Friday, August 3rd 2018

Peace.  Love.  We’re All On This Together!

On Friday the kids and I brought signs down to a No War with Iran Rally in Kendall Square Cambridge and listened to some speakers.

1)  Dr. King’s Evil Triplets:  Racism, Poverty and War

My favorite State Representative Mike Connolly spoke eloquently of the giant “Triplet Evils” identified by Dr. Martin Luther King;  Racism, Poverty and War.

Mike Connolly:  ‘NO’ to War with Iran; ‘NO’ to War in general.

Connolly noted progress we have made in identifying both Racism and Inequality although we have far to go, and how these issues are all interconnected.

 “In order to understand racism, you have to understand the evils of capitalism; if you want to deal with materialism you have to understand imperialism and militarism.”  ~Mike Connolly

“But when it comes to that third evil, Militarism,” he continues, “I’m just astounded how it’s almost invisible to us.  He noted that “After 17 years of sacrificing lives and money in Afghanistan we are now essentially negotiating with the Taliban and we’re not sure if it’s going to be a surrender or what.  And the lesson that I draw from that is we need to avoid these wars at all costs.  We need talks, not war.”

Here are Connolly’s three minutes [click below]:

2)  Democracy, Not War for a King

Furthermore, Mass. Gubernatorial Candidate Bob Massie spoke passionately -and briefly!- about the origins of this country, its constitutional foundation and how we must restore the decision of whether to go to war to the PEOPLE and not its “President-King.”

Here are Bob Massie’s two minutes [click below]:

3)   A quick review of U.S. Intervention in the Middle East

by Northeastern University Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Val Moghadam:

http://masspeaceaction.org/say-no-to-trumps-reckless-war-threats-on-iran/

4)  Comfort in Fighting Fascism

It is comforting to find tangible actions to fight the fascism of this horrific administration, and to learn from leaders who are educated, thoughtful, moral, passionate and articulate.   Then we went off to see a documentary about one of the most radical peace activists of all time:  Mr.  Fred Rogers.  “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

♥♥♥