Today's Today

That Sunday morning, I walked up to the mailbox to get the newspapers, and there was the headline.

I am no kinda fan of royalty. They're just a buncha rich legacy pukes with a lot more money and power and privilege than the rest of us, and they live lives that seem to be totally beyond what normal humans can even fathom.

And as such, they are rarely to be held to the same standards as the "common folk".

I won't celebrate the death of anyone. But I think it's good to be reminded of the simple fact that nobody gets outa here alive.

Rich people get fucked up and killed in a car crash just like anybody else - and their money and their power and their privilege mean absolutely jack shit at that moment.

Maurice Ravel's Pavane For A Dead Princess:

On The Death Of A Friend

It seems contradictory to call her a friend. Sue Foster was a year ahead of me, I barely knew her really - she was too beautiful - I was always a little intimidated by her.

At the same time, she was important in my life. Just watching her with my other friends was instructive somehow. I don't know how to explain any of that, so I guess I have to leave it for now, and just wonder about it.

I sang at her wedding.

Susan Foster 1952 - 2024

For what is it to die,

but to stand naked in the wind,

and to melt into the sun?

What is it to cease breathing,

but to free the breath

from its restless tides -

that it may rise and expand

and seek God unencumbered?

When you sit quietly by a silent river,

then you start to sing.

When you've reached the top of the mountain,

then you begin to climb.

And when the earth reclaims your limbs,

then you can truly dance.

(paraphrased from Kahlil Gibran)

In Memorium

We lost a coupla heroes yesterday

CT Vivian  (July 30, 1924 – July 17, 2020)

CT Vivian was an American minister, author, and was a close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. Vivian continued to reside in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc. He was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

President Barack Obama, speaking at Selma's Brown Chapel on the March, 2007, anniversary of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, recognized Vivian in his opening remarks in the words of Martin L. King Jr. as "the greatest preacher to ever live."

August 2013

November 2010

John Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020)

America is a constant work in progress. What gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further - to speak out for what's right, to challenge an unjust status quo, and to imagine a better world.

John Lewis - one of the original Freedom Riders, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the youngest speaker at the March on Washington, leader of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Member of Congress representing the people of Georgia for 33 years - not only assumed that responsibility, he made it his life's work. He loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise. And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice, but inspired generations that followed to try to live up to his example.

Considering his enormous impact on the history of this country, what always struck those who met John was his gentleness and humility. Born into modest means in the heart of the Jim Crow South, he understood that he was just one of a long line of heroes in the struggle for racial justice. Early on, he embraced the principles of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience as the means to bring about real change in this country, understanding that such tactics had the power not only to change laws, but to change hearts and minds as well.

In so many ways, John's life was exceptional. But he never believed that what he did was more than any citizen of this country might do. He believed that in all of us, there exists the capacity for great courage, a longing to do what's right, a willingness to love all people, and to extend to them their God-given rights to dignity and respect. And it's because he saw the best in all of us that he will continue, even in his passing, to serve as a beacon in that long journey towards a more perfect union.

I first met John when I was in law school, and I told him then that he was one of my heroes. Years later, when I was elected a U.S. Senator, I told him that I stood on his shoulders. When I was elected President of the United States, I hugged him on the inauguration stand before I was sworn in and told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made. And through all those years, he never stopped providing wisdom and encouragement to me and Michelle and our family. We will miss him dearly.

It's fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was at a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who were helping to lead this summer's demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death. Afterwards, I spoke to him privately, and he could not have been prouder of their efforts - of a new generation standing up for freedom and equality, a new generation intent on voting and protecting the right to vote, a new generation running for political office. I told him that all those young people - of every race, from every background and gender and sexual orientation - they were his children. They had learned from his example, even if they didn't know it. They had understood through him what American citizenship requires, even if they had heard of his courage only through history books.

Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did. And thanks to him, we now all have our marching orders - to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.

Barack Obama