John Kelin Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Hi all, H.C. (Harry) Nash, who wrote the Penn Jones biography "Citizen's Arrest," and who also wrote the Foreword to my own book, sent me a poem he wrote in the aftermath of Barack Obama's election. He said it would be okay if I posted it here. John Kelin GRANT PARK, CHICAGO, 40 YEARS LATER a grandmother named Madelyn Dunham could not be watching, & Rosa Parks could not be watching, & Jack Kennedy could not be watching, & Goodman, Schwerner, & Cheney could not be watching, & Malcolm could not be watching, & Martin & Coretta could not be watching, & Bobby could not be watching, & Fred Hampton could not be watching, & John Lennon could not be watching, but hundreds & thousands of millions were watching from wherever they find themselves around the globe, & old men & women of all colors & faiths were watching, & young women & men of all faiths & colors were watching, & children whose faces shone as naturally as unpolluted sunlight were watching, & what is radiant in the hearts of disenthralled & oppressed people everywhere brought fresh beauty to their faces, & in countless cases tears to their eyes, & what has been bottled up in their minds will from this moment constitute new auras from villages to reservations to towns to impossibly populated cities around the globe when they awaken the very next time, when they rise & shake off their downtrodden resignations & foolish failures & proclaim their identities & their dreams of solidarity & justice the very next time— the mornings at hand, the noontides at hand, the pregnant afternoons at hand, the early evenings at hand, the nights resonant of desire & agape at hand, the midnights with sleep or sleeplessness at hand, their food & tools at hand, their calling out of births & (natural) deaths at hand, their animals & pasturelands at hand, their mountains at hand, their rivers & streams at hand, their lovers & companions & even their distant relatives at hand, their past & present & futures at hand. Grant Park 40 years later— a man of Kenya & Kansas, Hawaii, Chicago, reason & peace, will & warmth, ways & means, here & now, & you & me . . . --hcn (11-5-08) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Hi all,H.C. (Harry) Nash, who wrote the Penn Jones biography "Citizen's Arrest," and who also wrote the Foreword to my own book, sent me a poem he wrote in the aftermath of Barack Obama's election. He said it would be okay if I posted it here. John Kelin GRANT PARK, CHICAGO, 40 YEARS LATER a grandmother named Madelyn Dunham could not be watching, & Rosa Parks could not be watching, & Jack Kennedy could not be watching, & Goodman, Schwerner, & Cheney could not be watching, & Malcolm could not be watching, & Martin & Coretta could not be watching, & Bobby could not be watching, & Fred Hampton could not be watching, & John Lennon could not be watching, but hundreds & thousands of millions were watching from wherever they find themselves around the globe, & old men & women of all colors & faiths were watching, & young women & men of all faiths & colors were watching, & children whose faces shone as naturally as unpolluted sunlight were watching, & what is radiant in the hearts of disenthralled & oppressed people everywhere brought fresh beauty to their faces, & in countless cases tears to their eyes, & what has been bottled up in their minds will from this moment constitute new auras from villages to reservations to towns to impossibly populated cities around the globe when they awaken the very next time, when they rise & shake off their downtrodden resignations & foolish failures & proclaim their identities & their dreams of solidarity & justice the very next time— the mornings at hand, the noontides at hand, the pregnant afternoons at hand, the early evenings at hand, the nights resonant of desire & agape at hand, the midnights with sleep or sleeplessness at hand, their food & tools at hand, their calling out of births & (natural) deaths at hand, their animals & pasturelands at hand, their mountains at hand, their rivers & streams at hand, their lovers & companions & even their distant relatives at hand, their past & present & futures at hand. Grant Park 40 years later— a man of Kenya & Kansas, Hawaii, Chicago, reason & peace, will & warmth, ways & means, here & now, & you & me . . . --hcn (11-5-08) Thanks for that one John, I have fond memories of Grant Park, Chicago, August, 1968, when I was caught up in the middle of a riot between LBJ's stormtroopers and Mayor Dailey's Peace Officers, tear gassed and beat with nightsticks. Seeing and hearing the President elect give his speech at that spot brought it all back and made me think that things have come full circle. BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 "A Change Is Going To Come" (Sam Cooke) I was born by a river in a little tent, And just like this river, I've been running ever since. It's been a too long, too long-time a-coming, But I know a change gonna come, Oh, yes, it is. It's been too hard living, And I'm afraid to die. I don't know what's up there beyond the sky. It's been a long time a, long time a-coming, But I know, Lord I know a change gonna come, Lord. Yeah, yes. And then I went to see my brother, oh yeah. I said, "Brother, help me, please." He turned me down. And then I went, I went to see my sweet mother. I said, "Mama, Mama I'm down on my knees." It's been a too hard living, And I'm afraid to die. I don't know what's up there beyond the sky. It's been a long, long time a-coming, But I know, but I know a change gonna come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dolva Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...a&pid=43650 dec 2007 "If Soerensen (close Kennedy aid and confidant from early senatorial days) is endorsing Obama, I'd take that seriously. Perhaps it's a statement with wider ramifications than some may think. Obama is like the antithesis of suspects in the JFK assassination, and like the thesis of Kennedy's Civil Rights program. All the misegininsts and assorted dead-wood "good ole' boy" leftovers from then may reveal themselves to be dealt with. Perhaps an opportunity to confront the powers behind JFK's assassins." ______________________________ http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...04&hl=obama nov 1 2005 ..."In the absence of dogs and hoses there is no immediate, obvious enemy before us, so it's harder to mobilize a sense of outrage," said Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who is the only black member of the United States Senate. "Rosa Parks did not just sit down on her own initiative. She was part of a movement." The reflection on the earlier civil rights movement and the next phase, if there is to be one, is occurring at an extraordinary time." ______________ Bob Dylan - 1963 (prophetic) The Times They Are A-Changin' Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'. Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'. Edited November 7, 2008 by John Dolva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Bob Dylan - 1963 (prophetic)The Times They Are A-Changin' Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'. Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'. It is a shame that Bob Dylan changed into a conservative old man. That said, most of the sixties radical folk singers, did not lose their political committment and remain activists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Howard Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) Bob Dylan - 1963 (prophetic)The Times They Are A-Changin' Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'. Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'. It is a shame that Bob Dylan changed into a conservative old man. That said, most of the sixties radical folk singers, did not lose their political committment and remain activists. ...and at several of them were murdered by the Deep Political Establishment for their songs and efforts..... I thought I would place this here, it is my personal anthem of the President Obama Era.... Honest Men by The Electric Light Orchestra We're just a stone's throw From Burning Hellfire Does anybody know, Where did all the heroes go? We've had our fill of This gallery of scoundrels, The leaders of the world, Those power hungry liars Rise up and sound the sirens, Send out the searching powers, All we need is a few good men Send the S.O.S. and red alerts All across the universe Calling your honest men? S.O.S. emergency, Sinking fast and getting worse. Where's your honest men? In some village, far away, Or in a little town pub. High on a mountain top There must be an honest man Calling all honest men Throw out the tyrants, The aged fat cats Outlived their usefulness They have led us to this mess Make them answer, Hold them to their promises, And throw them in the street If they won't tell the truth S.O.S. and red alert All across the universe, Calling all honest men S.O.S. emergency, Sinking fast and getting worse, Where's your honest men? To your stations, Man the ramparts, The barricades We need new heroes urgently We need a few good honest men Calling all honest men Calling all honest men Call to him He lives next door, Across the street On the upper floor. It's our only hope we need him now Send the S.O.S. and red alert, All across the universe, Calling all honest men S.O.S. emergency, Sinking fast and getting worse, Where's your honest men Strike a blow, Save the ship, We need a few good honest men Calling all honest men Calling all honest men Calling all honest men S.O.S. across the universe Where's your honest We need your honest Calling all honest men Calling out all over the world, Where's your honest men Looking out all over the world, We need your honest men Obviously, I do not feel all the world's political leaders are liars and/or bad, evil, people. but the theme of the song in general is what I espouse. Robert Edited November 7, 2008 by Robert Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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