With LOVE, We Will RESIST

[sheshe2]

Moving Beyond the Timeless Scourge of the Triplets of Militarism, Materialism, and Racism, to the Rise of the Beloved Community


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. provided for us a diagnosis of the triple societal scourge of militarism, materialism and racism that transcends time as they are ever present today. Dr. King also gave us the vision of the Beloved Community, a specter of hope in the midst of despair.



For many, these hours, these days, these times, seem dark, as we see the devastating evidence of the triplet all around us. The menace seems to be surging with the viral outbreak of emboldened hatemongers and the further institutionalization of bigotry, xenophobia, islamophobia, homophobia, misogyny, and so much more. For example we have these cabinet appointments, each more outrageous than the last. In an official work memo on Friday, I likened one appointment to putting Satan in charge of the Office of Faith Based Affairs. These ridiculous appointments, combined with the takeover of Congress, are then advancing the corresponding roll-back of protectionist policies and regulations. And now the strengthened proliferation of the war on other nations, the war on women, the war on Muslims, the war on communities of color, the war on indigenous people, the war on black men, and so much more is assailing our society.



We see militarism as a tool of imperialism and the price is paid by the children of Aleppo, the women in the Sudan, the families in Iraq, and the neighborhoods of Afghanistan. We see militarism in the United States with the National Guard take-over of Baltimore, MD as people rose up to cry out against yet another killing of an unarmed African American man and were met with tanks and riot gear. And then we saw the armed assaults by water cannons, teargas, concussion grenades and pellet guns on the Water Defenders at Standing Rock when they were only seeking to peacefully protect sacred land, burial grounds, and drinking water. Water is Life.


We see materialism in the foundation of many of these very wars, too often fought over riches with the guise of “defending liberty” or “maintaining security” or “protecting freedom.” While reckless extraction to maintain lifestyles of excess also means drilling that is destroying our seas, fracking that is defiling our land, and burning which is poisoning our air. And one of the many costs we pay is the proliferation of climate change. With NOAA set to announce this coming Wednesday that 2016, for the 3rd year in a row, was, indeed, the hottest year on record. All around we have continued to experience weather impacts with just in the past few weeks freak ice storms, subzero temperatures, record heat in Florida and torrential downpours flooding the West, all while the seas continue to rise displacing communities from Louisiana to Benin. Mother Earth Weeps From the Assaults by Corporate Greed.


Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/with-love-we-will-resist_us_587d2ce9e4b042b0eacbe191?section=us_black-voices

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This really is a must read, this is where we are now. Yet it shows us where we go from here, with love..."We see Beloved Community in the Movements that are beginning to awaken to the need to be explicitly anti-oppressive and anti-racist. Slowly, slowly, people in the movements are waking up to...". We Resist Together and draw our precious strength from each other.

[sheshe2]

1. Sadly sinks.

[brer cat]

2. sigh

Dr. King understood far better than most the menace that we faced then and now (the more things change...). His message of the Beloved Community gives me inspiration and hope, something desperately needed yet in short supply today. Stronger.Together.

Thank you, sheshe.

[radical noodle]

3. K&R

Everyone should read this. Thanks for posting, She.