To be hopeful in bad times .........

[G_j]

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility to send this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. This future is an infitite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

-Howard Zinn




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What can I say that will in any way convey the love, respect, and admiration I feel for this unassuming hero who was my teacher and mentor, this radical historian and people-loving 'trouble-maker,' this man who stood with us and suffered with us? Howard Zinn was the best teacher I ever had, and the funniest."
— Alice Walker
----------
www.sundancechannel.com

HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN

Thursday 05.19.2005
07:30PM

Thursday 05.19.2005
04:30AM

Saturday 05.28.2005
03:30PM

Tuesday 05.31.2005
09:00AM

DVD
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN
directed by Deb Ellis
and Denis Mueller

YEAR
2004

77 MINS, Color/B&W

Teacher, activist, historian and author. Howard Zinn's personal journey took him from a bookless working-class flat in New York to a prestigious position at Boston University. For the past-half century, Zinn has been one of the leading voices of the American left, voicing opposition to American power abroad, championing civil rights at home and chronicling the history of working people. In a profile in courage and conviction, documentarians Deb Ellis and Dennis Mueller tell the inspiring story of Zinn's life and teachings. TVPG (AC) Stereo


www.sundancechannel.com

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Thanks again

All activity stopped here today at noon while we watched the Howard Zinn documentary. It brought back so many memories, good and bad.

I called an old friend and client of mine, Dan Berrigan, afterwards. We hadn't spoken in a few years. I probably wouldn't have done that if not for your reminder, and it was a wonderful conversation with my favorite Jesuit. Thank you for playing a large part in reminding me to pick up that phone.

[G_j]

2. How nice!

I have a deep gratitude and respect for Dan Berrigan also.
The wheel comes round and the circle is not broken!

[peace4all]

3. compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness

make life worth living

:toast:

[satya]

4. What a powerful quote! I always seem to find just what I need here on DU.

Thanks for the reminder!

[G_j]

5. Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times

http://www.newconnexion.net/article/01-05/activist.html

Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered.

They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times.

Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement. I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind. Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

..more..

[G_j]

6. Everything that is done in the world

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

[MsAnthropy]

7. Thanks for posting that

just what I needed