Today marks another International Day of Peace. In light of this, I am sticky-noting one of my Peace Posts from 2014 for your perusal. It should appear after this post, so please scroll down or find Passion Scars here.
Category: Social Commentary (Page 8 of 9)
As a WP.org user, re-blogging an article from another WP site is not an easy task. I decided to try my hand at it this time around just because…
According to the WP stats on my Jetpack, the article Veteran Homelessness Hits Zero In Las Cruces has been successfully re-blogged on my site.
If this experiment does not work, please take a look at the article directly by clicking on the above link. Or here
As most of you know, this is something near and dear to my heart. It is even more meaningful as Las Cruces, NM is hubby’s hometown and where The Goat Suite Saga was born.
I wish I had been bold enough to ask the pastor, Rev. Dr. Ella F. Busby of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church if I could take a few photos during the fundraising concert they sponsored with the Goodwill Educational & Historical Society yesterday, July 4th, 2015. I wrongly assumed there would be plenty of promotional material to copy from the internet. There is stuff out there about Ann Caldwell and the Magnolia Singers, just not in the context of what I experienced yesterday. That’s a shame because this group has been together for close to 20 years and puts on a program that is not only professional, but genuine.
When invited to attend this event by a Camden Writer whose family is closely aligned with the restoration of the historic Goodwill School, I thought the concert would be held in the newly restored building. Lucky for me, the concert took place in the sanctuary of the church.
I admit the draw for me was the music to be presented…spirituals related to the history of this building. And, a desire to absorb something uniquely Southern, as a non-native trying to understand this very different-to-me culture. What I didn’t expect was this magical melding of format with venue that resulted in having ‘church’ on Saturday. Past joining present, complete with a fine BBQ pot-luck served afterwards.
During our eating time, I sat next to one of the Magnolia Singers, Yvonne Brown. Continue reading
South Carolina state senator, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of 9 slain at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC
“Could we not argue that America is about freedom…” South Carolina state senator, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of 9 slain at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC.
I’ve been nominated by Geralyn of Where My Feet Are to take part in the 3 days, 3 quotes challenge. This is my first ever nomination for anything ‘blog’ related, so I’m tickled pink to participate. And also sobered by its timing. Thank you Geralyn.
The rules of the challenge are:
1) Thank the person who nominated you.
2) Post a quote each day for 3 days.
3) Each day nominate 3 new bloggers to take part.
My nominees are:
Anna
L.Marie
Jayne
(Hope you can participate but no worries if you can’t)
I’ve posted two kitty stories, well three if you include the poem about Sparkles, on this blog. Remembering Tripod is the foundational one relevant to our between homes experience, the Colorado one ties in with the parallel lives of street kitties and throw-away humans, and then there’s the one about Sparkles* who flashed life, hope and love unexpectedly into our lives, however briefly.
Here is yet another Kitty Story…
Mama Cat has been around the block a time or two. Street savvy, she maintains her independence. And she likes it that way.
When she comes calling, it is usually out of desperation – wild-eyed, panting, scraggly and needing nourishment.
I am in complete compliance with our tacit agreement. Who can refuse an independent spirit reaching out for help? Continue reading
HAPPY (GRAND)MOTHER’S DAY
(Welcome Home: A Tiny House, Huge Purpose)
LA, the City of Angels…
…at least one angel, shown here caring for his neighbor…
This post marks the closing of what I consider to be the first part of my Giving Voice series. While I have several more relevant articles in various stage of readiness to post, I think it’s time to take a break. Because Giving Voice is an ongoing series, I intend to resume its ‘focus’ after an undetermined period of time.
Instead of composing some sort of summary post, I thought I’d ‘re-post’ a Swimming with Swans vignette I presented here on the blog in 2013. Written at the close of our first stay in Las Cruces during our between homes journey, I think it speaks to the issue of ‘street people’ stereotypes in a positive and personal manner.
In doing this, I am also engaging in a blog experiment that I’m not sure will work! Please bear with me. Both this wind-down post and the archived vignette-post are presented in ‘sticky note’ fashion. Theoretically, this first time published post will be ‘sticky-ed’ first and The Prophet and the Gift should follow without changing its original blog posting date. We’ll see. 😉
Thank you for the many responses I’ve received during this first part of my Giving Voice series via personal e-mail, face-to-face discussions, and of course in the comments section.
Reporter: Darlene thought she had done everything right, even taking classes for her master’s degree. She held a good job with the veterans administration for the last 15 years, had savings, college and retirement accounts, and a comfortable suburban home for her three sons…
‘They had never worried about anything. They never had to go into the kitchen and look into an empty cupboard. I lived a middle class life all my life. That’s all I knew. I dropped from middle class to no class.‘ Continue reading
I find it interesting that unemployment has been an issue of glaringly huge proportions for quite some time within the free market world. That there have been sound ways of alleviating it during the course of these past decades, yet left untouched by those in power is disheartening, very telling and ultimately totally inexcusable.
…Characteristically she covered her own weakest flank – unemployment – by counter-attacking Labour’s record in the 1970’s. ‘In the end Labour always runs away,’ she jeered in her adoption speech at Finchley on 19 May:
‘They are running away from the need to defend their country…They are fleeing from the long overdue reform of the trade unions…They are running out on Europe…Above all, Labour is running away from the true challenge of unemployment.’
Promising to create millions of jobs, she insisted, was ‘no more than an evasion of the real problem’. Real jobs could only be created by gradually building up a competitive economy with profitable industries that could hold their own in world markets. ‘We Conservatives believe in working with the grain of human nature, in encouraging people by incentives, not in over-regulating them by too many controls.’ ‘A quick cure,’ she repeated several times in another favourite formulation, ‘is a quack cure.’
Margaret Thatcher circa 1983 (excerpt taken from The Iron Lady by John Campbell, pg 222)
A short while ago, I reread this classic novel. It’s one of the greats. What surprised me this time around was that amidst the storyline and lyrical prose, its message speaks to the heart of what I’ve been presenting within my blog series, Giving Voice.
Very timely as the quotes I’ve pulled from within its pages read better than anything I could attempt to pen.
Meant to be read as a single ‘blog post’ the following quotes are from “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” by Betty Smith.