The Rabid Grammarian

Question of The Week: Why Are Liberals So Preachy?

I'm a liberal. I'm a super "make Dennis Kucinich feel uncomfortable" lefty. More accurately, I am a Democratic Socialist, but for the benefit of our right-wing friends (some of whom have actually told me that voting for Obama was a form of child abuse) that don't understand, I'm a lefty. Something I've noticed since becoming more politically active and aware is that I've become quite preachy about liberalism and politics in general.

This is not to say that there isn't preachiness on the conservative right (Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter-anyone?) but I've noticed that the left has become quite vocal of late.

In truth, we're not preachy, it just sounds and feels that way. There comes a point in every debate where one side feels unheard and misinterpreted and, armed with a plethora of facts, starts getting more vocal. Sometimes in the cacophony of idealogues that voice starts to sound (and feel) pleading and preachy. I don't know how often I've screamed at the telly (or Facebook) at some right winger in the bubble spouting demonstrably untrue diatribes. (Bill O'Reilly makes my baby cry.)

I think part of our (me and my liberal brethren) problem is that we abhor the lies and deceit. I think we are amazed and saddened at how many people are staunch in their hatred for the President that they are willing to believe any swill slung on Fox "News" as canon. For me personally, I know that I feel like sobbing that people choose to believe the lies, no matter how outlandish, without a scintilla of critical thinking or research. The voluntary ignorance in this country is astounding and depressing. Moreover, I am even more saddened, and frightened, when I see people when faced with actual facts, claim conspiracy and cover-up. We used to send those people to hospitals for treatment, now we give them cable news shows.

Every liberal I know seems to have that Uncle Joe (or in my case, half a family of them) that no matter what you say, no matter how many facts you can present still thinks that President Obama is a socialist Muslim born in Kenya who is coming to take his guns and put him on a death panel. And unfortunately for us libs, we can't help but feed the trolls. We know facts (and reality) is on our side. So we keep at it, trying to chip away at the demagoguery and with each failure we get more excited and louder like that kid in class with his hand up "Ooh ooh, Pick me! Pick me! I know the answer!"

Liberals have become that annoying kid everyone hates because they seem to know it all. People hate a know-it-all, and they especially hate a know-it-all who can't shut up about all they know. Not that anyone is really listening. We're either preaching to the converted or trying to sell to those who think we're peddling snake oil. In being preachy, we lose the capital and authority that we wish to gain with all our facts and reality.

So what's a liberal to do? First, pick your battles. I personally have the most difficult time with this because when I see stupid, I feel the need to fix it. I'm a helper, and I'm a teacher at heart so at my core I have a need to correct people in general. But I need to realize far sooner than I do when the battle is lost. This is another issue for liberals. Because we have those facts, because we know we are right, we can't let go even when the argument is pointless.  To quote Kenny Rogers "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, and know when to run." In poker and politics, this rings true; but that doesn't mean you can't play.

Second, spouting facts and figures and saying "you're wrong" etc will get you nowhere but shut down. No one likes being told they are wrong, or stupid, or both. Unfortunately, most liberals I know do this, myself included. Those facts and figures and reality make us feel superior and we abuse them. Rather than bombarding someone with the information, try to get them to think critically about the situation.
For example, I have family that insists President Obama is a Muslim Kenyan who is not eligible for the presidency. I've asked them "So, which do you think it is then-that there is a vast governmental conspiracy in the FBI to cover up President Obama's heritage, that the President Bush-appointed FBI is patently inept in their ability to vet a Presidential candidate's eligibility, or that President Obama is a Christian man (not that his religion has anything to do with the office of President or any other public office) who was born in Hawai'i?"  I haven't actually changed anyone's mind doing this (although many of my family seem to love the conspiracy and inept angles,) but I certainly feel less defeated when I use this approach and the person comes to their same conclusion (especially when you bring in the argument that supposes that President Obama can time-travel and control the weather.) At that point you just walk away knowing you can't sway a true-believer.

Ultimately, if liberals are to be taken seriously and less preachy, we need to start a grass-roots movement to educate the populace. I'm not talking politically, I'm talking about basic education. We are at this impasse politically and socially because our education system is frankly, shit. Our children are not taught how to think critically, they are not taught to question authority and think for themselves. They are taught to learm the facts for the test: swallow what we tell you is the truth, but take no time or energy to digest that information, just move to the next spoon-feeding of facts.
When the populace is uneducated they are easily governed by fear and lies. It's time we start educating our populace, and by extension, our electorate. What we need is comprehensive education funding and reform.

On the world stage, in terms of education, the United States is failing. Our literacy rate is abysmal. Costa Rica has a 99% literacy rate. Shouldn't this be a goal for us?  The U.S. is ranked 17th in the world in overall education. We're not even in the top 10. In 2010, we ranked 25th of 34 in math, and we haven't done much better in the past 2 years. Why? Over the past at least 30 years, we have seen education systematically defunded, to say nothing of the glorious failure that is "No Child Left Behind." Why is it that our country feels the best way to educate its populace is to give education less resources?

So, liberals unite. If you want to be seen as less preachy, if you want people to value facts over opinions, if you want an informed electorate, we need to educate the electorate. All other issues will fall into place once the people are educated and able to think critically.

“Information is the currency of democracy.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” 
― Thomas Jefferson

“No matter how big the lie, repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.” 
― John F. Kennedy

“It is always a much easier task to educate uneducated people than to re-educate the mis-educated.” 
― Herbert M. Shelton

Sometimes I think mommyhood is like a land grab. You grab what you need when you can. Mostly it's things like showers (I've been known to do a victory dance when I have the chance to shower), bathroom breaks with the door closed, eating food with both hands, or soup with even one hand (soup eating + baby in arms is not a good idea, trust me.) I also get a wild hair up my ass on occasion and want to be girly and paint my nails. Trying to get this done is basically impossible without tears from someone. But I do get it done sometimes.

Being able to create and birth a child aside, I've noticed just how inefficient my partner is at times. I can get a ton of stuff done while carrying a child around, while my significant other seems to not be able to do anything except play video or computer games.

I have a confession. Having a baby didn't make my life complete. I felt pretty fine beforehand and I don't feel as if things have much changed. Except there are far more bodily fluids in my life and far less showers. Motherhood did make things more complicated.

Maybe I'm a cold hearted bitch because motherhood didn't make me hear angels sing. I don't feel special or blessed.  I'm not suggesting that motherhood isn't hard or that mothers don't deserve respect. I have days where I want to shout Aretha Franklin at my husband, but I don't think that motherhood is equivalent to sainthood. I deserve no more respect than someone who does not have children. But I do deserve the same amount of showers. Speaking of which, I think I see an opening!

Marilyn Monroe, bombshell, avid reader

Below is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail in its entirety. I'll never forget how moved I was the first time I read it and the words still move me today. If you've never read it, please do. If you've read it before, do so again and reflect.

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"  Martin Luther King, Jr.

16 April 1963

My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. 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. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants--for example, to remove the stores' humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I it" relationship for an "I thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies--a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle--have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger-lovers." Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother." In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?"

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I figured since it's still January, I can write about resolutions. I personally don't buy into the New Year's Resolutions hype. For one, I think it's mostly driven by societal pressure. Two, the idea of resolutions often involves the inherent concept that you have something lacking or that you are currently not worthy of acceptance. Most resolutions are inherently selfish and yet they are wrought with the idea that your self is unworthy. Finally, how many people do you know make a resolution and have stuck with it by, say February? Let's face it, most Kardashian marriages outlast the average person's resolutions.

Why? I feel part of it is the peer pressure aspect. People are inherently resistant to goals forced on them by others. Second, most people just don't know how to create achievable goals. In the past 3 weeks I've seen a plethora of "I'm going to lose 50 pounds by May 1st" or other such resolutions. These are usually lofty, unattainable goals with no substance on how to achieve them. Is it possible to lose 50 pounds in 5 months? Sure. Especially if you are throwing health to the wind and want to gain back 75 pounds in the following months. Is it probable? No. "Go big or go home" has no place in your resolutions.

So, what do I suggest? First, I say to hell with New Year's resolutions. Don't buy into the pressure! If you want to make lasting changes in your life, really make it about you-draft your goals on your birthday. But if you are truly energized by the resolution frenzy and want to participate, may I suggest some guidelines on making resolutions you're more likely to keep?

First, you have to prepare yourself. Get a journal or notebook to record your goals and your progress. This will be a physical reminder for you. Resolutions often fail because they are just amorphous ideas, not concrete goals.
Third, If you must go big, choose your larger goals thoughtfully. An attainable goal is S.M.A.R.T-Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Most resolutions fail on one (or more) of these criteria.   Fourth, stick to two or three goals at most. A long list of things to do starts to feel like a laundry list that nags at you. Once you're consistently meeting those goals, add one more. Keep this going. Soon all those things you want to improve will be improving.
Finally, let me provide some examples of resolutions that are small, and yet have huge impact.  All of the below are resolutions or goals I have made for myself or my family and they were terribly easy to complete. They are small steps, not marathons, and all of them benefit my physical or emotional health in some way. None of them assume that I am broken or need to be fixed in some way. Notice also that most of the goals I've set in the past are goals I consider to have a ripple effect on society. A note on the word "consistently." "Consistently" is the key to many resolutions (like quitting soda drinking or starting an exercise routine.) It does not mean every day/night. That may set you up for failure, you miss one night and it makes it easy to skip another. Consistently means "more often than not." In fact, if you apply this "consistently" model to most of your resolutions (working out, making healthy choices, etc) you're more likely to succeed that if you pigeonhole yourself into needing to do something a set number of times per week. Time is fluid, you should go with the flow. Don't let dates bind you.
1. Resolve to floss your teeth consistently before bed. Flossing, in addition to being a basic element of oral health, also impacts overall health and improves your breath, so you're not that person everyone wants to take up a mint habit. It was a tough two weeks before my gums stopped bleeding every time, but I felt a noticeable difference in my mouth.
2. Resolve to buy Local, Organic produce. Farmer's market's are everywhere, and why should only the hippies have all the fun? This resolution will help your health and the planet. Find a Farmer's Market and buy your produce there, or you can join a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture.)  (Although some may have to first resolve to eat produce.) How do you find a Farmer's Market or CSA? There's an app for that! (all apps listed are on the iPhone or iPad, I didn't look up if they were for Android)

• Localharvest.org This website lets you search for Farmer's Markets and CSAs
• NRDC Eat Local App is an iPhone app that allows you to search for Farmer's Markets where ever you are in the USA. It's great for traveling folk.
• Fresh Food Finder
• California Farmer's Market Finder
• U.S. Farmer's Market Finder
• Farmer's Market Locator
• Harvest to Hand App (also for Android)

3. Resolve to go meatless more often. If you're already a vegetarian, resolve to go vegan a little more.  Diets higher in plant-based foods are scientifically proven to be healthier for you and the planet. When I took my first go as a vegetarian I was terrible at it. I was your cheese and pasta vegetarian. I don't think I ate enough vegetables to be considered a vegetarian. I just didn't eat meat. I eat more vegetables now that I eat meat than I did then. Going meatless shouldn't mean just omitting meat, it should include adding vegetables.

4. Resolve to always bring your cart to the cart corral. This may seem insignificant to you, but it's a little nicety. First, cart people don't have to wrangle your shit from all over the parking lot. This is especially true in cold weather. Second, no one will end up with a scratched or dented car because of you, which is karmically more favorable.

5. Donate to a good cause-with your wallet (or your time.) For example, if you listen to NPR or watch PBS ( I'm looking at you Downton Abbey & Sherlock fans), you should toss them a little money. You use the product, you should support them a little financially. Whether you send a monthly gift or send a larger cash infusion during a pledge drive, send them a little dough. If public media isn't your thing, donate to the American Humane Association, The Heifer Project, St. Jude Children's Hospital or any charity that you choose. It's good Karma. If you can't donate money, donate time. If you can't afford to donate money or time to a charity, donate to another good cause-yourself. Open a savings account and try to put a few dollars a week into it. I collect change in change jars. I once filled a coffee can with pennies and got $44.00 when I turned it in. Collect your change and put it in your savings account.

6. Donate to a good cause-with your closet/bookshelf/etc. Take one thing-your closet, your bookshelf, your pantry, and cleanse it. Donate any old or non-fitting clothes or unread books to charity. Donate non-perishable foods to the local food pantry. Cleansing your home will breathe in new life and you'll be donating to a worthy cause at the same time.

7. Resolve to swap one processed item with a less or non-processed item in your diet. Try to do one a month. Consistently swap your Nutrigrain bar for a piece of fruit. Do you love granola? Make your own. This could go for pasta sauce, bread, sweets or even butter (making your own butter is devilishly easy.) Sure, this is another one of those hippie things, but at the same time you will learn to make a new recipe from fresh ingredients. Learning things is great!

8. Resolve to read food labels. I'm in the camp that if it has a label, you probably shouldn't eat it (or too much of it.) Food items with labels come from a factory, they are products, they aren't really food. Food comes from nature. But sometimes convenience wins out and you need to take a shortcut. In general, packaged products are either stuff you could make yourself or shouldn't be eating, but that's my soapbox. Start reading your labels. Don't just focus on calories and fat, read the ingredients too.
Fewer ingredients is better. Even better than that: you can pronounce all the ingredients without a Chemistry degree.

9. Resolve to investigate what those ingredients are. See above as to why. If you come across something on a label you can't identify, which is more than likely in many processed products, write it down and look it up. If you're going to be wasting time on the Internet, you may want to use that time to learn something new.  The Food Babe Resources page has verified links to a wealth of food information. Some things to watch for: MSG, sugar and Genetically Modified (GMO) ingredients.
These are common other names for MSG. Products that contain these ingredients contain MSG.
Here is a list of names of sugar (this list does not list artificial sweeteners.) I once read a label that had 8 different types of sugars in it.
Here is a list of common GMO ingredients.  My family tries to avoid GMO ingredients and are supporters of labeling of GMO ingredients. We also avoid refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, artificial colors & flavors, "natural flavors" and preservatives. We're not perfect, but we do better than we did.

10. Resolve to find and shop at one local store. Shopping local businesses keeps money in your community and stimulates the economy. There are several local businesses that I frequent, especially for holiday and birthday gift giving.

11. Resolve to swap one conventional personal care product for a more natural product every month. This could be as simple as switching to a verified cruelty free brand. You could also swap regular laundry soap for an eco-friendly one, etc. Save the planet one product at a time. Kick it up a notch: learn to make your own laundry soap, shampoo, moisturizer or deodorant. I make my own laundry soap and it's way better than anything I've ever bought in the store. And one batch has lasted me 8 months so far, and I'm barely halfway through the jug.

12. Resolve to eat out at a local restaurant. Find a local restaurant that is not a chain and eat there. You may discover a rare gem. Try to do this once a month if you can afford it.

13. Resolve to learn to cook your favorite restaurant dish. Kick it up a notch: once you've made it a few times, try to make that meal meatless. For me, that meant learning to cook Pad Se Ew. Next I'm trying Thai Pineapple Shrimp Curry. I'm not saying I bust out the wok frequently on this, but I've made my own Pad Se Ew and it really was tasty. A nice side effect of learning to cook it was learning that my favorite Thai dish has a ton of added oil. Even home made, it's no health food. Now I know, and I eat it only occasionally. And since I make at home, I can choose quality ingredients to add.

14. Resolve to practice self-love. Not that type of self-love, but everyone should do that too, IMO. I mean positive affirmations. Resolve to, every morning and every evening, look in your mirror and say-out loud- "I accept myself, unconditionally, right now." Do this for a month. You'll feel silly at first. But keep at it. Trust me, this one works.

As I said, I didn't make "resolutions" this year per se, but I decided to make it a goal to consistently purchase more than 50% of my groceries from the produce section each trip to the market. I read labels, I buy organic, but I was also relying heavily on "convenience" foods b/c I decided it was too difficult to cook from scratch with a baby in tow. Now I try to find 5 recipes and make them from scratch. Most of them are plant based and all of them are from scratch. I realized that the baby likes to watch me cook and the recipes that I'm making are more nutrient dense, which is healthier for my family. And as time goes on, the baby will learn healthier attitudes about food.

So that's my incredibly loquacious semi-soapboxy rant about resolutions with a side dish of crunchy woman diet values. 

As a voracious reader and bibliophile, I love finding pictures of people reading, especially women considered to be sexy or sex symbols. Each image is a convergence of brains and beauty. I will be periodically featuring the pictures I find in a series I call Sexy Women Reading.

Here's your first dose:

Sophia Loren.
I tried to find the credit for this picture, but I couldn't find it. I'll keep looking so I can credit the artist.

Sometimes I look at old pictures of myself and think "damn I used to be hot." I wasn't always hot. At first I wasn't hot, and then I was, and now I'm not again. I wonder what happened.
I cannot be trusted with cookies. Or chocolate. Or cheese. Or at an Ikea, but that doesn't apply to hotness.
Sometimes as I sit up nursing the baby while my husband snores next to me I think "I could just stab him in the eye. Getting all that sleep." But no. That would be letting him off easy. Sometimes I think I could leave and never return, But what am I thinking? I could never trust him to care for the cats.
So there I sit, awake most nights pondering my life. Or trying to drive out Les Miserables songs because I foolishly saw the movie ad and dug out my 1990 CD to inflict upon my offspring and now I can't get the damn songs out of my head at two in the morning.
I'm thirty-six with an infant son and a feverish drive to go to grad school. Because being a first time parent isn't challenging enough on its own, I want to add a thesis to the equation.

So why write a blog, too? I like to write. I like to thrust my opinion into the world. Since in this Internet age everyone has a soapbox and everyone can have a virtual voice, I've decided to drag my box out to this virtual corner of the world and claim my spot. And what will this blog be about? Whatever the hell I want it to be about when I sit down to write. File it under "Eclectic." And hopefully "entertaining."