Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela - 94 Today

Mr. Mandela shared that the following poem was one of the things that helped him to remain focused during the twenty seven years of incarceration.

William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

******

In 2009, the United Nations established Nelson Mandela International Day to honor the African leader on his birthday through acts of community service.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged people around the world "to make a difference" by tutoring a child, feeding the hungry or volunteering at a hospital or community center.

"A healer of nations and a mentor to generations, Nelson Mandela — or Madiba as he is affectionately known by millions — is a living symbol of wisdom, courage and integrity," Ban said. "Together, the best way we can thank Nelson Mandela for his work is by taking action for others and inspiring change."

People around the world were asked to mark his birthday by giving 67 minutes of their time to work in their local community — one minute for every year of Mandela's public service.

He became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison for his fight against racist apartheid rule, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Happy Birthday Madiba -

peacesojourner

Remembering Medgar Evers - d. June 12, 1963

On this date 49 years ago, Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississippi. He was very active in the Civil Rights movement and was the NAACP Field Officer in Mississippi.

I am an active Life Member of the NAACP and despite rumors to the contrary this group is still very active in the United States. Please take a few minutes to read about Medgar Evers and understand why he was so important to this country and why it is still important that we still be vigilant about matters of injustice that happen every day.

MEDGAR EVERS

Medgar Evers was a native of Decatur, Mississippi, attending school there until being inducted into the U.S. Army in 1943. Despite fighting for his country at the Battle of Normandy, he soon found that his skin color gave him no freedom when he and five friends were forced away at gunpoint from voting in a local election. Despite his resentment over such treatment, Medgar enrolled at Alcorn State University, majoring in business administration. While at the school, he stayed busy by competing on the school's football and track teams, also competing on the debate team, performing in the school choir and serving as president of the junior class.

Involvement in the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), a civil rights and pro self-help organization, gave him crucial training in activism. He helped to organize the boycott of service stations that denied blacks use of their restrooms. The boycotters distributed bumper stickers with the slogan "Don't Buy Gas Where You Can't Use the Restroom."

Medgar applied to the then-segregated University of Mississippi Law School in February 1954. When his application was rejected, he became the focus of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school; in December of that year he became the NAACP's first field officer in Mississippi.
After moving to Jackson, he was involved in a boycott campaign against white merchants and was instrumental in eventually desegregating the University of Mississippi when that institution was finally forced to enroll James Meredith in 1962.

In the weeks leading up to his death, Medgar found himself the target of a number of threats. He held public investigations into the murder of Emmett Till, and a local television station granted him time for a short speech, his first in Mississippi, where he outlined the goals of the Jackson movement. Following the speech, threats on his life increased.

On June 12, 1963, he pulled into his driveway after returning from an integration meeting where he had conferred with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP

T-shirts that stated, "Jim Crow Must Go", Megar was struck in the back with a bullet that ricocheted into his home. He staggered 30 feet before collapsing, dying at the local hospital 50 minutes later. He was murdered just hours after President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights.

Mourned nationally, Medgar was buried on June 19 in Arlington National Cemetery and received full military honors in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 people, the largest funeral at Arlington since John Foster Dulles. The past chairman of the American Veterans Committee, Mickey Levine, said at the services, "No soldier in this field has fought more courageously, more heroically than Medgar Evers."

On June 23 1963, Byron De La Beckwith, a fertilizer salesman and member of the White Citizens' Council and Ku Klux Klan, was arrested for Medgar’s murder.

All-white juries twice that year deadlocked on De La Beckwith's guilt, allowing him to escape justice. Matthew Jones and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Freedom Singers paid tribute to Evers in the haunting "Ballad of Medgar Evers."

Evers' legacy has been kept alive in a variety of ways. In 1970, Medgar Evers College was established in Brooklyn, NY as part of the City University of New York. In 1983, a made-for-television movie, For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story starring Howard Rollins, Jr. was aired, celebrating the life and career of Medgar Evers, and on June 28, 1992, he was immortalized in Jackson with a statue.

In 1994, thirty years after the two previous trials had failed to reach a verdict, Beckwith was again brought to trial based on new evidence concerning statements he made to others. During the trial, the body of Evers was exhumed from his grave for autopsy, and found to be in a surprisingly excellent state of preservation as a result of embalming. Beckwith was convicted on February 5, 1994, after living as a free man for three decades after the murder. Beckwith appealed unsuccessfully, and died in prison in January of 2001.

Before his body was reburied, owing to his excellent state of preservation, a new funeral was staged for Evers. This permitted his children, who were toddlers when he was assassinated and had very little memory of him, to have a chance to see him. The 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi tells the story of the 1994 trial, in which a District Attorney's office prosecutor, Robert Delaughter, successfully retried the case, and won.

'Bread and Roses' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Bread and Roses

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead

Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.

Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.

The rising of the women means the rising of the race.

No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,

But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!

By James Oppenheim, published in American Magazine in December 1911

The poem above was written as a tribute to the women who conducted a strike in 1911, in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

In 1905 the American Woolen Company built the world's biggest textile plant in Lawrence, hiring Arab, Russian and East European immigrants. By 1911, people of 25 different nationalities lived within a one-mile radius of the mill.

They lived in crowded company-owned tenements. Eight to 10 people from different families shared one living space. Whole families--including children under 14 years old--worked in the mills. The mills were hot and humid. The work was fast paced, with high accident rates.

Rickets were common among children for lack of milk. Nearly half died before they were 6 years old. Over one-third of the mill workers died before age 25, mostly from tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses.

Jan. 12 was the start of the 1911 'Bread and Roses' strike--one of the most significant struggles in the history of the U.S. working class--in Lawrence, Mass.

A new state law had reduced the work week from 56 to 54 hours. A small gain for workers? Sounds like it. But of course the bosses found a way to gain the advantage. They speeded up the looms and cut the average wage of $6 a week--a last straw for workers living on the edge of starvation.

Some 23,000 people left the mills and poured into the streets in protest.
The Lawrence strike broke new ground in two ways. Women led it. And there was a conscious effort to unite workers of all nationalities. Every union meeting was translated into 25 different languages.

There were four demands: a 15-percent wage increase, a 54- hour work week, double pay for overtime, and rehiring of all strikers without discrimination. The strike drew national and international publicity, and donations began to pour in.

Two months later on March 14, the strikers won a 25-percent raise for the lowest-paid workers and smaller increases for higher-paid workers, time-and-a-quarter pay for overtime, and no discrimination against strikers.

The strikers wanted not only decent pay, but a chance to enjoy the good things of life. They carried signs saying, "We want bread and roses too!"

The women who participated in this strike had the courage to stand up for their rights and their actions made a difference in the future of industrial workers.

They shaped the future of this country and this reinforces for me that notion that if one is aware of injustice then the right thing to do is to speak up against it and let those in power know that it is not acceptable. These women were among the forerunners of equal rights.

The photos above show women of the day working in the factory and also, those on strike being confronted by the National Guard.

During this month we have taken time to celebrate Women's History Month and we give honor to those brave women who have gone before us.

peacesojourner

African American History Month - Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is fondly remembered for her part in the Civil Rights Movement.

Rosa Parks Timeline

Feb. 4, 1913 - Rosa Louise McCauley is born in Tuskegee, Alabama to James and Leona McCauley.

1932 - Marries Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery, Alabama. Raymond is a member of the NAACP.

1934 - Receives her high school diploma after her husband urges her to do so.

Dec. 1943 - Ms. Parks joins the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and is elected secretary to its president, E.D. Nixon. She later says of this: "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no."

Dec. 1, 1955 - She refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man when the bus driver orders her to do so. She is arrested and fined $14.

Dec. 5, 1955 - Ms. Parks stands trial and is found guilty of breaking the segregation laws. This leads to a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system organized by Martin Luther King, Jr.

1957 - After receiving threats and losing her job, Parks and her husband move from Alabama to Detroit.

1977 - Her husband, Raymond, dies of cancer.

1980 - In honor of the 25th anniversary of her bus stand, The Detroit News and Detroit Public Schools establish the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation.

1987 – Ms. Parks founds the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

1992 - Publishes her first book, Rosa Parks My Story.

1995 - Speaks at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C.

1999 - President Clinton awards her the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

2000 - The Rosa Parks Museum and Library opens in Montgomery, Alabama.

Oct. 2004 - In Detroit her landlord decides to let her live indefinitely in her apartment without having to pay rent.

Oct. 25, 2005 - Ms. Parks dies in Detroit at the age of 92.

Oct. 30, 2005 - She Became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, Washington D.C.

Nov. 2, 2005 - Rosa Parks is buried in Detroit with the bodies of her husband and her mother.

2006 - Statue of Rosa Parks placed in National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.

The NAACP Celebrates 103rd Anniversary Today

1909 - 
On February 12th The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded by a multiracial group of activists, who answered "The Call," in the New York City, NY. They initially called themselves the National Negro Committee.

FOUNDERS
Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling led the "Call" to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty.

Here are just a few of the actions taken by the NAACP in the first ten years. I am reminded of the courage that it must have taken to stand up against racism and injustice in those very turbulent times.

1910 - 
In the face of intense adversity, the NAACP begins its legacy of fighting legal battles addressing social injustice with the Pink Franklin case, which involved a Black farmhand, who unknowingly killed a policeman in self-defense when the officer broke into his home at 3 a.m. to arrest him on a civil charge. After losing at the Supreme Court, the following year the renowned NAACP official Joel Spingarn and his brother Arthur start a concerted effort to fight such cases.

1913
- President Woodrow Wilson officially introduces segregation into the Federal Government. Horrified that the President would sanction such a policy, the NAACP launched a public protest.

1915
- The NAACP organizes a nationwide protest D.W. Griffiths racially-inflammatory and bigoted silent film, "Birth of a Nation."

1917 - 
In Buchanan vs. Warley, the Supreme Court has to concede that states can not restrict and officially segregate African Americans into residential districts. Also, the NAACP fights and wins the battle to enable African Americans to be commissioned as officers in World War I. Six hundred officers are commissioned, and 700,000 register for the draft..

1918
- After persistent pressure by the NAACP, President Woodrow Wilson finally makes a public statement against lynching.

1920
- To ensure that everyone, especially the Klan, knew that the NAACP would not be intimidated, the annual conference was held in Atlanta, considered one of the most active Klan areas.

*****

I have highlighted only the first ten years, however, the NAACP was instrumental in

making many, many more changes over the past century.

Today, one hundred and three years later, there are still people who take the time to fight against injustice and who have the courage to stand up for basic human rights.

The National NAACP along with its 1,700 branches nation wide will host anniversary celebrations and observances in their local communities.

I am a proud Life Member of the NAACP and currently attend the Buffalo, New York Branch. I encourage anyone who may be reading this to consider joining.

To contact the organization :www.naacp.org

Thank you to those early organizers who had the courage to stand up and speak out.

*****

peacesojourner

Remembering Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let's Continue to Move Forward Together

Today is Martin Luther King Day. On this day we celebrate the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to the pursuit of justice and equality for all.

President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law on November 2, 1983—fifteen years after the assassination of the civil rights leader. A congressman from Michigan introduced the legislation just a few months after Dr. King’s death in 1968, but it took years of petitions, politics, and personal appeals from Coretta Scott King to get it passed.

Today, as we celebrate the 83rd anniversary of Dr. King's birth, I am reminded of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

"I traveled with friends and neighbors from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. We caught the bus at midnight and arrived in D.C. in the early hours of August 28th.

We were filled with the passion and promise of change, ignited by the idea that, just maybe, if enough people showed up, the world would understand we were not satisfied with the current conditions of racism and the exclusion of so many in the United States.

After arriving in the Capital, we joined the organized march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. We stood in front of the podium, close enough to see and hear the speakers. The "Big Six" organizers of the march were Dr. King, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; James Farmer, of the Congress of Racial Equality; John Lewis, of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; A. Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, of the NAACP; and Whitney Young Jr., of the National Urban League. The event included musical performances by Marian Anderson and Mahalia Jackson.

The written demands of the march were the passage of meaningful civil rights legislation; the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protection for demonstrators against police brutality; a major public-works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting racial discrimination in public and private hiring; a $2 an hour minimum wage; and self-government for the District of Columbia, which had a black majority.

The events were emotional, as 250,000 people from all walks of life, of different complexions, cultures and faiths, joined hands. Together we sang "We Shall Overcome." On that day our lives were changed forever. We wept, we laughed, we experienced joy and, most importantly, we returned to our homes with a renewed commitment to make a difference in the world. We were asked to take the message of a call for change back to our various communities.

I recently came across a paper that I had written on that day in 1963. Here is what I wrote:

"I pledge I will not relax until victory is won.

I pledge to carry the message to my friends and my neighbors back home and arouse them to an equal commitment and equal effort.

I will march and I will write letters.

I will demonstrate and I will vote.

I will work to make sure that my voice and my brothers' voices will ring out in all corners of the land.

I pledge my heart, my mind and my body unequivocally and without regard to personal sacrifice, to the achievement of social peace through social justice."

Today, I recognize that I was filled with youthful enthusiasm when I wrote those words. But I feel proud as I realize that during the time that has lapsed since that day, I have done my best to fulfill the pledge.”

**Portions of this were first published in The Buffalo News, New York - January 17, 2009

*****

In 2012, we are remember that we are the change that we are looking for. Let's continue to move forward together for a unified future.

On this special day take a moment to honor Dr. King’s work and reflect on his dream for America. Find out how you can participate in the national day of service and volunteer on Martin Luther King Day

peacesojourner

Sunday Reflection - Remembering Dr. King’s Birthday

Remembering Dr. King’s Birthday

Today marks the third anniversary of the birth of my on-line blog site ‘Peacesojourner’.

I started this blog on a day that was very symbolic to me because January 15, 2009 was the 80th anniversary of the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is what I wrote on my very first blog in 2009:

‘I have read several accounts of people speculating about what Dr. King would think of what is happening in the world today.

During the Civil Rights struggles of the 60's people marched and protested for basic rights such as eating at a lunch counter, attending schools in their own neighborhoods, being hired for a job for which they were qualified, and to exercise the most fundamental right of citizenship, to vote. We demanded justice and equality for everyone, not just the chosen few.

Yes, in many ways we are a better country today, and in some ways, the nation is moving beyond 'The Dream', but a look at recent news headlines tells the real story:

- Palestinian Death Toll in Gaza Approaches 1000 - Cemeteries Running Out of Space

- Bush Admin Official Admits Gitmo Prisoner Tortured

- 4 Charged in Election Night Hate Crimes

- 4,225 men and women from the USA have died in the current Iraq War

- Over 500,000 Lose Jobs in December - Official Unemployment Rate at 7.2%

- Illinois House Votes to Impeach Blagojevich

- A Transit Police Officer in Oakland, CA shot Oscar Grant execution style. He was shot in the back while facedown on the subway platform, unarmed and posing no threat.

I believe that if Dr. King were alive today he would still be trying to make changes for basic human rights. I also believe that he would have been the person chosen to give the prayer at the upcoming inauguration of President Barack Obama, and that he would have been beaming with joy.

Dr. King spoke the following words when he was speaking out about the US involvement in Viet Nam. The words are still very relevant today:

"If we assume that life is worth living and that humans have the right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space, and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere; no nation can claim victory in war.

The church cannot be silent while humankind faces the threat of nuclear annihilation. If the church is true to her mission, she must call for an end to the arms race.

I am convinced that if we succumb to the temptation to use violence in our struggle for freedom, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to them will be a never-ending reign of chaos.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is a permanent attitude."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’

*****

Today is the 83^rd anniversary of the birth of Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He will never be forgotten. May he Rest in Peace.

THEY SLEW THE DREAMER - LONG LIVE THE DREAM

peacesojourner

Today is International Human Rights Day

Today is known as Human Rights Day or International Human Rights Day.

Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States holding a Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 in Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled

Here is an abbreviated list of the Articles passed on 12/10/1948

Article 1 - All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Article 2 - Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. .

Article 3 - Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4 - No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5 - No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6 - Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7 - All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.

Article 8 - Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law

Article 9 - No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10 - Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11 - Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.

Article 12 - No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13 - Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

Article 14 - Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Article 15 - Everyone has the right to a nationality.

Article 16 - Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.

Article 17 - Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

Article 18 - Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19 - Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Article 20 - Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Article 21 - Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Article 22 - Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security.

Article 23 - Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Article 24 - Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25 - Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Article 26 - Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.

Article 27 - Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Article 28 - Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29 - Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

Article 30 - Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

*****

I hope that you will read each Article slowly and let in be absorbed within. All of these beliefs were recorded 62 years ago. Do you think that they have been enforced around the world? It is important for us to remember that they are in place and that we should do everything that we can to be fair to all people no matter who they are or where they live.

December 10, 2011 - International Human Rights Day

peacesojourner

When Hatred Rears It's Ugly Head - Some Solutions

Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured. - Ann Landers

What can we do about changing racist attitudes? It takes courage to make change in attitudes and guts to be able to stand up to the bullies of the world.

Racism and hatred are usually based on ignorance or lack of understanding. There are so many things that we can do on a daily basis if we become committed to make a change.
Here is a list of suggestions that are quite easy to start with:

1. Knowledge is power – Do you follow a specific religion ? All of the major faiths have statements against hatred of others and racism. Do you know what your sacred book says? (The Holy Bible, Vedas, Koran, Sunnah, Agama, Talmud, Hebrew Bible and the Sutta Pitaka)
Read and learn. If you believe in a higher power then pray for those who are persecuted and those who do the persecuting.

2. Become aware of ethnic stereotypes - Challenge the offensive names, jokes and comments. If someone uses a hurtful name in our presence, we might simply say, "Don't call them that. Call them by their name." If you are the victim, simply say "That kind of joke offends me," or say "You don't like to be called bad names and neither do I". We should become comfortable in pointing out unfairness. Be polite but firm. Ethnic jokes are not innocent humor, they carry the virus of bigotry most of the time.

3. Educate yourself about other cultures - and the history of the Civil Rights Movement and other non-violent struggles for justice. Read what authors from various ethnic backgrounds have written to gain positive insights into other cultures.

4. Speak up - If you should witness an act of hatred let someone know about it. Report it to the authorities if necessary. Be courageous in standing up for what is right. Be supportive of the victim(s).

5. Share your joy - Have you ever invited people other than your cultural group at an occasion of happiness in your family? Whether it's a wedding or the blessing of a newborn baby, expand your next guest list to include those of different backgrounds. Sharing joy is a great way for people of all ethno-cultural groups to bond.

6. Share your sorrow - Have you visited a sick colleague, class fellow or a neighbor of another ethnic group? Have you been to the funeral of one from another culture? Relationships are not only built on the good times, but on the hard ones as well. Visit the sick, attend funerals, and console those who need it, and don't reserve your sympathy to those of the same skin color or country. Learn the meaning of the various traditions and rituals that may be different from your own. You don't have to adopt the customs but it is important to know about them.

7. Break bread with others - It is said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Have you learned to cook the food of other cultures? Have you shared your food with them? Food is a great way to bring people together, and to get to know others. Share food with your neighbors. Learn about which foods are not eaten by certain faiths, for example meat or pork.

8. Who do you smile at? Do you limit your grins to groups you know, especially your ethno-cultural group? Smiles open closed hearts.

9. Teach your children - Make sure that your children are exposed to other cultures. Studies show that children playing and working together toward common goals develop positive attitudes about one another. Raising hate free children is a challenge. Make sure that your children do not absorb the negative attitudes of some who practice discrimination on a regular basis.

10. Welcome strangers - How are you at welcoming strangers in your place of worship? Do you move forward in welcoming, guiding and introducing them to others or do you allow a stranger to remain a stranger while you busily chat with your own cultural group?

11. Watch those expressions and attitudes - Did you see that twist of the mouth, or the raise of that eyebrow? Sometimes, it's not just words, but facial expressions that also indicate ethno-racial degradation and intolerance. It's not enough for us to just avoid verbal jabs. Language is not just about words; it's about body language too.

12. Stand up for justice - Take an active stand against injustices like profiling and discrimination in the workplace or at schools. Speak out in support for someone or a group being paid less because of their national background.

13. Volunteer - Work with other anti-racism groups - Volunteer time to organizations and groups which are working for an anti-racism agenda or for social justice. Put your time and energy to projects that put your beliefs into practice.

14. Overcome your own personal stereotypical beliefs - this is not just for the European culture. This is something that all cultures learn along the way - unlearn some of the things you were taught.

I could write at least 50 or more suggestions but if you practice a few of these you will find that your life has become more enriched.

I have lived in, and travelled to many countries and have always found that there are more similarities than differences with other people. We all want the best for our children, to be able to financially support our families and to be able to have freedom of choice in our faith.

We must stand up for each other - it is the right thing to do.

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

peacesojourner

History of International Women's Day

The History of International Women's Day

On March 8th of this week this was celebrated.

GENDER FACTS - Global Issues:

- Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80

- World population - 6,872,741,131

- Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
- 80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women
- Women own around only 1% of the world's land
- AIDS sees women's life expectancy of 43 in Uganda and Zambia
- Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908
- 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
 - In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910 - A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

1911 -
on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign. 


1913-1914 - 
International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1918 - 1999
- International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.

2000 - and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion parades and more.

*****

I recently learned that in Russia, every year on March 8, the men and children purchase roses for women in order to express their appreciation. I really like that idea – so men, give as many compliments as you can to women on that date – roses would also be appreciated :-)

You may have noticed that several countries are missing from the 'Official Holiday' list. I also have noticed in the past that March 8th usually passes without much fanfare in the United States but I am glad that the month of March has been designated as Women's History Month.

During this month I will be writing about some women who I personally admire, so stay tuned!