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I have three short things to say today. They are being posted in random order, and thus I would appreciate it if DUers could make random, disordered responses.
Now, down to business:
{A} My oldest daughter is in a political science class in high school. In the last week or so, she had to do a fairly lengthy paper on a figure from US history who she believes is/was a good role model. She selected Hinmaton-yalatkit ("Thunder Coming from the Water over the Land"), a chief of Wal-lam-wat-kain people, from Wallowa Valley in what is today known as Oregon. He is popularly known as Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.
She used about a dozen of my books for resources, and wrote a really good report. Of course, I am not totally objective when it comes to my daughter, but I am kind of demanding when it comes reports on people like Chief Joseph. Her assignment required her to make a poster to go along with the report, and she asked me if she could "borrow" some materials from me to use on it.
On the night before she had to hand in her report and poster, I got out a book that she had not read, and showed her that years ago, a dentist from the west coast had paid to have Chief Joseph’s grave dug. He used Chief Joseph’s skull for an ashtray.
I photocopied some pages from the book. My daughter’s teacher was shocked, and checked the internet to see who the author of the book was. It was Vine Deloria, Jr., a highly respected Native American attorney, who served as the Executive Director of the National Indian Congress.
Her teacher asked if I could send in further information on this topic. Having worked for decades on burial protection and repatriation issues, I was able to do that.
{B} When I was a teen-ager, my favorite book was "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." Just as Malcolm called himself the "angriest black man in the United States," I was probably the angriest teen-ager in the nation. And that was on a good day.
I had a mentor (who was sometimes a tormentor) who had been friends with Malcolm X. He advised me to pursue my education, if I was serious about "changing the system." At first, this made me angry. Luckily, he had a good sense of humor, and kept telling me that I needed to get that education, and attempt to map change from within the system.
Through hard work and tremendous self-discipline, I became an educated fool, as opposed to a mere common fool. I worked in human services. I also was a community organizer/ grass roots activist ….and I found that more people listened to me, and that I could accomplish more, as a human service worker than as an angry hot-head.
Over the decades, I have acquired a sizable collection of books, records, and films of Malcolm. So, when my oldest brother mocked me for becoming "part of the system," I would read where people accused Malcolm of "selling out" when he changed his approach to the system in 1964.
{C} I grew up with specific definitions for words. I think of this when reading DU recently. Four of those words apply to democrats: progressive, liberal, moderate, and conservative.
"Progressive" democrats believe that the "system" needs drastic changes; Martin Luther King, Jr., expressed this when he said that we needed to "undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." (April 4, 1967)
"Liberals" include good people like Hubert Humphrey and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who wanted to make significant adjustments to the system. "Moderates" seek change, in moderation. And conservative democrats tend to resemble republicans.
Conclusion: Making progress in our complex society requires dedicated people, who are willing to invest their energies – and indeed, their lives – to obtaining both short-term and long-term goals. No single person, nor any one group, is going to make meaningful changes on the national level in a short period of time. But we can, and will, succeed in making meaningful change if we are serious about it.
Part of this requires that we change. We must become better educated, both formally and informally, so that we both better understand the "system," and can become better situated in positions where we can influence events around us. And that includes being willing and able to work with others who are different from ourselves, while still firmly advocating for our values.
Thank you, H2O Man
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