If Six was Nine

[H2O Man]

"Rubin Carter embarked upon a journey of reconciliation many years ago. His path was longer and more difficult than others who had preceded him, for Rubin's Spirit was dead. .... I commend Rubin Carter and the dedication he has for others. He has journeyed a long way and has touched the hearts and souls of many whom he has come into contact. His rich heart is now alive in love, compassion, and understanding."
-- Nelson Mandela, foreword to Eye of the Hurricane


I was on another internet forum of Democratic Party members yesterday. A person asked where do we go now? What direction should our party move in during the future? I suggested that at the grass roots level, we might benefit from studying Gandhi and King, and attempting to apply their wisdom to the current situation.

As could be expected, the majority of those responding were expressing "rage." Indeed, one woman let me know that she found my comment weak. She was fully invested in being outraged. Now, I can appreciate that people are extremely upset by the election results. I can relate to anger and rage. Yes, I can. Likewise, I accept that I am weakly human. That is why I study others who were much stronger and wiser than I.

A lot of words can be used to accurately describe Rubin Carter, but I do not think that "weak" is one of them. Although the woman's attack on her image of who I am and what I was saying was soon removed, for sake of discussion, I responded by focusing on some of Rubin's teachings. He did not advocate submitting to bad people. Instead, he favored chosing the setting of where one would contest human beings' injustices and violence. More, he spoke of what "weapons" were more likely to bring about victories, and what ones result in self-destruction.

For example, when he traveled to Texas to talk to (then) Governor Bush, he told me that George W. was the coldest human being he ever met. He said that Bush was "giddy" about executing people. Years later, when Bush was president, Rubin traveled with Mandela to try to prevent the war in Iraq. I'll never forget him calling me late one night -- he was on the other side of the Earth -- when he was traveling with Nelson Mandela.

And I remember the night Rubin was speaking at Binghamton University in 2001. He was telling how angry he was when he was in prison, comparing himself to "a grizzly bear in heat, who ain't getting none." Above the audience's laughter, everyone could hear my 4-four year old daughter yelling at her 6-year old sister, enraged about the closeness of their seats. "That's it! That's exactly it!," Rubin said, before introducing my daughters and I to the audience.

The next day, a professor contacted me, to ask if I could get Rubin to add a chapter to her book. He was working on his second autobiography, and we talked frequently at night. The professor's book was about her inability to forgive her long-dead parents. She was friends with one of my friends, a psychologist, and from what I knew of her -- and after talking with her about her book -- I thought Rubin could make an important contribution.

Below are quotes from Rubin's contribution. I know that it is not exactly where most Democrats might be open to hearing now. And that is fine. Still, I am hoping some might recognize it as a direction to move in. -- H2O Man


"I spent 20 years in prison, in a hell hole where people every day tried to strip me of my dignity. I did nothing to be there. I was given a triple life sentence for a crime I did not, could not, and would not commit. I did not belong there. Because I refused to follow their rules, I spent 10 out of my 20 years in solitary confinement -- 6 feet under ground, 5 slices of stale bread a day. I was stinking and starving. There was no morning, noon, or night -- just different shades of darkness.

"Hate took over everything, I was furious at everyone -- the two lying criminals, all the people that sent me to prison, the racist white jury who accepted the decision. All I could see was man's inhumanity to man, police brutality. All I could smell was the vile stench of shit. Simmering anger and hatred consumed me. I was existing in a living hell....

"I had to understand conditioning. People are not born hasting othersor themselves. Their hate did not need to become my hate. ..... I had to get rid of the bitterness and anguish. They only consume. I came to an understanding of who and what I am. Like Victor Frankl wrote about the concentration camps, I realized that prison provided me the tools to become all that I could be. I was able to seize the opportunity to use these horrible conditions to find something above the law. I had an opportunity to go on an anthropological expedition into an unnatural laboratory of the human spirit. ....

"Hate can only produce hate. That's why all these wars are going on, all this insanity. There's too much anger in the U.S. People are too afraid, too numbed out. We need to wipe out all of this hatred, fear, distrust, and violence. We need to understand, forgive, and love."

[Easterncedar]

1. Powerful and helpful

Thanks for sharing. The quoted paragraphs have real weight.

I didn’t know Mr Carter had history with Nelson Mandela. What a life.

His description of Bush is truly disturbing. I had always thought of him as a feckless tool, more vacuously immoral than evil, and feel naive.

So much to learn. Thanks again.

[H2O Man]

4. Thanks!

Somewhere around here, I have a nice picture of Rubin and Nelson Mandela together. Two older gentlemen, both of whom had been boxers in their youth. I think that they both knew what Bush was capable of. Perhaps spending decades incarcerated had shown them what dangerous people are like.

[DJ Porkchop]

8. Like this?

[H2O Man]

11. Thank you

for posting that one!

[cachukis]

2. It takes strength and perseverance to outlast bullies.

When you succumb to their lures you become more like them, the antithesis to the goodliness that heals you.

Thanks for sharing.

[H2O Man]

5. Yes, exactly.

I have good friends who engage is saying vicious (and true) things about the magas. During one discussion, one guy was defining the cult in levels, from those who originally supported him, to those who voted for him without really thinking. He was blistering those he called the "OGs." Another fellow said that, if you called them those things, it wouldn't hurt their feelings ..... it would simply energize their hatreds. I think that is a valid point.

[cachukis]

9. I have 50 year plus college friends, conservative,

to be nice, who relish the idea I might be pissed off at calling my high brow perspective as misguided.
It was my fault Harris lost.
Sadly, my response I didn't vote for trump, is lost on them.
My vocal chords are better used otherwise.

[H2O Man]

14. Like both Rubin and Nelson,

I boxed in my younger years. It's a lot like politics -- only losers have the need to make excuses or blame others. And sometimes, they are correct. Judges can be corrupt. And promoters? Heck, one need only think of Don King, the president-elect's mobster friend.

Like back when I boxed, I have a very strong dislike of losing. My goal was always to get the opponent back in the ring, where I could take it out of the hands of judges and promoters.

At this point, my focus is on what needs to be done in the near future and beyond to prevent the loss of democracy, and the suffering of human beings.

[drmeow]

22. There seems to be a genuine

lack of understanding of the difference between victims fighting back to protect themselves and the victim becoming the bully.

I was bullied almost continuously from kindergarten through high school (across many moves). There was occasional respite but not much. I FINALLY lost it one day and screamed at one of my bullies that I was tired of how they treated me. The bullying IMMEDIATELY dropped to a fraction of what it had been.

I still needed to outlast my bullies. I still needed to heal from the damage they did. But finally reaching a point of rage that lead me to fight back did not make me a bully - it did not make me become like them.

[Saoirse9]

3. Wise words

If Rubin could survive his hell I suppose we can survive ours.

I don’t know though, H. I am not there yet.

[H2O Man]

6. It is a strange time.

Maybe it always is in some ways, but the dangerous ones seem clustered about the country.

[speak easy]

7. Or seven?

[H2O Man]

12. I'm not sure

if Jimi even considered that possibilty. But, as he sang, "With the power of soul, anything is possible. With the power of you, anything we want to do."

[BigmanPigman]

17. Finally, the 1st smile on my face in 72 hours

https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/36310/

I needed this song. Thank you!

?si=YdtoBoCRpbj3Iowh

[H2O Man]

19. A great song!

I've been singing it most all day! The dog didn't complain, though she did venture upstairs.

Thank you for posting the song!

[Takket]

23. Tertiary adjunct to unimatrix 01

[MustLoveBeagles]

10. K &R

[H2O Man]

13. Thank you!

I note that my two-year old grandson -- with my son's help -- calls/facetimes here at least once a week to find out how the beagle here is doing.

[Keepthesoulalive]

15. I was young when Rubin Carter was in jail.

But it was not unusual for black men to be committed based on sketchy evidence. People just felt that was the system and you couldn’t beat it. Younger black people feel that the system is unfair and they should not have to deal with a racist stacked deck. They feel free to show their rage. Carter and Mandela were exceptional individuals who found a deeper path. The rest of us are mortals and the young folks might be on to something.

[H2O Man]

18. Right.

I did a bit of work on Rubin's last appeal as it worked its way up. I have boxes of documents etc from those days. There was plenty of information that John Artis's and Rubin's lawyers could never introduce in court. For example, John and Rubin were among those picked up for questioning. And of those who took polygraphs. Both John and Rubin passed -- the original reports, not the disinformation found on an anti-Rubin web site for years. The polygrapher did note that he thought Rubin (but not John) might have an idea who did the triple murder.

Two others took polygraphs, and failed. These two traveled together. Both spent the night locked up, and one of the two spent weeks in jail. What was interesting was that although he was taller and had much lighter skin than Rubin, the guy's face looked kind of like Rubin's. He was involved in the tensions between black and white bar owners, over control of "the numbers." A few years after Rubin had passed, this guy admitted on his death bed that he was the killer that Rubin had been convicted for, his partner was the one Artis was convicted as being.

I think it's worth noting the two gunmen who killed Malcolm X were armed with a shotgun and a pistol. The triple murder in Paterson was done by two men, one with a shotgun, the other a pistol. The lead detective called Rubin a Muslim assassin back then, though Rubin wasn't in the Nation of Islam by any stretch, nor was he a killer. I could say more, including about Newark ..... I'm half-tempted to write a book.

Back in 2000, three of my nephews joined my sons and I at a meeting with Rubin. My nephews are black. Around that time, all three were getting media attention for being scholar-athletes. Still, law enforcement often found them "suspicious," and they were pulled over frequently -- though never charged with anything. The year before, a black student around their age got a life sentence -- really -- for getting a blow job from a female student. Had it been two weeks later, it would have been legal. But, the white girl's parents were not interested in the others she pleasured. They demanded charges against the black kid.

After the kid was convicted (and sent to Attica), his friends asked my help. I got ahold of Myron, Rubin's lawyer. We got him released on "time served," and I'm not aware of any legal problemshe has encountered since.

[biophile]

27. Write that book!

Then sell the movie rights! ☺️

[Mr. Evil]

16. My solution is simple.

Tell the truth. All republican (especially TSF and all those that wish to be more like him) indiscretions need to be described and amplified repeatedly. What giant corporations are doing against consumers and their workers needs to be hammered home daily. Things like wage theft, worker exploitation, refusal to pay a living wage, efforts to curtail overtime pay, little to no paid sick leave, little to no paid maternity leave, price gouging, price fixing and collusion, etc. Billionaires, also, who want for nothing no longer enjoy their money, they are controlled by it. Instead of contributing more to have a decent livable society they actively seek more and more money for themselves and more control.

Yet, Democratic politicians keep trying to manage this balancing act of catering to big business and billionaires because they feel they need them and their money to run a successful campaign while also trying to appeal to average working people who are being squeezed to no end at every turn in their lives. You can't protect the money and also tell the people you have their backs at the same time and expect it to register with everyday people. Especially those that receive their information from dubious sources.

You also cannot placate a few dozen or hundred billionaires in the richest country on the planet on the backs of hundreds of millions of people. A clear line must be drawn. A Democratic politician must have no fear in advocating that the lives of all Americans deserve to live their one and only lives in a decent, productive society with safety nets in place for later in life living and the unforeseen. In other words, we should strive to make sure our standard of living and quality of life are better today than they were yesterday and second to none.

This is achievable but, in this age of where corporations and billionaires taking over every facet of our lives on a daily basis it would be an uphill battle... for awhile. They've taken over national MSM and that also must be addressed. Not by telling people that they're bad for watching Fox News, tell them that Fox News is bad for lying to and manipulating them. And bring the receipts. No holds barred and no holding back. All lies and propaganda must be called out and refuted immediately (a small dig at you, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash on CNN). We also need to create more channels on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, etc. And Rachel Maddow needs to be louder.

Our country will not survive a society based on anger and fear of 'those people' that are different. Everyone's different. Racism, bigotry, outright hatred of other cultures and especially women is not tenable. It never has been and it never will be. If we have to fight then we need to be loud, in their face and with the strongest spines we've ever had. Can't wait four years. The time is now.

(Sorry for being so long winded. Just had to get that off my chest and vent - Thanx!)

[H2O Man]

20. I like it!

First, it is rare for me to limit myself to being long winded. I tend to be tediously long, with many considering my essays a form of torture.

For many years, as a grass roots Democratic Party activist, I've attempted to maintain connections with my old hippie friends who were Democrats before opting to become independent voters. I have seen more people who are independents. When I work with most campaigns on local & state elections, I recognize our party's candidates need their votes. So I concentrate on this. However, I am willing to admit that I rarely have republicans, and never with the republican party. I never would have thought there was a potential advantage accrued with bring Dick Cheney on stage. If someone proposed that, I'd have said you will lose 500 independent votes for every Cheneyite who would vote for Harris.

[Mr. Evil]

21. Thanx. And reading your posts is anything but torture.

I'd be willing to bet that you are so right about Dick(head) Cheney. They should've never touched that radioactive flaming asshole.

[H2O Man]

24. I understood having

Liz Cheney on stage. Though I disagree with her on almost everything, she did stand up for the Constitution while serving on the J6 Committee. So she served as a reminder of the threat the sociopathic felon poses. But Dick(dripping) Cheney showed no respect for the Constitution. He is a war criminal.

[Mr. Evil]

25. Hahahahaha!

Now, that was funny! "Dick(dripping) Cheney. The man who stole a heart.

And yes, he is a war criminal.

[malaise]

26. Thanks bro

We needed this

[H2O Man]

30. Thank you!

When times were tough, I remember Rubin talking about "huddling" and conversing with books, etc. So I figured I'd do the same. The more I read and remember conversations with Rubin and Chief Waterman, the better I feel about how we can deal with our opposition. In his last speech, King spoke of "our sick white brothers." Not that all our sick siblings are white these days. And I was reading Rubin explain how he went from liking Malcolm better as a young man, with age he came to realize that King was correct. I'm not trying to tell people what to do, as everyone has to decide as an individual. But I think that considering the messages from these men points in the right direction.

[Docreed2003]

28. Beautiful, powerful, and inspiring. Thank you my friend.

[H2O Man]

31. Thank you!

I can't help but remember during the summer ...... I saw four white christian nationalists being interviewed. They said they preferred the sociopathic felon to Jesus, because he was stronger than Jesus. And I thought, "That's a strange christian cult, as dangerous as the Manson family." But I thought that the majority of citizens would vote for truth over insanity.

[Hekate]

29. Thanks as always, H2O Man

[H2O Man]

32. Thanks!

I wish that the lady that said I was advocating weakness didn't have her post removed. Reading her message made me smile. I wasn't offended -- quite the opposite, I wanted to communicate with her. I thought that we shared something in the experiencing of rage. Though I have learned to avoid it these days, I grasp exactly what the outrage is all about. I get it. The first couple of days, I was in a daze, a waking nightmare. I just have different ideas on how to deal with the troubles ahead. I don't care if people think I'm weak, but I don't think Democrats view Rubin Carter as "weak."

I try to avoid arguing on the internet boxing forums I participate on. About three years ago, someone posted something about Rubin that was mistaken. I politely corrected him. He was offended, insisted he knew more about Rubin than anyone. Turned out he was a kid in Canada. He expressed his intent to come here to fight me. So I ignored him.

Two years later, he contacted me online. He had found out who I am, and apologized for being a jerk. No problem. He is an angry young man, with some problems with the law now and then. So I talk with him now and then. One day, after talking with him, I asked myself: "Was I that much of a jackass when I was a teenager talking with Rubin?" (grin)