight too much to tolerate.
Keeping my fingers crossed that it ends this year. We have a mini-me version of him here, showing signs of moving in the same direction.
Yes, you do. But you also have a history, going back quite a long time, resisting people like this. Good on you.
I live in hope!
დ დ
A great leader remains a great leader even after they are gone. Thankfully. Lessons to be learned and relearned. Thank you Cindy for his voice again.
We need the power of his light now don’t we. Thank God he once was here to lead us still.
Amen. We do.
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There have been great leaders in this world, whose values willl never lose their meaning: Martin Luther Kind, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela. It is a shame that these days childish, brutal narcissists may call themselves leaders and that they are able to infect so many people with their evil. Worldwide.
Thank you for this inspiring post.
Thank you for the depth of your understanding of what is wrong and what needs to be done to put us back on the side of right and light.
I understand how you feel, this kind of discrimination should not have happened, it’s up to the leaders to lead and treat each of their citizens kindly.
Thank you. Kindness are fairness are necessities for any ethical society.
The title hit me hard….😭
Thank you. These are sad days for our country.
In so many countries, not only our own, it is the mobsters that are running the countries and those that think they will benefit from them back them. Eventually, those that resist die. It’s a repeat of history over and over. We as humanity, never seem to learn. We are one entity and what we do to one, we do to all. MLK said it all so well. We ALL need a different mindset. Here’s hoping. Thanks, Cindy.
Thank you Marlene. It boils down to this. If you can be happy having it all for yourself while others suffer and die, then you are not a good person. There is hope for everyone though. People can change and redeem themselves. We all can be better. I share your hope for a better future Marlene.
I completely agree Cindy. We need new leadership with morals, integrity, courage, and compassion to act for the common good. Meanwhile, it is up to us to lead in our circles, families, and friends. Thanks for setting an example.
I love my blogging community. What a force we are for what it is right. Thank you Brad for being you. It is a honor to know you.
Thank you Cindy. I feel the same about you and our community.
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That is so true Cindy. We need people who will take the long term view.
Leslie xoxo
And focus on the common good, not division and hatred.
Exactly!
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This is certainly a tragedy, and we need an understanding of each other, instead of fearing each other, now more than ever. I am holding a vision for that kind of outcome, Cindy.
I hope so too. Hating ‘the other’ does nothing but create more hate and violence. Finding common ground and compromise is the way to proceed.
🙏❤️
დ 🙏
The pain and frustration that the African American community continues to experience is heartbreaking. Not just these despicable acts that are taking the lives of so many but the general inequality, both hidden and overt, are so disappointing in a country that holds so much promise for greatness and a good life for all. And the direction our leadership has taken both in dealing with inequality and with the numbers of dead from the virusd, many also from the minority communities, is a blot of stain in front of the world’s eyes. We present ourselves, or did, as better than this. How we will recover is a troubling mystery right now. Leadership will be key, if only someone of MLK’s stature was on the national stage, but also we need our population as willing to be led and care for each other which seems so remote right now.
How eloquent and beautifully expressed Steve. Thank you for sharing your very moving thoughts. We have descended into a mire of racial hatred abetted by our president and his supporters. The result is evident for the world to see. Lawlessness and murder carried out again and again, for no reason other than being black in America. Shame on us.
It makes everything worse that there will be no REAL justice for his death, and the policemen who watched, will get no punishment at all. The cop murdered him in cold blood, while he begged for his life and bystanders tried to tell them to stop. The cop kept his knew on the man’s throat for almost three minutes after he stopped moving. He’s charged with the lowest charge possible, third degree murder, when he clearly knew what he was doing. Justice will, once again, not be served. Nothing will change. The riots…are the voice of those who have no voice, no justice. The hatred and injustice will continue until we, the people, stop it.
In the old days of the racist south, the kkk covered themselves in sheets to hide their identity, and went about their racially motivated hate, rape, murder and mayhem, in the cover of darkness. Trump has made it acceptable for four policemen to murder a cooperating man slowly, in broad daylight, in a crowded street while people watched , filmed, and asked them to stop. And he is just the latest in death by police if you’re black in America. We have sunk lower then the kkk.
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Love to you wonderful friend დ
Excellent thoughts, Cindy. We need more Martin Luther Kings and fewer brain-dead racists.
Ignorance and racial hatred are not the basis of good government. I can’t believe I even have to say this……
We all do. Everywhere…
Yes. Thank you.
To change the words of a well known song, “Where have all the leaders gone?”
Exactly? Where are the new up and coming ones? The hope for the future?
Thank you for sharing this, Cindy. Could we ever use an inspirational leader today. This whole situation is shuddering this nation to it’s bones.
Yes it is. And it is time, now, to stop this. Racial hatred cannot be the motivating factor in our country.
Aside from being such a destructive force on human lives and prosperity, it’s completely irrational.
It is a buttress for an insecure psyche and it is so destructive.
If not “great” leaders, at least someone with a brain larger than pea and 2 grains of common sense to rub together, both of which are in short supply in our political systems these days.
Hi Cuz ! No, I really didn’t fall off the face of the earth, just took a short hiatus from the madness. Disease, chaos, murder, deceipt, riots, destruction, ….have we, as human beings really wandered so far off the path ??? 😟
It is a sad state we are in. I can understand your hiatus and salute you for taking it. Common sense and brain power are pretty necessary aren’t they in a president. I find it absurd that we are in a position of having to say this, but we are, and do have too. Stay safe and well cuz. It is always so good to hear from you. დ
I would agree we are in need of great leaders, but it is much too often we discover the greatness of a leader far after the fact. For now, I would settle for basic competency and empathy, both of which are in short supply.
Yes. I hear you and share your frustration. I would go with competency and empathy too. Why are they in such short supply? It is sad.
Speaking of leadership, the Houston PD police chief, Art Acevedo, said if Trump cannot be constructive, “just shut up.” I would’ve added the f-word so he (Trump) would understand better. I see him as the main perpetrator of the angst, frustration, indifference we are experiencing. Like you, I grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As tumultuous as those days were, these days, today, are far more darker. And, with the weather becoming warmer this week, I hope it does not become more combustible.
Yes. I agree with you. We have never had a president who seems to relish creating a race war in the country. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. His father was arrested in a KKK riot in 1927. It is a arrest record verified fact, reported by all the reputable media. Like father, like son. God help us.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/28/in-1927-donald-trumps-father-was-arrested-after-a-klan-riot-in-queens/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charlottesville-latest-donald-trump-father-fred-arrested-ku-klux-klan-kkk-rally-riot-queens-new-york-a7891701.html
Cindy, thank you so much for this excellent and needed post!
As always Charles, thank you for being you.